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Posted: 3/28/18

Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop!

 

Logo for Festival
 

Literary masters Cervantes and Shakespeare will come to life in a month-long festival at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) dubbed the “Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop Festival.”  The Festival mines the authors’ rich treasures in a contemporary vein, April 3– May 4.

The “Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop Festival” offers a broad spectrum of events, providing lasting testimony to the pairs’ enduring legacy, especially in popular culture. Included are exhibits, readings, activities for children, a choir concert with jazz settings of Shakespeare’s sonnets, faculty research presentations, a dance concert, special guest lectures, a concert based on the works of the authors, the authors as depicted in Manga, and a silent movie production of “Othello” with live organ accompaniment.

One of the Festival highlights, an interactive talk about William Shakespeare and his pop culture legacy by two eminent literary scholars on April 13, is made possible through generous funding support provided by Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Organizers Dr. Ula Klein, assistant professor of English, and Dr. Lola Norris, associate professor of Spanish, from the sponsoring College of Arts and Sciences’ department of Humanities, said  the “Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop Festival” is a broad series of immersive events offering something for everyone. 

“In developing this Festival, we wanted to capture the lasting impact of these two literary giants. While their paths never crossed in real-time, through this Festival we see shared impacts and intersections that have colored our arts and cultural experience ever since,” said Dr. Klein.

 Dr. Norris concurred, noting the Festival’s wide variety of offerings underscores Cervantes and Shakespeare’s legacy.

“To this day, these two continue to permeate our contemporary arts and culture in virtually every medium, some 400 years after their passing.  When we say they ‘go pop,’ we are affirming that they simply endure, beyond the trappings of convention and time,” Norris said.

In 2016, the two TAMIU faculty members organized “Cervantes & Shakespeare @400” to celebration the 400th Anniversary of the passing of these literary giants.  It proved immensely popular with students and the community at large.

The full program of events on offer for “Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop Festival” follows. Unless noted, all events are free of charge and open to all. Some events will be held off campus:

April 4 – May 4 – Literary Masters in Manga: Shakespeare and Cervantes Illustrated.  Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library Special Collections and Archives, room 203. Curated by Killam Library’s Jeanette Hatcher.

Saturday, April 7, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. –  Student clubs Sigma Tau Delta, Sigma Delta Pi, Club Español de Siglo XXI will offer a Special Children’s Activity at “Discover TAMIU:” writing with quill and ink, and making Elizabethan ruffs, TAMIU Grounds.

Tuesday, April 10, 7:30 p.m. – The TAMIU Chamber Singers and Applied Voice Studio under direction of Dana Crabtree present “Shakespeare and All That Jazz,” Center for Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall. Suggested $5 scholarship donation.

Wednesday, April 11, 5 – 6 p.m. –  TAMIU faculty members Dr. Deborah Scaggs, Dr. Melody Carriere, and Dr. Lola Norris present research on “Crossing Cervantes and Shakespeare,” Student Center, room 231.

Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14, 8 p.m. – Spring Dance Concert in the Center for Fine and Performing Arts Theater; $5 general admission. Free for children under 10 and TAMIU students with valid ID.

Friday, April 13, 7 p.m. – “Will and Jane and the Cult of Celebrity,” Lecture by noted researchers Dr. Janine Barchas from The University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. Kristina Straub from Carnegie Mellon University, Laredo Center for the Arts. Followed by a reception.

Thursday, April 19, 7 p.m. – “An Evening with the Bard:  Performing Shakespeare Q&A” at 7:00 p.m. with actors and directors Vernon Carroll, Laredo Theater Guild International, and Dr. Gilbert Martínez, TAMIU, Student Center Theatre 236. 

Sunday, April 22, 7:30 p.m. – “Inspired by the Best: A Concert Based on the Works of Shakespeare and Cervantes,” with the Chamber Orchestra and Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of maestro Brendan Townsend, Center for the Fine and Performing Arts Recital Hall.

Monday, April 23, 12 – 3 p.m. – “A Celebration of Life and Letters:  Cervantes’ and Shakespeare’s Death-Day Anniversary,” presented by Sigma Tau Delta, Sigma Delta Pi, Club de Español Siglo XXI, 12 -  3 p.m. in Senator Judith Zaffirini Student Success Center, room 101.

Thursday, April 26, 12:30 – 2 p.m. – Student Research on Cervantes presented at the Lamar Bruni Vergara Academic Conference, Senator Judith Zaffirini Student Success Center, room 101.

Saturday, April 28, 3 p.m. – Presentation of the Silent Movie, “Othello,” with live accompaniment on the Sharkey Corrigan Organ by Dr. Colin Campbell, Center for the Fine and Performing Arts’ Recital Hall.

A dedicated “Cervantes & Shakespeare Go Pop Festival” website with a full calendar and more is located at http://www.tamiu.edu/newsinfo/cervantes-shakespeare-go-pop/

For additional information, contact the TAMIU Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 956.326.2180, email prmis@tamiu.edu or visit offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, 268. 

University information is also available on its social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.