“To be or not to be…”

“If music be the food of love…”

“Parting is such a sweet sorrow…”

From these few words, most of us would recognize these as Shakespeare’s time-old lyrics. Shakepeare’s rhythmic writing, ironic symbols, and delicately plotted scenes embed in every reader’s heart. No matter how the centuries that have passed since Shakespeare’s manuscripts were published, audiences today are still moved, touched, and inspired by his words.

The 8th of November 2023 marked the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio, the collection of his plays. As Shakespeare is one of the most critical authors in the Groton English curriculum, his plays being a required reading for students Second through Fifth Form, the school has crafted its own way to celebrate Shakespeare’s greatness.

Shakespeare’s impact is prominent among both student and faculty readers in the Groton community. As English Department Head Ms. Sravani Sen-Das said, “Through reading King Lear during my last year in high school, I learned so much about power and love, words and silence.” Even when she encounters issues or when she is at a crossroad in life now, she still turns back to this book as guidance. Dance and Theater Department Head Ms. Laurie Sales also expressed how influential seeing King Lear live was to her: “King Lear discussed so many things about power and love,” she said. “Walking out of the theater that day, I felt my world being rocked.”

To celebrate the theatricality of Shakespeare’s verses, the English department hosted a recitation contest on January 8, 2024 in the Black Box of the Campbell Center for Performing Arts. Seventeen students performed their favorite sonnets in the black box, some solo and others in groups. Before the performances, Ms. Sen-Das said, “I cannot tell you how excited I am. Seeing young imaginative and creative voices reciting Shakespeare will be incredible. I am so glad that they are doing it for the fun of it.”

After the event, Upper School contest winner Jessica Shapiro ‘26 echoed a similar gratitude: “It was a really incredible experience, not just the contest itself, but learning the speech and dissecting the language.” Arthur Murray ‘26, the Upper School runner up, conveyed, “After the performance, I was sitting with my prefect, Griffin Gura, who also performed, and we both felt excited and accomplished.” They both expressed that there should be even more contests similar to this one in the future.

The Groton theater program also offered two Shakespeare workshops for students interested in acting in his play. While the theater program usually assembles a whole Shakespearean play, this is the first time that Ms. Sales tried to teach the students acting in such a short time. Ms. Sales, deeply inspired, said, “it was fascinating seeing short sonnets coming into life, this is the true meaning of Shakespeare.”

In the library, Library Director Mr. Mark Melchior displayed materials about Shakespeare’s life and legacy, such as books analyzing the historical background and word choices for various Shakespearean plays and a paper that English teacher Dr. Sabrina Gilchrist, a scholar for Shakespearean alliteration, published. For entertainment, Mr. Melchior set up a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle named The World of Shakespeare depicting 16th-century London.

Outside of the classroom, students who are deeply intrigued by the beauty of Shakespeare initiated various activities reminiscing about Shakespeare. The Literary Club, based on the theme of love, read Shakespeare’s sonnets together with interested students. Moreover, the Film Club showed the movie “10 Things About You” based on The Taming of the Shrew in the black box of the Groton theater.

Our shared experiences of reading Shakespeare’s works have shaped the Groton community to become more close-knit and creative. Moreover, his whimsical tone has brought infinite joy to the classrooms. Shakespeare is significant as his writing is breathing and helping people to find solutions in dilemmas even after 400 years.