BY SOPHIA KHORI
MURPHY NEWS SERVICE
The Bard of Avon died 398 years ago, yet the spirit of William Shakespeare lived on Wednesday on the University of Minnesota campus as more than 100 people gathered to celebrate not his passing, but his 450th birthday.
William Shakespeare’s 450th Birthday Bash was sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Study and the departments of English, Theater Arts, and Dance.
Originally planned to be outdoors, rainy weather forced the event to be relocated to a lecture room in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Murphy Hall.
The large classroom was transformed into a theater as performers utilized props and put up a backdrop that was a bright and bold portrait of the man of the night.
Several students in the BFA Guthrie acting program performed scenes and monologues from various plays by Shakespeare, born in 1564, including acts from the classics “Macbeth” and “Romeo and Juliet”
The infamous sword fight between Macduff and Macbeth was recreated as the crowd roared and cheered throughout.
Guthrie BFA acting candidates and sophomores, Avrielle Corti and Meghan Grover, played several characters in their mini interpretation of “Macbeth.”
Corti explained it was the first time they had performed off of a traditional stage since starting their BFA program.
She added they have presented other small-scale productions at the Perpich Center for Arts Education and Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists “to get kids excited to audition for the BFA acting program.
Many of the scenes during the bash took on comical twists to the original scripts, by adding modern song and dance and by including the audience in the action.
In many cases random audience members were made the center of a monologue dedicated to a lover. The audience joined in again by clapping along to an impromptu rap about common everyday phrases that derived from Shakespeare quotes.
The audience took part in Shakespeare-themed trivia and prizes awarded included gift cards for Chipotle and Punch Pizza were awarded to the winners.
Before a final set of monologues, two audience members partook in an open microphone session to recite their favorite sonnets.
Another winner will get to see “Hamlet” this weekend, Friday, Apr. 24 through Sunday, April 26, at the Stoll Thrust Theatre in The Rarig Center on West Bank.
To continue the celebration of an iconic writer, U undergraduate theater students and MFA design students will come together under the direction of Barbra Berlovitz to present the tragedy.
Sophia Khori is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.