The ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project invites you to ‘a great feast of languages’ and the world premiere of World’s Stage, a multilingual celebration of Birmingham, Brummies and their Shakespeare, in five acts.

Created by 27:31 and Creative Multilingualism as part of the ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project and featuring a company of 140 multilingual Brummies, World’s Stage premieres at a special online event on Wednesday 3 February at 7pm.

World’s Stage is a series of seven short films made with community performers using almost all of the 93 languages that are reflected in the Shakespeare Collection at the Birmingham Shakespeare Memorial Library.

Daniel Tyler-McTighe, a freelance theatre-maker, educator and director of 27:31, collaborated with BAFTA-winning film-makers John Roddy (Audio Basement) and Ollie Walton (Fix8Films Ltd) and co-manager Laura Killeen (General Manager, The Playhouse) to create the films.

The ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project is an ambitious celebration of one of the UK’s most important cultural assets: the Birmingham Shakespeare Memorial Library – the first great Shakespeare library in the world, and the only great Shakespeare collection which belongs to all the people of a city.

A collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City Council, with funding contributed by National Lottery Heritage Fund and History West Midlands, ‘Everything to Everybody’ will give this uniquely democratic Shakespeare heritage back to people and communities across Birmingham.

World’s Stage is co-funded by the ‘Everything to Everybody’ Project and Creative Multilingualism/Multilingual Performance Project (AHRC, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Reading University, Birmingham City University, Pittsburgh University and School of Oriental and Asian Studies, London).

Approximate running order

7-7.15pm

Welcome and overview of 'Everything to Everybody' by Professor Ewan Fernie

Overview of the World’s Stage project and introductions to the team by Daniel Tyler-McTighe

7.15-7.50pm

Introduction to the films

Film 1 - Act I: Speaking, Scene 1: A great feast of languages

Film 2 - Act I: Speaking, Scene 2: What is the city but the people?

Film 3 - Act II: Learning

Film 4 - Act III: Owning, Scene 1: Glorify the banks that bound them

Film 5 - Act III: Owning, Scene 2: This island’s mine

Film 6 - Act IV: Loving, Scene 1: Yellow stockings, Scene 2: Purple Flower

Film 7 - Act V: Living

7.50-8.15pm

Q&A

8.15pm

Event ends

World's Stage