William Shakespeare: 2016 is the 400th anniversary of his death

Howard Jacobson, Anne Tyler and Margaret Atwood put their spin on the playwright’s work as part of a year of celebrations

Few cultural figures are afforded quite as many anniversary knees-ups as Shakespeare – then again there’s nothing like being born and dying on the same day to keep you in the calendar. In 2014, the world toasted the 450th birthday of Warwickshire’s most famous son. A new year brings Shakespeare 400, marking four centuries since the playwright’s death.

Chief among the cheerleaders is the Royal Shakespeare Company, whose national tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream – directed by Erica Whyman – will cast local performers as the mechanicals in every region of the UK. The same play has inspired four leading Scottish institutions to team up for New Dreams, a festival season of performance in Glasgow directed by Graham McLaren.

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