Art Smitten: Reviews - 2016

Saturday April 23, 2016 marked 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare, and exactly 452 years since his birth. You have to appreciate the perfect symmetry of being born and being taken on the same day of the year, apparently due to some overzealous celebrating at his favourite pub. It also gives his global fanbase a reason to have two big celebrations each century. The latest of these, held at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, is now being screened at Cinema Nova up until Wednesday May 18, accompanied by a short film about the history of these celebrations, which announces an intention to be more than just a collection of the bard's best known couplets and soliloquies. This gala is also a showcase of his extraordinary influence across so many different artforms. For instance, it was no surprise to get a performance of the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet, with Mariah Gale as a particularly histrionic Juliet, but what I wasn't expecting was to see that same scene then danced by the Royal Ballet, with a