Andrew Kocsis happily admits he is a Shakespearean tragic.
The Canning Vale local is a member of The Shakespeare Club of W.A. and holds a PHD in English and Comparative Literature.
Andrew is also a lecturer in School of Arts at Murdoch University who takes his passion into schools where his mission is to make the works of William Shakespeare accessible to young minds.
He said that Shakespeare is still as relevant today as ever.
He cites examples to students of how the foibles of humanity – good and bad – are laid bare within his famous works.
“If you think about it, in the plays many of us know and love, for example, Hamlet, MacBeth, Julius Caesar, and King Lear, highlight the universal and eternal themes of love and romance, hatred, betrayal, death and mortality, power, madness and greed – it’s all there for us to see, and in so doing, we can often examine our own lives, and the day-to-day moral judgements and decisions we make,” Mr Kocsis said.
He said it is vital to breakdown these themes, as well as unpack the language and modes of expression used over 400 years ago for anyone new to Shakespeare.
“I put to students that Shakespeare is everywhere – in popular culture and in modern day language. We get students to stand up and perform some of the plays. This is when the kids really become excited; they love the chance to get up in front of their peers and quote lines that have become known the world over. To be, or not to be, that is the question, is one example. We discuss the multiplicities of meanings, on what is the most famous question ever posed in all of world literature,” he said.
“It is amazing how often discussion turns to examples in their own lives, on how issues raised in Shakespeare plays are meaningful to them now. It is not uncommon for students to admit they did not realise the relevance of Shakespeare in the complexities of modern life.”
The Shakespeare Club of W.A. meet at 2pm on the third Saturday of each month (with a few exceptions) at Cityplace, at the Perth Railway station. Visitors always welcome.
