Students Bring Shakespeare to Life with Avatars

Northwestern University students and faculty spent last week reveling in the work of William Shakespeare. To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities presented ShakespeaRevel, an interdisciplinary, multimedia festival featuring myriad opportunities for students to engage with the great playwright’s work.

Students had the to chance to try an interactive, Karaoke-style Shakespearean video game: Play the Knave gives players the ability to perform scenes from Shakespeare plays through avatars using motion capture cameras.

While most of the festivities at Northwestern have come to an end, the Kaplan Institute will continue accepting video recordings of Shakespeare enthusiasts reading scenes from “The Tempest,” “Macbeth” and "Romeo and Juliet,” to name a few, until 400 have been submitted. To participate visit http://shakespeare.northwestern.edu.