To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Roma Capitale and the three state universities of Rome: Sapienza University of Rome, Roma Tre University, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” promote several coordinated events devoted to the great playwright and the resonance of ancient Rome throughout his work.
The international conference Shakespeare and the Memory of Rome, the very heart and scientific focus of this project, concentrates on Shakespeare’s ‘Roman’ plays and works (Titus Andronicus, The Rape of Lucrece, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Cymbeline). The conference highlights the profound significance of ancient Rome within the Shakespearean corpus where it functions not only as a physical or historical place, but chiefly as the emblem of the world and worldwide stage. The conference will analyse the role of Rome as a cluster of tensions between past and present, an expression of the complex dynamics of memory, an almost obsessive parental figure, both desired and denied.
With a view to creating a coherent experience inspired with scientific rigour, creativity and public participation, several events have been planned around the conference, from the 7th to the 20th of April. They include theatre, cinema, concerts, exhibitions.
The Conference will open at the Capitol, Julius Caesar Hall, on the 13th of April 2016, with the inaugural conference of Stephen Greenblatt (Harvard University),“’The Noblest Roman of Them All’: Shakespeare’s Interiority and the Secret Life of the Stage”.
