Shakespeare Lives through Kenneth Branagh on Stage and Screen
For Cruinniú na nÓg 2018 we have an Exhibition and workshops at the Museum of Childhood Ireland office.
Few have done more to celebrate and popularise the work of Shakespeare than actor and director, Kenneth Branagh, born in Belfast in December 1960. From his early days at RADA Drama School to his present theatrical work, Branagh’s name has been closely intertwined with that of the Bard.
This exhibition celebrates Kenneth Branagh’s remarkable – and prolific – career which has seen him breathe new life into Shakespeare on stage and screen, and open up the work of Shakespeare to a global audience. It features rarely seen artefacts from the Sir Kenneth Branagh Archive in Special Collections, the McClay Library at Queen’s University Belfast, which illustrate the actor-director’s remarkable Shakespearean career, from his debut as Henry V with the Royal Shakespeare Company aged just 23 to his Oscar-nominated screen adaptation of Hamlet, and beyond.
The exhibition will travel to various locations across Ireland and Northern Ireland throughout the year.
For more information on the exhibition contact Liz McBain at the British Council, Ireland:
https://www.britishcouncil.ie/contact
Shakespeare Updates: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2070640/Mystery-William-Shakespeare-cowriter-and-critic-solved-433-years
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/world/europe/shakespeare-sonnet-oxford-discovery.html
Macbeth, Video Game
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/may/22/shakespeare-cannes-first-video-game-lili-macbeth-rsc
‘Shakespeare Lives Across the Island of Ireland: Conversations and Celebrations‘
Is an unprecedented programme of events in Ireland and Northern Ireland celebrating the work of William Shakespeare (1564–1616) and commemorating the enduring appeal of the Bard 400 years after his death.
https://www.britishcouncil.ie/events/shakespeare-lives-through-kenneth-branagh-stage-screen
Exhibition Curation and Text: Rosaleen Hickey
Exhibition Consultant: Prof. Mark Thornton Burnett, QUB
Thanks to: Special Collections, the McClay Library, Queen’s University Belfast
Supported by: The GREAT campaign
We are delighted to announce that Cynthia Martin, a current PhD candidate in modern Shakespeare adaptation in the School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen’s University, Belfast, will join Majella McAllister from the Museum of Childhood Ireland to present a travelling exhibition and (free) accompanying workshops on the exhibition to students, on the utility of using film adaptation to study Shakespeare.
“I’m delighted to have succeeded in bringing this wonderful initiative to Dúnlaoghaire, and to announce that creative workshops on writing DRAMA! will follow weekly throughout the coming year each Tuesday evening at 7pm for 12-18 year olds, in our dedicated room at 94, Lower George’s St., Dúnlaoghaire. Free, but booking advised as we are unfortunately limited by space to 25 students: info@museumofchildhood.ie
“It was so lovely meeting the museum team yesterday and to get to know the children in your community. What a remarkable museum. Below are a few links to some of the productions I introduced in the workshop.”
Cynthia Martin, QUB.
RWANDA & JULIET is a feature-length documentary that follows ivy league professor emeritus Andrew Garrod to Kigali, Rwanda, where he mounts Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with Rwandan college students from both Hutu and Tutsi backgrounds. Twenty years have passed since the 1994 Genocide that left 1,000,000 Tutsis dead. Predominantly orphans, the cast of young Rwandans, led by a stunning, strong headed Juliet, tackle their country’s past and their own future as hopes, expectations, pasts, personalities and cultures collide as opening night approaches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdhrjzbxm4M
Shakespeare in Zaatari:
| Shakespeare in Zaatari Trailer – YouTube www.youtube.com Documentary film is about Syrian children in the biggest refugees camp in Jordan “Zaatari. Two years ago they performed two shakespeare’s plays “Hamlet” and … |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2kr5wV_AiQ
Shakespeare Behind Bars:
| Shakespeare Behind Bars Trailer www.youtube.com Shakespeare Behind Bars Trailer |
The British Council, Ireland.
School of Arts, English, and Languages,
Queen’s University, Belfast.
The Museum of Childhood Ireland.
Contact: Majella McAllister
mmcallister@museumofchildhood.ie
