Shakespeare Exhibition, 1-2 September 2016-Chennai

SBOA SCHOOL & JUNIOR COLLEGE, CHENNAI

SHAKESPEARE LIVES – 2016

Exhibition on 1^st& 2^nd September 2016

Mrs. Rajeswari Menon

An exuberant exhibition was conducted to honour ‘The Wizard of Words’ – William Shakespeare on his 400^th death centenary year by the SBIOA Educational Trust on 1^st& 2^nd of September 2016 in SBOA School & Junior College.

The inaugural session had a great start with the Presidential address by Mr.R. Balaji , Associate Secretary, SBIOA Educational Trust. Dr. Mangaiyarkarasi, National Co-ordinator – ELTAI highlighted the session – ‘Why we celebrate Shakespere?’ The inaugural address  was by Mr. Neil Sarkar, Head, English Language Centre, British Council, South India. Mr. G. Olivannan, CEO Emerald Publishers, Founder President of Chennai Literary Association & Book Club of India, gave his key note address.

Dr. Archana Saldana – HOD, Dept. of English, Anna Adarsh College for Women and Dr. D. Thomas Franco RajendraDev, Secretary & Correspondent SBIOA Educational Trust enlightened with their special address.

Dr. S. Rajagopalan, Patron – ELTA, Dr. SrimathiKesan, Director, Space Kids India, Mr. Bharathi Krishna Kumar, Writer and Director felicitated the session with their awe-inspiring thoughts.

The exhibits were displayed in 15 rooms. SBOA School & Junior College and Global School focused on the Life history of Shakespeare, Globe Theatre, and Amusement Arcade with enlightening games and puppet shows. The supernatural characters in The Mystique in the Mastermind, Shakespeare’s Garden of Emotions captivated the attention of the audience. Hindi, Tamil and French Dept. also displayed the great works of Shakespeare in a very effective manner through their exhibits, models and acting skills.

SBOA Mat. & Hr. Sec. School Chennai made the birds sing, hearts woo, souls cry and tempers grow through their depiction of Shakespeare’s art in this exhibition. SBIOA Model Mat. & Hr. Sec. School impressed the public with their Shakespeare themed Restaurant with a perspective to cater not to the need of taste buds but to please those with a penchant for literature and gave a panoramic view of Shakespeare which invited the applause of the audience.

Various competitions like Quiz , Mono acting, and Enacting Scenes from Shakespeare’s plays were conducted. Many schools and few colleges took part in the competitions. Medals were awarded to the prize winners and Trophiess to the winning schools.

The enactment of  scenes from The  Merchant of Venice,Julius Ceaser,King Lear ,Two gentlemen of Verona and Othello brought to life the richness of the Bards literary skills.

Putting together an exhibition of this kind was not just a challenge to the organization skills of the students and teachers but also gave the students an insight into the debt we owe the Bard for his contribution to English and that apart from the wealth of plays and poems he wrote , a number of idioms and phrases in common use today, are his gifts to the language.

In an age where Science exhibitions were the norm for schools ,this exhibition came as a breath of fresh air.

We are grateful to Dr.S.Rajagopalan ,Patron of ELTAI for giving us this opportunity to conduct this great event and Dr. Mangai Wilson ,National Co-ordinator ELTAI for her  support .

The exhibition is a  proof that Shakespeare Lives even in 2016 Four hundred years after his death.