'Shakespeare 400' hits Ottawa, and the play's not the only thing

Let's party like its 1616! It's time to set the stage for Shakespeare 400.

Puppets, pub crawls, music, a symposium, a gala, AlecGuinness's sword ... they'll all play a role as Ottawa prepares to markthe 400th anniversary of the death ofWilliam Shakespeare.

Has there ever lived an artist with a keener eye forwhat haunts the human heart? Who better understood the forces that drive acts of passion, betrayal, jealousyandthe 'slings and arrows'of unabashed love? Who has had such a profound influence on our language and culture?

Four centuries after his death, William Shakespeare'sinfluence is undiminished. His plays arethe most performed, most translated of all time. On movie screens, smart phones, stages and classrooms around the world, his workstill speaks to us.

"I think he is such a rich artist, there's so much, that everyone has their own Shakespeare," saidIrene Makaryk, a professor atthe University of Ottawa."He looks into people's hearts. He's able to inhabit so many different characters, every spectrum of human experience."

400 ways to celebrate the Bard

Beginning in January, Ottawa will revel in bardolatry, celebrating the ongoing influence of Shakespeareand his impact on the arts in Canada. The University of Ottawa has set itself the ambitious goal of inspiring 400 events in every artistic disciplines, with a major symposium planned for April the month of the Bard's birth and death.

Highlights includea recital of new musical works inspired by the Bard, a mock trial of Hamletand an exhibition showcasing the theatrical history of Shakespeare in Canada, including the sword Alex Guinness swung in Richard III when he first performed atthe then-fledgling Stratford Festival.

Opening gala

Canadian actors Paul Gross and Martha Burns will headline an evening of performanceand music at the University of Ottawa's gala launch ofShakespeare 400.The husband and wife duo will act out scenes fromThe Taming of the ShrewandHenry V, followed by a medley of melodies inspired by Shakespeareeverything from show tunes to Elizabethan ballads,performed bythe University's School of Music alumni.

CBC Radio's resident Puck, Alan Neal, will play host.

The galatakes place Saturday, Jan. 23, inFreimanHall atPrezHallonthe University of Ottawa campus.

Twelfth Night at the NAC

Madcap shenanigans, crazed cross-dressing and loopy love triangles. Twelfth Night endures as one of the Bard's most popular romantic comedies.Throw in the ingenious re-imagining ofCalgary's Old Trout Puppet Workshop, which has been toiling behind the scenes to create the sets, props and costumes, and the National Arts Centre's upcoming reinvention of this play's the thing.

The NAC ensemble performs Twelfth Night Jan. 20 toFeb. 6.

Shakespeare on the silver screen

Check out the varied film adaptations of Shakespeare's talesat the ByTowne Cinema running throughout January andFebruary.

Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard star as the murderous marrieds in the latest bloody version of Macbeth. Sunny California is the setting for Joss Whedon's contemporary adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing.

Legendary director Akira Kurosawa adapted King Lear, setting the story in16thcentury Japan in his classic Ran. And fans of Star Trek and Doctor Who can munch popcorn whilewatching David Tennant and Patrick Stewart face off in the Royal Shakespeare Company's version of Hamlet.