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Shakespeare 450 International Conference closes



The last day of the Shakespeare 450 International Conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 3 was held at the Rustaveli National Theatre. The conference, dedicated to the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was organized by the Tbilisi State University (TSU) Centre for Shakespeare Studies and the Rustaveli National Theatre.
The morning sessions – held in the ornate small theatre - included an interpretation of Hamlet in T.S. Eliot’s literary theory by Temur Kobakhidze; a discussion on Robert Sturua’s direction of The Tempest by Manana Gelashvili; and Shakespeare’s theatre as time machine in Tom Stoppard’s play and film Rosencrantz and Guidenstern are Dead by David Maziashvili.
The afternoon session included the winning presentation and four best presentations of a student competition on Shakespeare’s influence on the Georgia stage. These included: Hamlet on Rustaveli Theatre stage; As You Like It: as I like it; a (Mid) Summer Night’s Dream: dream or reality; the direction of Richard III by Robert Sturua; and King Lear on Rustaveli Theatre stage. All five presentations were informative, interesting, and well-presented, reflecting the strong history of Shakespeare in the Georgian context.



The finale was a video-show of Shakespeare’s The Tempest directed by Georgian Robert Sturua (1938 - ) as it was performed in Moscow’s Et Cetera theatre in 2010. He is a highly respected director of Shakespeare, including Richard III (in London and Edinburgh in 1979-1980), Hamlet (in London in 1986, and in Tbilisi in 2001 and 2006), and King Lear (in New York in 1990). Sturua has staged 17 different Shakespeare dramas around the world, five of them at the Rustaveli Theatre.
Sturua’s version of The Tempest in Moscow includes Ariel “flying” on a wire, and a wall-scape motion video of the sea and the violent storm that shipwrecks Prospero’s enemies. The use of modern technologies only adds to the vivid characters’ and their mythical and mystical powers. As Sturua says, “This is a parable about a man who masters nature’s powers. He wanted to bring order into this world, but failed. And the only thing that remained was love” referring to Prospero finally relenting to his daughter Miranda’s wish to marry Ferdinand, the son of Prospero’s arch enemy.








MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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