Prof. Dr. Ömer Sekerci and Dr. İlker Özçelik of Suleyman Demirel University organized the “1st Shakespeare Festival” in Turkey and the “2nd International Conference on English Language and Literature” which took place April 20-30, 2018 in Isparta, Turkey. Productions of Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, and others were performed. Municipal theatres staged “Tarla Kuşuydu Juliet,” “Maskbet,” and Müsadenle Shakespeare,” private theatres staged “Selam Sana Shakespeare” and “Twitter Fenomeni Romeo, Instagirl Juliet,” and “Romeo and Juliet Ballet” was performed by the Turkish State Opera and Ballet. Some of Shakespeare’s sonnets were read aloud during one of the sessions, and an exhibition of Shakespeare ceramics was also on display. The conference aims to bring students and academics together from all over the world with Shakespeare being this year’s conference theme.
Peter S. Donaldson, Ford International Professor in the Humanities at MIT, was invited to speak at the conference and delivered a talk via Skype on April 24th entitled: Global Shakespeare, Linking Archives, and the “Living Variorum.” Other notable speakers included Sir Stanley Wells and Stephen Greenblatt.
