'Talk Like Shakespeare Day' coming to Chicago

April 21, 2:43 PMChicago Theatre ExaminerMark Meyer

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Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced that April 23, Shakespeare's 445th Birthday, will be Talk Like Shakespeare Day, an occasion for Chicagoans to bring the spoken words of Shakespeare into their daily lives. "On his 445th birthday, Shakespeare still speaks to the people of Chicago through timeless words and works," said Mayor Daley in his formal city proclamation. "On April 23, I encourage citizens to celebrate Shakespeare by vocal acclamation, through his words."

Citizens can prepare for the occasion by brushing up their Shakespearean, and joining the conversation, at TalkLikeShakespeare.org, which will go live as the Bard's birth week begins on Monday, April 20. Visitors are asked to contribute stories, photos, videos, and quotes to the site's live tumblr feed. The web portal features the online instructional How to Talk Like Shakespeare, activities for incorporating the Bard at the office, at home and at school, Shakespeare's Twitter (a live feed from the Bard who, magnanimously, has offered to help translate any visitor's request from English to Shakespeare), a Coined by Shakespeare Quiz to test visitors' knowledge of words and phrases invented by the Bard, a "best of the web" collection of Shakespeare on YouTube (with cameos by the Beatles, the crew of the S.S. Minnow, Sesame Street, Captain Jean Luc Picard and others), among a variety of other resources. Shakespearean rappers The Q Brothers (creators of Bomb-itty of Errors and Funk It Up About Nothin') will release to radio a new anthem highlighting, in hip-hop, the finer points of speaking Shakespearean. Finally, on April 23, schools throughout the Chicagoland area will take part in Talk Like Shakespeare in the Classroom activities, as teachers participate in inventive games and exercises to help students talk like-and engage with-Shakespeare.

Chicago's own Tony Award-winning Chicago Shakespeare Theater will mark the occasion as well. "We're asking our artists and audiences to find a moment to bring Shakespeare into their daily discourse-even if it's just asking a coworker to pass 'yonder stapler,'" said Artistic Director Barbara Gaines. "This is someone who literally, single-handedly, introduced at least 2,000 words to the English language that we still use today. We wish him a very happy birthday."