The Hark Journal Hosts ‘The Bard’s Birthday Bash’ In Celebration Of Shakespeare’s Influence

This month, Shakespeare aficionados Michael Van Osch and Erica Cantley will be hosting “The Bard’s Birthday Bash,” a three-night Zoom event celebrating Shakespeare’s influence. This event is presented by The Hark Journal, which is founded by Van Osch. It will feature a variety of guests, all inspired by the Bard. They will share their original projects and talk about how Shakespeare’s work has impacted their careers. “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes was joined via Zoom by Van Osch and Cantley, who spoke about their connections to Shakespeare’s work and the birthday bash. 

“I think if you’re a Shakespeare fan, you’ll really enjoy it, but if you’re a fan of creative people doing neat things, it’s also going to be really, really good,” said Van Osch. Among the guests will be Devon Glover (a.k.a “The Sonnet Man”), who performs Shakespeare’s sonnets through hip-hop. Maya Gosling, who calls herself “the world’s foremost, and possibly only, stick-figure Shakespeare comic,” will also be joining the event. She is the artist and author of “Good Tickle Brain.”

Cantley talked about her memoir, “Teaching Hamlet As My Father Died.” “The experience of standing up in front of your audience, showing up to work and doing your job when you’re doing through the worst thing you’ve ever gone through… it was very specific and very personal, and yet quite universal,” said Cantley. “Is that what Hamlet means when he says, ‘My gorge rises at it?’ When he thinks about the corpse of his father being in his earth? … It’s very cliché to say, ‘Every time I teach a play, I find something new,’ but this was over the top.”