"We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep," so said the Bard of Avon. He sleeps for centuries, yet his verses live on, braving the palls of time.
The First Year English Department of Loreto College, encouraged by their professors, came together to celebrate the 405th death anniversary of William Shakespeare, whose blessed quill has enthralled poets, playwrights and performers alike. On the evening of 27th April, 2021, students across departments immersed themselves in the poetic genius of Shakespeare.
Students were inspired by Mrs. Chakraborty to celebrate Shakespeare, while Dr. Banerjee provided them with reading materials, ideas and concepts that further enabled the students to plunge into the magic created four centuries ago. What was conceived as a humble tribute gradually became a platform of learning not just for students of English literature, but students from other departments as well, who responded to the works of the poet in their very own creative ways!
The event started with words in prayer by Sister Dr. Christine Coutinho, an invocation of the Almighty, followed by words of encouragement by Dr. Sumita Banerjee. "Why, this is very Midsummer Madness!" said the anchors, Muskaan Hossain and Somoshree Palit, giving the cue to Adrija Chatterjee of the English Department to begin with the rich sonnet of Shakespeare, "O Never Say That I Was False Of Heart," to which responded Tanushree Sengupta of the History Department with the famous "All The World‟s A Stage".
As "Every Why Hath a Wherefore," the students enacted 'The Comedy of Errors,' Act V. The actors included Husnal Kaur Makol, Snidhi Dhar, Aishi Saha, Neha Sen, Gargi Dey, Muskaan Hossain, Olivia Chakraborty, Shrestha Paul, Adrija Chatterjee, Dayita Samanta, Shriya Ganguly and Payel Ghosh from the English Department, while the cast list also had Arthita Mukhopadhyay and Anwwesha Chatterjee from the Economics and Psychology department respectively. What attracted the audience about the audio play were the almost professional voice modulations and artful acting on part of the students, and that too in an online medium.
"Ophelia, did you stare death in the eye, and did not flinch?" The very question remained answered, and yet unanswered in the poem, 'Ophelia's Lament' by Aishi Saha, followed by Prakriti Basu‟s heart-wrenching verse, "Ophelia." Niharika Upadhyay's "The Last Waltz", in honour of the Shakespearean Juliet, and Sunanda Basu's "To Shakespeare" honoured the Bard in their own beautiful ways.
Had Shakespeare's characters the freedom of personal expression, they might have written about their daily chores, but since they did not, Samriddhi Basu of the English Department armed herself with three journal entries. A little game was played post the soft melancholy of Ophelia and Juliet‟s fate, where the audience had to guess the characters being talked about from 'their' diary entries. Shylock, Brutus and Desdemona did not go unrecognized!
How could Shakespeare be experienced without a taste of 'the great Globe itself'? Sanjana Khullar, Mandira Acharyya, Bhagyashri Das, K. Ishanya, Debosree Manna, Debashrita Banerjee, Srestha Dutta and Somoshree Palit presented a musical play, "Umbra, or The Night They Missed Their Wings", written in iambic pentameter by Somoshree, with a self composed song. Shakespeare has often been called 'outdated' and even 'over-rated'. Through Shakespeare's very own characters, the students wanted to establish the youthful brilliance of the artist through his art, and his art, through the artist. Shakespeare's characters revolt against their creator, they themselves arrive to the conclusion, "For no might can remove what Shakespeare let be. I have given thee wings, with wings, alight!"
The evening came to a close with a vote of gratitude for the ones without whose support the event would not have been a success. The department had taken the initiative to celebrate William Shakespeare with an academic objective in mind; the evening closed with a renewed interest in the bard, his works, his life, and most importantly, his legacy. An interesting thing to note was the variance in the students' responses to Shakespeare and his characters. To some, Ophelia was a victim, to others, Ophelia stood for strength. To some, Brutus was a misguided betrayer, to others, Brutus was a patriot, striving to undo his wrongs.
Yet, to all, Shakespeare was the bard without a rival.
The students, still smiling with the reunion in the Comedy of Errors, wished the audience, still bewildered by the magic of Shakespeare, with a final goodbye.
Yet was it a 'goodbye' at all?
They said :
"Goodbye! Farewell! Adieu, sweet sorrow –
Let us not say adieu; say, 'Until good morrow!"
