Celebrate Shakespeare at Olin

Olin Business School is bringing celebrated poet and playwright William Shakespeare to the Washington University campus. On April 23, the business school will host a new event—“Shakespeare at Olin”—to celebrate the Bard of Avon’s 453rd birthday.

Free and open to the public, this event will include a variety of performances of scenes from Shakespearean plays, including Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Much Ado about Nothing, Twelfth Night, and Henry V, as well as from Shakespeare-inspired operas Otello and Falstaff and the musicals Kiss Me Kate and Something Rotten.

The performances will be produced in conjunction with Washington University’s Performing Arts Department, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, The Black Rep, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Ghost Lights, as well as Olin’s own dramatic society, The Dean’s Players.

“Shakespeare at Olin” is the brainchild of Olin Business School’s Dean Mark P. Taylor, a native of Great Britain and longtime Shakespeare aficionado and scholar. Along with his degrees in economics and finance, Taylor holds a master’s degree in English Renaissance and Romantic Literature. He is a contributor to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s edition of King John.

Shakespeare at Olin will take place on Mudd Field on Sunday, April 23, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Attendees will enjoy additional entertainment and Elizabethan-themed refreshments. For more information or to register, visit olin.wustl.edu/Shakespeare.

In addition to performances by The Dean’s Players, here are some highlights of the event:

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) will present internationally known opera singers Rena Harms and Christopher Magiera, from the cast of OTSL’s upcoming Madame Butterfly, to perform.

“Shakespeare at Olin” is part of the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis’s annual SHAKE 38, a five-day event that attracts more than 1,500 artists across the region.

The Washington University Performing Arts Department will put on a “command performance” of scenes from its modern take on Macbeth, which was performed at the Edison Theatre this winter.

Washington University’s Department of Music will provide Elizabethan period music and excerpts of classical music inspired by the works of William Shakespeare. The Renaissance consort of violin, lute/guitar, and violoncello will play arrangements by Professor William Lenihan.