Watch: William Shakespeare's Portrait Sent To Space For 400th Anniversary

William Shakespeare's impact has been phenomenal and his influence remains unwavering even after four centuries. To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's first-ever folio, a portrait of the writer and a copy of a speech from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" were sent to the edge of space as part of a short film series. 

Shakespeare's First Folio was compiled by his friends and published on November 8, 1623, seven years after his death, Reuters reported. Around 750 copies, including 36 of the 37 plays the great writer wrote, were printed. 

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's First Folio, the critically acclaimed inVerse series returns for a new collection of six contemporary short films, voiced by an all-star cast. https://t.co/eXa0teGjwL. pic.twitter.com/C1Xeqtg37w

— inVERSE - Poetry. Reimagined. (@inversefilms) November 8, 2023

British filmmaker Jack Jewers has made six short films addressing contemporary themes including space exploration, the impact of the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine using six of Shakespeare's speeches and poems. 

The portrait was sent into space in a weather balloon, with a camera and GPS tracker. The portrait was taken to Earth's upper atmosphere. 

"I had this image in my head: a portrait of Shakespeare - the universal playwright, whose work speaks to everyone - backgrounded by space, with earth's curvature in the background. What more fitting way to celebrate the universality of our human experience, and how it has been captured for 400 years by these wonderful words, than that?" said Jewers in the release.

He added, "Everything that has been happening to us in the past few years of upheaval - mass disease, concerns about immigration, protest, conflict in Europe, a growing desire to challenge authority and speak truth to power - was also happening in 1623 when the First Folio was published."

"The parallels are uncanny and Shakespeare's words are fresher now than ever before in their ability to speak powerfully to our own contemporary lives," he concluded. 

The films will be available online on Wednesday after a premiere screening in London.