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Lecture: King James Bible and Shakespeare


Globe Theatre

Globe Theatre

Why are the King James Bible and Shakespeare's plays, so strongly linked together in the popular imagination? Graham Holderness, Professor of English at Hertfordshire University, will consider this question when he gives the 2011 Sam Wanamaker Fellowship Lecture, at the Globe Theatre, tomorrow evening. The lecture begins at 7pm.

As a member of the Kings Men, Shakespeare in 1611 was a court actor and dramatist; and the new translation of the Bible was initiated as well as authorized by James himself. The translators were present when Shakespeare's plays were performed at court, and Shakespeare listened to their sermons. Yet a cultural Berlin Wall seems to have separated the worlds of pulpit and playhouse in which these twin masterpieces were generated. This has not stopped readers and writers of fiction from speculating imaginatively about how Shakespeare might have got involved in the translation of the King James Bible. The lecture will, in Professor Holderness's words, "explore the underlying reasons why the two books are continually, though not always rationally, interconnected."

The evening will conclude with a performance by Globe actors of Wholly Writ, a playlet written by Professor Holderness, which explores the relationship between Shakespeare and the King James Bible in fictional form.

The annual Sam Wanamaker Fellowship Lecture is given in honour of the American actor, director, and producer who founded the project to rebuild Shakespeare's Globe. Sam died in 1993 after 23 years of tireless campaigning, advancing research into the appearance of the original Globe and planning its reconstruction.

The Fellowship Lecture is part of a programme of events taking place at Shakespeare's Globe this summer to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. Other highlights include Diarmaid MacCulloch's examination of the life of the English reformer Thomas Cranmer in a lecture on Wednesday 31 August, presented in association with Southwark Cathedral.

The 2011 theatre season, The Word is God, runs at Shakespeare's Globe until 2 October. Booking is open now at
www.shakespearesglobe.com

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