As an English Literature student, I am of course no stranger to William Shakespeare. However, I have never experienced his work explored in such a unique way. This event, part of The Visual Shakespeare Project, opened my eyes to the importance of making the arts more interdisciplinary.
The corridor leading up to the entrance to the event was lined with easels displaying beautiful paintings. I immediately recognised several of Shakespeare’s plays, including Hamlet, King Lear and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At this point, I was unaware of how these paintings would fit into the event, but soon all would be revealed.
The event featured artist Iain Will, actors Rodolphe Fonty, Chelsea LeSage and Christopher Commander, and Shakespeare Society, who all came together to create an immersive event celebrating Shakespeare’s work. Helena Cox, the first University Art Curator, opened the event by informing the audience about art projects around campus such as the exhibitions in the Spring Lane Building and the infamous ‘Long Boiology’ art trail.
Cox then handed over to Rodolphe Fonty, who explained the vision behind the Visual Shakespeare Project. The project hopes to unite the visual and performing arts to celebrate the plays of William Shakespeare. Rodolphe then began an interview with Iain Will, the artist behind the paintings I had seen on my way in.
The audience learned that each of Iain’s paintings conflate many different scenes from a Shakespeare play in order to create a canvas that encapsulates the full story. In this way, looking at his paintings is a theatrical experience of sorts. But the part of Iain’s process I found most interesting is that he paints his Shakespearean figures live after seeing the play performed. Therefore, each painting not only captures Shakespeare’s script, but also a specific performance witnessed by the artist. The poses portrayed in paint were actually struck in real life during a performance. I found this concept fascinating, and it seems to me that Iain’s paintings are strikingly vivid as a result.
Next, Fonty gave a short lecture about art and ekphrasis in Shakespeare, which I found particularly interesting. His talk was punctuated by readings from Shakespeare, one of which was from Hamlet, given by Christopher Commander, a theatre actor. His performance was excellent, as was the following scene from Timon of Athens acted by Rodolphe and Jack Mackay.
During the brief interval, the audience were encouraged to return to the foyer to examine Iain’s paintings again. After hearing Iain’s talk, I could appreciate the structure of his art much more better. On first inspection, the paintings are all so well thought-out that I hadn’t noticed they are actually a collage of scenes from each play. But as I looked at them with fresh eyes, I could pick out the different elements of the plays I am familiar with. Iain’s art is an entire performance captured on one canvas.
In the second half, the audience witnessed performances from various Shakespeare plays by Rodolphe, Christopher and various members of Shakespeare Society. Whilst we watched the performances, Iain was sketching the scene, his progress projected up onto the big screen. In this way, we witnessed first hand the process Iain undertakes when creating a painting. I particularly enjoyed Act I, Scene 7 from Macbeth, performed by Nick Clark and Freya Leadbetter, who truly embodied their characters. And of course, I can’t forget Rodolphe and Christopher’s hilarious rendition of a section of Henry V. Their performances as Princess Katherine of France and her lady-in-waiting Alice had me and everyone else in fits of laughter- no mean feat when the entire scene is in French!
During each performance, Iain displayed his painting of the corresponding play in the background. Combined with his live drawing of the actors, the audience witnessed live before our eyes the aim of The Visual Shakespeare Project: to unite the visual and performing arts. Bringing together these two disciplines, which tend to be seen as entirely separate, was incredibly effective.
As I walked out of the event into the brisk night air, I knew the event had given me an entirely new perspective on Shakespeare. I am used to studying the language of his plays, yet Iain, Rodolphe and the other contributors highlighted the significance of the visual side to theatre. ‘Shakespeare in Words and Pictures’ left me considering the importance of uniting different aspects of the arts, rather than dividing them up.
Writer’s Note: ‘Shakespeare in Words and Pictures’ took place on 18 April 2024 as part of The Visual Shakespeare Project.
