Contemporary Shakespeare: Macbeth

Wednesday, February 23 | 12 PM PST

REGISTER

An ambitious, power-hungry couple. A trio of witches. Ghosts, regicide and hallucinations. Join us for an insightful and exciting conversation about the psychological effects of political ambition in Macbeth and the play’s ongoing relevance in television and film today.

Mary Hartman, Director of Education at Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, and Melissa Karmen Lee, Director of Education and Public Programs at the Vancouver Art Gallery, will delve into Akira Kurosawa’s iconic film Throne of Blood and Joel Coen’s new film The Tragedy of Macbeth, among other contemporary cultural markers and references to “The Scottish Play.”

In celebration of the exhibition For All Time: The Shakespeare FIRST FOLIO, the Vancouver Art Gallery launches Contemporary Shakespeare, a three-part webinar series on William Shakespeare’s plays. In 1606, during an outbreak of the bubonic plague when theatres were shuttered in England, Shakespeare wrote three of his most famous tragedies: King Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra. In recognition of the cyclical nature of history and our own global pandemic situation, in this series, we will take a closer look at the enduring relevance of these three works.

Simultaneous translation from English to Mandarin will be provided on Zoom.

This webinar series is being presented in collaboration with Bard on the Beach. The exhibition For All Time is co-organized by the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Art Gallery.

This talk will be presented on Zoom and streamed live to the Gallery’s Facebook account here »

Questions? Submit them during the Zoom presentation using the Q&A function. You can also engage with your fellow attendees and panelists during the event using the Chat function.

New to Zoom? Learn how to register and attend a webinar here »

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

As Director of Education at Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, Mary Hartman is responsible for design and development of programs for students, teachers, theatre professionals and the general public. These programs all have the mission of Bard Education in mind: to inspire community through dynamic, engaging experiences of the language, characters and plays of William Shakespeare. Hartman combines an academic background with experience as a professional actor, director and teaching artist to engage and inspire all sorts of learners through exploration and play.

Melissa Karmen Lee is the Director of Education and Public Programs at the Vancouver Art Gallery. She has written on seventeenth-century New World narratives, reconceptualizing domesticity and hospitality in such publications as Hospitality and Society, Canadian Literature and Journal of Asian Pacific Communication. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at Lancaster University on Literature and Visual Cultures.