The inaugural “The Shakespeare Literary Festival” took place on Thursday at the university’s Malviya Hall, presented by the English and Modern European Languages department of Lucknow University (LU). The performance was an attempt to demonstrate many facets of William Shakespeare’s dramatic technique. It was distinguished by an outstanding display of ability by the department’s pupils.
Maxwell, Vineet The initial iteration of the event was introduced by David, a department faculty member. Then came the portrayals of various situations and characters from Shakespeare’s plays. While Sachin Pandey recounted Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, Shashwat Pandey performed Mark Antony’s speech from “Julius Caesar,” “Friends, Romans, Countrymen.”
While Mansi Yadav played the part of Julius Caesar, Gargi Dwivedi played Calpurnia, the latter’s wife. Kathak performance by Manya Jain featured a gripping recitation of Lady Macbeth’s letter from Macbeth. ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in Urdu was played out by Areeb Zehra and Puneet Pathak. ‘Othello’s’ “It is the cause Othello” speech was delivered by Rajkumar Singh. Following this came a touching dance performance by Shubhangi Soni, who recreated the sleepwalking sequence from “Macbeth” to a classical melody.
“Oh what a mind here is overthrown” from Ophelia’s statement in Hamlet was played by Mansi. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 was recited by Anupam Kumar. The moving gravedigger scene from “Hamlet” was then performed in Urdu by Khalid Quyoom Paray and Alina Nasir. Rosalind’s monologue from “As You Like It,” “So Was I When Your Highness Took His Dukedom,” was performed by Sonia Chhimwal.
Shakespeare’s sonnet 156 from Baang e Dare, which was translated into Urdu by Dr. Mustansir Mir, was recited by Umme Kulsoom. ‘Hamlet’s’ mesmerizing “To be or not to be” soliloquy was delivered by Jyotirmoy Joshi. Shakespeare-inspired original poetry “Bard of Avon” by Kaushiki Singh was read aloud.
‘The Merchant of Venice’s’ Portia was played by Sanchali Raj. Yagya Gupta gave a traditional dance performance. ‘Macbeth’s’ witch from Alina Nasir’s performance. The crowd was mesmerized by the kids’ and researchers’ captivating performances. The vote of gratitude was given by Prof. Meenakshi Pawha.
Prof. Alok Kumar Rai, vice chancellor of the LU, Prof. Arvind Awasthi, and Prof. Poonam Tandon, dean of students’ welfare, were also present. The guests were greeted by Prof. M. Priyadarshini, head of the English department.
The department of English and Modern European Languages’ journal, Rhetorica, officially launched its third volume at the occasion as well.
