About the Artist
Robbie Dalal is a Birmingham based artist who explores a range of mediums throughout his work including video, sculpture and installation. He often creates participatory experiences that explore nostalgia, memory, technology, and play. Robbie learnt best at school - and beyond - through play.
He is passionate about promoting social and physical engagement - especially in the increasingly digital age we live in. He aims to make complex ideas digestible by illustrating them through playful and imaginative ways.
He started off as a painter/illustrator, but a hand injury led him to explore painting through digital means. He often creates work that utilises both physical and digital elements. After studying fine art at the University of Westminster his practice further evolved to explore participation and play.
Robbie’s Inspiration
Robbie spent time viewing the collections of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for inspiration for his own work. He was inspired by the illustrations of Shakespeare’s characters and theatre costume designs in the collections. After seeing an illustrated pack of playing cards he decided to create an illustrated card game that could act as a playful tool for learning.
John Hutton
One of the inspirations behind Robbie’s artwork are the John Hutton etchings that are on display in the cafe of Shakespeare's Birthplace, which is inside the building known as the Shakespeare Centre. The etchings depict a multitude of characters including Romeo and Juliet, Bottom, Ophelia and Hamlet. Hutton’s artwork was commissioned in the early 1960s to coincide with the creation of a new Shakespeare Centre. Hutton was a New Zealand artist who caught the eye of the Trust after completing his work on the West Window of nearby Coventry Cathedral in 1962. His artwork at the Shakespeare Centre was unveiled along with the building in 1964, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth.
When Hutton was originally commissioned the etchings were meant to be portraits of famous Shakespearean actors. However, Hutton advised that his medium was not suited to portraiture meaning the project brief was then altered to designs of Shakespeare’s characters. In total he produced 19 life-size etchings featuring Shakespeare’s most recognisable characters. The characters he selected were based on two main criteria; the character is instantly recognisable to any viewer, and the character can stand alone without any background detail or overwrought attention to costume. They are purposefully not labelled, as Hutton wanted the characters to be easily identifiable by their dramatic poses, expressions and body language.
It took Hutton just 14 months to produce these 19 etchings. Starting with chalk sketches on black paper, Hutton then used tools such as drills, stone wheels and emery paper to engrave the glass, ensuring he created shading to achieve different levels of depth within the design. Natural light compliments the contrasting textures of the etchings so well that they practically come to life. Some of the etchings look out onto the garden behind Shakespeare’s birthplace meaning that from certain angles the characters appear to inhabit the garden.
The Shakespeare Game
Robbie was also inspired by a Shakespeare-themed card game in the Trust’s collection. The set of 52 playing cards features illustrations of prominent scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, alongside relevant quotes. This particular set dates from the late 20th century and is adapted from an earlier, perhaps Victorian, game. This set of cards is by no means the only Shakespeare-related game in the Trust’s collection. The collection also contains another half a dozen packs of playing cards, most of which feature Shakespeare’s portrait or have Shakespeare characters representing the different suits. The Trust also acquired a special edition Monopoly set that features the town of Stratford-upon-Avon which was released in 2016. Many local landmarks such as Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Holy Trinity Church are used as locations around the board.
And the demand for Shakespeare-themed games doesn’t seem to be slowing. Since 2019 the Trust has been successfully selling Trivial Pursuit: The Shakespeare Edition in its gift shops, featuring 600 questions all about the life and works of William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare and Play
Robbie created a series of digital illustrations of characters from Shakespeare’s plays, which feature on his cards. The illustrations nod to the holographic elements present in card games like Pokémon and the format of the card game is similar to ‘Top Trumps’- a game that swept the playground during Robbie’s childhood. Visitors are welcome to take a seat and play the game for themselves.
Robbie Dalal’s work will be on display at Shakespeare’s Birthplace until the end of the summer 2022. Find out more here.