S24

Congratulations to all 65 groups who took part in Shakespeare 24 on April 23rd 2008! We covered a spectacular 21 time zones across 35 countries.

"We have been so impressed by the enthusiasm of the international groups taking part in Shakespeare 24. They have given our first international festival huge impact and help illustrate how successfully Shakespeare's work communicates internationally".
Chris Grace, Festival Director

About the project

Shakespeare 24 (S24) was an exciting worldwide Shakespeare performance event beginning in New Zealand and ending 24hours later in Hawaii on April 23rd 2008. 65 youth groups from 35 countries staged 30 & 45 minute adaptations of Shakespeare's plays at 7pm, local time on Shakespeare's 444th birthday.

Young people from around the world were invited to participate in this 24hr performance event celebrating their youth, culture and creativity - and Shakespeare.

International youth groups took creative ownership of their productions to produce meaningful interpretations of some of Shakespeare's most famous plays using local language and involving the use of dance, music and local performance art forms.

S24 celebrated in:

Malawi, where villagers made costumes for the Montagues & Capulets, sharing the stage with Oberon, Titania & Puck, and Macbeth spoken in Chichewe.

Germany, where a group used Commedia D'ell Arte, acrobatics, dance & song.

Brazil, where students used their production to help the local community by asking each audience member to bring a book to donate to the local library in lieu of paying for tickets!

The splendour continued in 31 other destinations!

In addition, S24 was an event partner with Liverpool City of Culture '08, with Liverpool as the host city for participating UK groups.

"The Culture Company is delighted to have SSF as an event partner for the Liverpool European City of Culture celebrations. Shakespeare 24 is a key project to achieving our theme of 'The World in One City' for young people".
Gaynor Wright, Education Director.

From our 2006 project, where SSF worked with only five international groups, we have certainly gone global!