Groundbreaking exhibition blends Shakespeare and AI in ‘collaboration between the living and dead’

The innovative installation promises to be a ‘collaboration between creative entities: living, dead, organic and computational’

Think you know Shakespeare? Think again; a new exhibition will merge time, space and technology to help you walk in the Bard’s very own footsteps.

Forthcoming art installation Something Rich and Strange is a “psycho-geographic exploration” of the playwright’s work, based in Shoreditch, London, that will introduce the imaging power of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GENAI) to the his classic works.

Created by award-winning director Matthew Maxwell, the installation weaves the timeless narratives of Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream into an immersive world of magical realism.

The exhibition will use text, themes and lyrics written or performed when the poet and playwright was living and working in the area (1597-1599) to bring Shakespeare lovers closer to the Bard than ever before.

“My daily walk to work in Shoreditch for five years sparked the realisation that I was retracing the footsteps of Shakespeare from his Bishopsgate lodgings to the Curtain Theatre,” said Maxwell.

“I was inspired to bring back to life 15th century London and Shakespeare’s timeless characters through the transformative lens of AI technology.”

Characters featured in the play will be resurrected in the immersive exhibition, which opens on Shakespeare’s Day (23 April), close to the original site of Shakespeare’s Curtain Theatre. The Bard is said to have written and performed there himself, with the building holding the longest record of use of all Shakespearean playhouses.

Juliet in Shoreditch | Maxwell/GENAI 2024 (Juliet in Shoreditch | Maxwell/GENAI 2024)

“The focus on a specific locale allows us to explore the creative energy located at the nexus where four creative dimensions intersect: the organic (human), computational (GENAI), cultural (Shakespeare’s canon) and the urban landscape (Shoreditch),” reads a statement on Maxwell’s website.

Last year, the Royal Shakespeare Company announced it would be incorporating AI as part of other projects and funding measures for the West Midlands as well as Merseyside. In 2024, the Museum of Shakespeare, located at the site of the Curtain Theatre, used AI technology to allow visitors to time-travel by walking across an Elizabethan stage.

The installation comes amid an ongoing debate about the use of AI in the arts and creative industries.

“I think we’re missing a trick if we leave this technology to politicians, policy-makers, entrepreneurs and capitalists,” Maxwell said during a talk titled Exploring AI as Creative Partner. “It’s important that artists get involved.”