Shakespeare's global communities: a research review of the 2012 World Shakespeare Festival

'Shakespeare's global communities' examines the current role Shakespeare plays in global theatrical and literary culture, taking the 2012 World Shakespeare Festival (WSF) as a core case study. Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), developed by major institutional partners such as Shakespeare's Globe and the British Museum, and funded through public and private initiatives related to the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, the WSF announces itself as 'a celebration of Shakespeare as the world's playwright' and brings together work from over 50 arts organizations from across the globe (http://www.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk/). 'Shakespeare's global communities' intends to both document and critically evaluate the creative performances and public initiatives that will be part of the WSF, questioning the way in which these activities influence or even reshape current understandings of Shakespeare as a shared cultural touchstone. While other academic projects have sought to analyse the ways in which different cultures interpret Shakespeare, the question of audience reception and interpretation of intercultural performances has received less attention. 'Shakespeare's global communities' will redress this balance by analysing the wider conversation that emerges from the WSF, analysing how the viewpoints of different communities of performers, translators, readers, and audience members all shape the significance and value Shakespeare holds for intercultural communities today. In order to achieve these ends, 'Shakespeare's global communities' includes three parts. First, it includes a research review of existing work on intercultural Shakespeare, paying particular attention to how the ideas of 'global culture' and 'community engagement' are being framed within the discourse of the Cultural Olympiad and the way in which Shakespeare fits into this picture. An important focus of the review will be on the ways in which new communications technologies have influenced the creation of different global communities related to Shakespeare. The second part of the project will build on this emphasis, creating a new online platform in partnership with The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) (http://www.shakespeare.org.uk/home.html) and Misfit, Inc. (http://misfit-inc.com/) that will allow for reviews of and reactions to WSF performances to be posted by a variety of community stakeholders, including theatre practitioners, academics, audience members, and representatives of cultural institutions. The primary source material generated from the platform will form part of the permanent archive of the WSF that will be hosted by The SBT, and it will also inform the directions the scoping study takes in suggesting areas for further research. Thirdly, the project will include two one-day workshops in which members of the core collaborative team will meet in person to discuss WSF performances. Because of the size and scope of the initiatives it is necessary to assemble a networked team of 16 researchers to attend WSF performances, post 'provocations' on the online platform for these performances, and facilitate the broader conversations that will take place. At the workshops members of the team will share findings and reflections from different parts of the WSF, and audio podcasts of this work in progress will be linked to the central online platform so as to continue informing the debate. The end result of 'Shakespeare's global communities' will be a thorough review of where academic work is now on the question of Shakespeare as catalyst for global community building, particularly in a digital age, as well as the way in which the primary material collected from the unique event of the WSF furthers our understanding of how different members of such communities understand the value of public-sector community engagement.