ISC News:
SANTA FE ― Celebrations to commemorate Shakespeare will appear around the world on April 23. The International Shakespeare Center supports these activities by throwing a Shakespeare Birthday Party, which also serves as our official launch party. The ISC announces upcoming events and future plans for making Santa Fe a destination for all things Shakespeare.
Shakespeare Birthday Party is 2-4 p.m., April 23 at Zane Bennett Gallery, The Railyard, 435 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe. Free and open to the public.
Enjoy birthday cake, party games, performances, and the debut of the ISC YouTube channel featuring scenes from Shakespeare’s plays filmed in iconic Santa Fe locations. Information and participation opportunities for future projects such as our summer repertory season, national reading initiative, and youth Shakespeare festival will be available.
Members of the Ducdame Ensemble, seen in Santa Fe’s February First Folio celebrations in the sold-out performance of Dames of Thrones, will perform scenes along with both the ISC’s Associate Artistic Directors, Anna Farkas and Arianna Karp. Robert Benedetti, an iSC Advisory Board member and multiple Peabody and Emmy award-winning actor/director, will also perform.
“After an incredibly successful February celebrating Shakespeare’s First Folio, we really want to thank the entire Santa Fe community,” ISC President Caryl Farkas said. “This will be a fun event with balloons, cake, and pop-up performances, but most importantly, we are excited to share our future plans with the public.”
Although the historical record provides no proof, academic consensus accepts that William Shakespeare’s birth and death date is April 23, which is also St. George’s Day, England’s patron saint. This year is the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death in 1616. Celebrations in Santa Fe were kicked off with the First Folio!: The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Art and ISC community programming in February.