Renowned Shakespeare scholar in Malta

Eminent Shakespeare scholar Stanley Wells, chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and a council member of the Globe Theatre, will tomorrow start a four-day visit to Malta as the guest of the English-Speaking Union (ESU) Malta branch. During the visit Prof. Wells will meet University and Sixth Form students, give a public lecture on Tuesday and a lecture for drama schools and companies on Wednesday.

'Is it true what they say about Shakespeare?' is the provicative title of a public lecture Prof. Wells will deliver on Tuesday at 6.30 p.m. in the University Gateway Building Hall E.

He will spend Wednesday morning at the Junior College, where he will speak on two Shakespearean plays, Julius Caesar and King Lear. This will be followed by an open discussion with the students and lecturers. A film produced by St Martin's College Fifth Formers, entitled The Fatal Lead, will also be shown. He will run a similar session at Michelangelo Refalo Upper Lyceum in Victoria, on Thursday morning.

On Wednesday at 7 p.m., he will talk on 'Shakespeare's theatrical scene' at the theatre-in-the-round at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta.

During this lecture, which is aimed at anyone involved in drama companies and drama schools Prof. Wells will speak on how theatre came to life in Shakespeare's time. Light refreshments will be served after the lecture. Entrance is free.

Apart from having a distinguished academic career, Prof. Wells has published extensively on Shakespeare. Among his latest publications are Is It True What They Say About Shakespeare? and Nineteenth-Century Shakespeare Burlesques, of which he is the editor. He is also general editor of The Complete Works of Shakespeare.

ESU promotes English through literature, the arts and music, as well as through public speaking, discussion and debate. Its mission is to create international understanding through English, the working language of the global village. It is in the process of setting up a Malta branch and a steering committee was formed last December. ESU Malta has started operating from offices in Dingli Street, Sliema, and is to be officially launched in May 2010.

For more information call 2138 7786 or e-mail esumalta@maltanet.net.