The new Edgartown library will kick off its adult programming schedule with a tribute to the bard this week. “Will Power,” a weeklong series of Shakespeare-related events, will include film and opera screenings, a performance by local troupe Shakespeare for the Masses, and a concert of Renaissance music.
All of the events will take place in the library’s new program room, which features a state-of-the-art video system and seating for up to 100 people.
It’s an appropriate festival for a library to host, a tribute to one of the greatest writers of the English language. The date is significant: April 23 is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. The festival runs from Sunday, April 24, through Saturday, April 30, with at least one event each day of the week.
On Sunday, the festival kicks off with a screening of Verdi’s great opera “Falstaff.” Monday through Thursday, the library will host double-feature screenings of film versions of Shakespeare’s plays. The selection will cover eight plays from the bard’s portfolio, including a sampling of comedies and dramas from different decades, with a focus on the greatest hits.
The films include Franco Zeffirelli’s lush 1968 version of “Romeo and Juliet,” which won Academy Awards for cinematography and costume design, and was the last Shakespearean film to be nominated for Best Picture. The library will also show more recent renditions, such as the 2015 adaptation of “Macbeth” starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard.
There were dozens of films to choose from, but library programming director Virginia Munro based her final decisions on authenticity. “I mixed it up,” Ms. Munro said. “It was very hard to get it down to what I got it down to. What I tried to do was to show something that would be close to a traditional treatment of the play as possible.”
She mentions that though there are some great adaptations that stray from the original setting, language, or construction, the goal was to present versions that anyone — even those unfamiliar with the stories — could follow.
Among the selections, audiences will get a chance to witness some of the greatest British Shakespearean actors of the 20th and 21st centuries including (of course) Laurence Olivier in 1983’s “King Lear.” “I think it is the finest Lear that’s ever been filmed, and Olivier’s best performance ever,” Ms. Munro said.
Ms. Munro is well equipped to curate the festival, with a background in theater and literature. “I studied a lot of Shakespeare, and I lived in England for a while,” she said. “I like Shakespeare in all his iterations. I’m not necessarily a traditionalist. I want people to get into it.”
The lineup should provide a good Shakespeare 101 experience, as well as entertainment. “I really want to have fun, but I also want there to be an educational component,” Ms. Munro said. “I don’t mean educational in a boring didactic way, but more incidentally educational.”
The film screenings will give Ms. Munro a chance to show off the new program room and its advanced technology. The room is equipped with a 12-foot screen, surround-sound speakers, and a projector with the capability of playing play Blu-ray films, as well as region 2 releases (films specifically coded for European distribution that cannot be played on the average U.S. DVD player. “This will allow me to play some things that I’ve picked up in England,” Ms. Munro said, mentioning one of the upcoming Shakespeare films, “Twelfth Night,” directed by Trevor Nunn and starring Helena Bonham Carter.
The new space should also prove ideal for the two live performances that will round out the festival. “It’s got great acoustics,” Ms. Munro said.
On Saturday, the Duo Marchand from New York will present a program of traditional Renaissance music. The two members, soprano and historical harper Marcia Young and lutist Andy Rutherford, have performed at the the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters, the New York Public Library, and the New York Botanical Gardens.
“They will be doing songs from Shakespeare and songs from that period,” said Ms. Munro, who is a longtime fan of early music.
And, of course, what celebration of the bard would be complete without a performance by the Vineyard’s own Shakespeare for the Masses? On Friday, the original adaptation and acting troupe will present a staged reading of “The Taming of the Shrew,” starring Chelsea McCarthy and Chris Roberts as the battling couple.
The festival will launch a full year-round schedule of programming for the new library. Ms. Munro will continue her themed movie series with an upcoming program of epic films (taking advantage of the new big screen and superior sound system).
Ms. Munro is excited about the possibilities the new expanded library will provide, including the option of moving the popular summer Tuesday-night concerts on the lawn indoors if necessary.
“Will Power — A Celebration of Shakespeare” will run from Sunday, April 24, through Saturday April 30. For more information, call 508-627-4221 or visit edgartownlibrary.org.