The ubiquity of story telling is that it is the expression of everything it is to be human.
There have been few better an exponent of the written word than the cornerstone of English literature, William Shakespeare. Through tragedies, comedies and romance, the late 16th and early 17th century poet and playwright blessed the world with eternal tales of power, revenge, fate and love. His characters have graced the stages of the world, tongue-tying high school learners in the process.
The last weeks around the end of April hold in them hidden significance as Shakespeare is believed to have been born and to have passed on in the same week, separated by 52 years. To mark the occasion, The King’s School Discovery held their Shakespeare Day on 21 April, where learners donned their finest Elizabethan-era attire and performed a series of short plays and soliloquies as a tribute to England’s national poet.
“We know the characters so well. The themes he wrote about are still relevant today and those themes also align with the teaching of God. We sit here today to celebrate and recognise his contribution to literature,” said principal, Andre Berrange. With the assistance of a group of senior learners, the day was spearheaded by English teacher David Kandemiri who encouraged learners to embrace the messages and lessons contained in Shakespeare’s work.
Written in the language of the time, the spellbinding flow of the words has the ability to transmute the passions, either enchanting the heart or igniting the temper. As long as his majesty is taught and revered, civilisation shall endure. As Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon epitaph reads, “Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones.”
