Macbeth made in Guelph
A celebration now underway in Ottawa highlights 400 years of Shakespeare in Canada.
Shakespeare + Canada is linked to a celebration of his date of his birth on April 23.
Guelphites, however, need look no further than their own backyard for surprising connections to Shakespeare, as this new edition of Macbeth reveals.
Not only is the Sanders Portrait of Shakespeare—agreed by experts to be the only sitting portrait of Shakespeare painted in his lifetime currently housed in Guelph, there are other uncanny connections abound, including particularly fascinating associations with Macbeth, as award-winning University of Guelph scholar Daniel Fischlin reveals in his introduction to this new edition.
John Galt, the Scottish political novelist and entrepreneur founded Guelph on April 23, 1827 (coincidentally, both St. George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birthday). Galt had a major infuence on the settlement of Upper Canada; he also produced an adaptation of Shakespeare plays some years before emigrating to the New World.
Galt’s Macbeth adaptation shows some surprisingly modern refections on morality, colonialism, and indigeneity.
The Shakespeare Made in Canada series has received much acclaim, from the New Yorker to the Literary Review of Canada.
For more information visit www.rocksmills.com or email jen.rubio@rocksmillspress.com.
