On 23-27 May we hosted students from SEA-EU partner universities in Cadiz, Brest, Kiel, Split and Malta, who participated for a whole week in an intensive course "ShakEspeAre-EU". The main objective of the event was to broaden the knowledge of Shakespeare's works and their impact on European culture. Thanks to multidisciplinary lectures and workshops, participants had the opportunity to look at the works of the Stratford playwright from many perspectives. Shakespeare, whose works have been abbreviated in every case, was reflected in many fields of art and various interpretations, becoming an inspiring material for further individual explorations.

During the workshop entitled 'Translating Shakespeare's drama into movement', the participants prepared their own interpretation of the prologue from 'Romeo and Juliet' and presented it during the performance 'William on my mind', which took place on 26 May with the participation of the University and City authorities. Using their native languages, they brought Shakespeare on stage in Polish, Maltese, Croatian, Spanish, French, German and the original English. The moving scene they prepared was warmly received by the large audience.

The cultural and scientific programme was complemented by tourist activities. The participants visited the Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre, which is one of the modern landmarks of Gdansk, as well as the European Solidarity Centre and the neighbouring city of Sopot. During the week-long stay, the group integrated perfectly and put into practice one of the SEA-EU strategic objectives - strengthening the sense of European identity among the members of the Alliance.

The course was organised by Barbara Madany and Magdalena Niestoruk from the Academic Cultural Centre in cooperation with the Philology Department, the Foreign Languages Centre and the Shakespeare Theatre.