Shakespeare’s work lives on in Las Vegas 400 years after his death

All the world’s a stage. Especially on Saturday — which happens to be the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death and, the 452nd anniversary of his birth.

Around the world, from London’s Globe to San Diego’s Old Globe, celebrations will commemorate the occasion — and the writer whose works live on four centuries after he shuffled off this mortal coil. (As Shakespeare himself wrote in the “Hamlet” soliloquy that begins “To be, or not to be …”)

For Las Vegans eager to join the global celebration, Saturday’s destination is Downtown Container Park, where “A Taste of Shakespeare” will transform the Fremont Street location into Shakespeare Central.

Performers from the Shakespeare Institute of Nevada will “take over the whole park,” promises the troupe’s director, Dan Decker, with a program devoted to “capturing the essence of Shakespeare.”

From noon to 6 p.m., strolling players will deliver “soliloquies, sonnets and pickup scenes” throughout Container Park.

“The balcony kind of suggests one play,” Decker notes.

That play, “Romeo and Juliet,” is one of 10 to be excerpted, every half-hour, in a kind of “scene mix” highlighting central characters and big speeches from Shakespeare’s greatest hits.

On the comedic side: “As You Like It,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Twelfth Night.” Joining “Romeo and Juliet” as more dramatic offerings: “Hamlet,” “Julius Caesar, “King Lear,” “Macbeth” and “Othello.”

In between the excerpts, “we talk about the life and times of Shakespeare,” Decker says. “Who the guy was, what he had for lunch on Tuesday … “

The “light and breezy approach” to Saturday’s event means attendees can “leave and come back two hours later,” he notes, “and the show’s still going on.”

All but one of the excerpts will be presented in narrative fashion.

The sole exception presented in impressionistic style: “Hamlet,” during which the title Prince of Denmark (David Hart, who also portrays Romeo) and his sweetheart Ophelia (Dezi Speare) trade soliloquies, allowing the audience to ponder his depression — and their doomed romance.

Throughout the show, “people will recognize a lot of the speeches,” Decker says.

The “Hamlet” sequence, for example, begins with the prince’s “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt … “

Overall, “the full delight is there” in hearing the Bard’s legendary lines — and that, Decker maintains, is the reason audiences around the world continue to embrace Shakespeare.

“It’s all about the language,” he says. “That’s the reason we love Shakespeare. It’s the only place you hear the English language strung out to its full potential.”

To be sure, “people love the stories and they love the characters,” Decker acknowledges.

Characters that range from the young Romeo and Juliet (played by Maia Malone), who defy their feuding families to find love — and heartbreak — to “Much Ado’s” tart-tongued Beatrice (Speare) and Benedick (James “Big” White), whose constant bickering blinds them to the fact that they’re fated to be mated.

There’s the ambitious Macbeth (Kent Allen), whose even more ambitious wife (Clare Jaget) inspires him to seize Scotland’s throne — by murdering the current occupant. Or King Lear (Don Brakeman), driven to madness by his misguided decisions.

Unforgettable characters all, “but you can get stories and characters on TV or at the movies,” Decker adds. It’s “the special, mind-illuminating use of language” that sets Shakespeare apart — and “nothing lights up your brain like that language.”

Saturday’s “scene mix” is nothing new for Shakespeare Institute of Nevada performers, who present similar “tastes of Shakespeare” to Clark County School District students throughout the year.

“We do five to 10 performances a week,” reaching thousands of students, from kindergarten through high school, according to Decker. (Clark County School District students will receive free passes to Saturday’s Container Park festivities, he notes.)

Because “the school program is geared to fit into a single period,” each Shakespeare scene fits easily into the “Taste of Shakespeare” format,” Decker says.

Saturday’s program “is the result of about two years of conversations” with Container Park officials, he notes. “It’s in their mandate to bring arts and culture downtown — and Shakespeare is the very imprimatur of culture in our society.”

Read more from Carol Cling at reviewjournal.com. Contact her at ccling@reviewjournal.com and follow @CarolSCling on Twitter.