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Shakespeare & Beyond

Shakespeare in Argentina

Shakespeare in Argentina
Shakespeare in Argentina
Shakespeare in Argentina

The author with the bust of William Shakespeare in El Rosedal Park, Buenos Aires, 2016.

Why is Argentina engaging with Shakespeare? How is Shakespeare used to comment on post-dictatorship and post-colonial society? What does Shakespeare ‘mean’ in Argentina? What does that say about Argentina, and what does that say about Shakespeare?

Argentine society is still recovering from the collective trauma of the human rights violations committed during the last dictatorship (1976-83). Since 1983, Shakespeare’s plays have played a role in securing a new democratic culture. Directors will emphasize deception and corruption in Richard III, Iago, and other villainous characters in order to criticize existing political problems. Political turmoil and economic problems are key features in Argentine Shakespeare productions. Alternatively, a director may present a play set in a world free from Argentina’s political problems, such as the utopian forest of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Shakespeare is present in all aspects of the public sphere in Argentina. Politicians, journalists, film and television makers, actors, educators, academics, theatre directors, authors, radio broadcasters, cartoonists, sculptors, festival organizers, and graffiti artists all use Shakespeare. Recent translations of Shakespeare into Argentine Spanish (published by Norma Editorial) suggest that Shakespeare’s inclusion in Argentine society will only increase. Archival research and audience response questionnaires have revealed that the plays most often studied and performed in Argentina are Hamlet, Othello, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and King Lear, and, often for children, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

  1. Sergio Amigo, Lecture: Shakespeare en el teatro, University of Buenos Aires, 22 April 2016.
  2. Barnett, Adam, and Simon Deeley, ‘Argentina in Therapy’, 2009 <http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/play/11176/Argentina-in-Therapy> [accessed 19 November 2015].

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FSA is proud to have oriented Marianne and contributed to her deep research in Buenos Aires. To learn more about Shakespeare in Argentina visit our Website www.shakespeareargentina.org

Fundación Shakespeare Argentina (FSA) — January 8, 2018