By: C.M. Paul
Kalamassery, Kerala : A school in Kochi, commercial capital of southern India state of Kerala marked 400th death anniversary of William Shakespeare by staging 14 of his sonnets for their annual school day, 16 December 2016.The programme was christened “14 x 14 x 14 = 400.”
“It is a proud moment for us to remember and celebrate 400 years of Shakespeare’s legacy on the 14th Annual School Day by exploring 14 themes from 14 of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets,” said director of St Paul’s International School at Kalamassery Dr (Fr) Douglas Pinheiro addressing the parents at the school’s annual day.
William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatis.
A sonnet is a poem written in iambic pentameter with expressive thought or idea made up of 14 lines, each being 10 syllables long. Its rhymes are arranged according to three quatrains followed by a rhyming couplet.
Some 100 students, sang, recited, dramatized and danced the sonnets underscoring perennial themes of love, power, ambition, loyalty, mercy, justice and guilt from Shakespearean plays as varied as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, Merchant of Venice and Julius Caesar.
St. Paul’s International School (SPIS) Kalamassery established on 5th May 2003, under the management of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly, is a doyen in the field of quality education.
While Archbishop Francis Kallarackal of Verapoly and patron of SPIS gave the inaugural address, Vice Chancellor of national University of Advanced Law Studies at Kalamassery Prof (Dr) Rose Varghese was the Chief Guest.