Glasgow University has joined forces with The Glasgow School of Art, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to create a unique collaboration of music, dance, drama and visual arts to celebrate the life, work and legacy of Shakespeare.

New Dreams

New Dreams is an ambitious multi-arts experience spanning several months and combining performances, screenings, music and exhibitions, and involving hundreds of students, artists, designers and academics.

The festival will culminate in Dream On! - a multi-media immersive performance in the Bute Hall and Cloisters on Saturday 23 April, to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

Dream On!

Dream On! will feature new work by students from Glasgow University, the GSA and the RCS and inspired by themes in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The performance has been dramaturged by students from Glasgow University’s MLitt Playwriting and Dramaturgy, MLitt Theatre Studies and MLitt Theatre Practices programmes.

Leading Scottish theatre director Graham McLaren, of National Theatre of Scotland, is the Artistic Director for Dream On! and will be curating and directing the work of students and professional artists.

Tickets for Dream On! are available from the RCS box office

Screening of Dream On!

Glasgow University will also be hosting a live-screening of Dream On! in the Senate Room on Saturday 23 April –tickets for the live-screening are available on a first come, first served basis from: daoevents@glasgow.ac.uk 

Dream On! will additionally be livestreamed by and available to watch on BBC Arts Online.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

New Dreams features a number of exciting satellite events, including an exhibition of objects and images that have been produced by design students at The Glasgow School of Art as an interpretative response to some of the core themes within A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

This exhibition has been co-curated by a student-led team from the GSA and the University of Glasgow and it will take place in the Kelvin Gallery on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 April.

Shakespeare and Scotland

Theatre Studies at Glasgow will be hosting a symposium on Shakespeare and Scotland on Friday 22 April.

The symposium aims to explore the relationship and dialogue between Shakespeare and Scotland, to explore different approaches to adapting Shakespeare for the Scottish stage and, above all, to celebrate the Shakespeares of Scotland.

Guest speakers include Jo Clifford (playwright), Philip Howard (dramaturg and director), Stewart Laing (director), Joyce McMillan (critic) and Patrick Spottiswoode (director, Globe Education, Shakespeare’s Globe).

For more  information on the symposium visit Shakespeare and Scotland Symposium

To book a place for the symposium email: Victoria.Price@glasgow.ac.uk 

Special Collections

There will also be a chance to view a display of Shakespearean items in Special Collections on Thursday 21 April, 4.30-6pm (Library: Level 12).

This display includes a rare chance to see Glasgow University’s copy of the First Folio, highlights from the Scottish Theatre Archive, quartos, landmarks in Renaissance literature and more.

We do hope you can join us for some of the Shakespeare 400 celebrations!

First published: 11 April 2016

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