All Party Parliamentary Group on Shakespeare re-launched at celebration event in Westminster

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Shakespeare was relaunched at the Houses of Parliament on Thursday 28 November, with senior academics from the Shakespeare Institute continuing their vital role in its creation and success.

The APPG was originally launched in 2022 by University of Birmingham alumnus James Morris, who served as MP for Halesowen at the time. The Shakespeare Institute served as the external secretariat of the group.

The re-launch was marked with performances of Shakespeare’s works by distinguished actors including Rory Kinnear, Shakespeare Institute honorary fellows Dame Janet Suzman and Dame Harriet Walter, and alumnus Andrew French. MPs also heard the Shakespeare Institute’s Dr Abigail Rokison-Woodall on making Shakespeare accessible to Deaf children and adults.

The APPG’s achievements in the last Parliament included a performance of Julius Caesar at the Speaker’s House, and a forum, ‘Why Shakespeare in Education?’, held at Shakespeare North Playhouse, co-led by the Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

“Shakespeare’s plays are not only of perennial interest in Westminster for their unillusioned portrayals of power politics,’ commented Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, ‘but they are vitally important to a range of policy areas: not just culture and heritage but education, inclusion, community-building and international relations. The university is very pleased to be helping facilitate these very exciting discussions among our new crop of legislators.”