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Shakespeare & Beyond

The Shakespeare & Beyond blog features a wide range of Shakespeare-related topics: the early modern period in which he lived, the ways his plays have been interpreted and staged over the past four centuries, the enduring power of his characters and language, and more.

Women and early modern poison
Shakespeare and Beyond

Women and early modern poison

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Author
Ashley Buchanan

What do we know about the historical reality of Aqua Tofana and other stories of women wielding poisons? The truth is very little. But like most historical parables, the myths are just as telling as the reality.

Saint Crispin's Day Speech from Henry V
Shakespeare and Beyond

Saint Crispin's Day Speech from Henry V

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Author
Juliana Avery

We may recognize Saint Crispin’s Day from its famous mention in Shakespeare’s Henry V. But who is Saint Crispin and why is he celebrated on October 25?

Quiz: Ghosts in Shakespeare's plays
Shakespeare and Beyond

Quiz: Ghosts in Shakespeare's plays

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Author
Esther Ferington

Challenge yourself with our haunting quiz about the phantoms and apparitions in Shakespeare’s plays and how they are portrayed, from Banquo’s ghost in Macbeth to Hamlet’s father’s Ghost, and many more.

Lend them your ears: Julius Caesar reimagined
Shakespeare and Beyond

Lend them your ears: Julius Caesar reimagined

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Author
Austin Tichenor

Two new productions, Al Letson’s Julius X and the Q Brothers Collective’s Rome Sweet Rome, explore contemporary themes of political upheaval and personal betrayal while illuminating aspects of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar we might have missed. 

Latinx Shakespeares of the 20th century
Shakespeare and Beyond

Latinx Shakespeares of the 20th century

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Author
Carla Della Gatta

Scholar Carla Della Gatta looks at the growth of Latinx-inspired Shakespeare productions in the US beginning with West Side Story on Broadway in 1957. She finds the performances as richly diverse in form as they are in content.

Artist Elise Ansel Reimagines Macbeth
Shakespeare and Beyond

Artist Elise Ansel Reimagines Macbeth

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Ansel shares how her questions as an artist fellow about Fuseli’s take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth inspired her to create two abstract, large-scale oil paintings but this time from a woman’s perspective that celebrates the play’s sisterhood.

The fate of Ophelia
Shakespeare and Beyond

The fate of Ophelia

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Author
Juliana Avery

The first track on Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, is “The Fate of Ophelia.” Refresh your memory about Hamlet’s ingenue and why we can’t stop writing, painting, and singing about her.

The space between Julius Caesar and Malcolm X
Shakespeare and Beyond

The space between Julius Caesar and Malcolm X

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Al Letson’s play Julius X acts as a sort of Venn diagram that allows us to twice witness a familiar text (Julius Caesar), with a harsh and violent moment of American history that marked a significant contest waged by Black Americans for freedom and equality.

Imagining Shakespeare and Marlowe as collaborators
Shakespeare and Beyond

Imagining Shakespeare and Marlowe as collaborators

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Following the extraordinary success of Tamburlaine, might the theatrical impresario Philip Henslowe have brought Marlowe together with Shakespeare to write about the Wars of the Roses? An excerpt from Dark Renaissance by Stephen Greenblatt.

Shakespeare in the news
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare in the news

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

A round-up of stories about Shakespeare in the news this month—a September issue of our own—with discoveries about miniature portraits, Emma Smith’s webinar series, reading recs for kids, and ad parodies from Improvised Shakespeare.

The Improvised Shakespeare Company
Shakespeare and Beyond

The Improvised Shakespeare Company

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Author
Austin Tichenor

The Improvised Shakespeare Company has been creating hilarious Shakespearean masterpieces—from an audience suggestion of a title of a show that has never been written—for 20 years. Austin Tichenor shares how they do it.

Bilingual Shakespeares
Shakespeare and Beyond

Bilingual Shakespeares

Posted
Author
Carla Della Gatta

Carla Della Gatta looks at the extraordinary mix of Latinx-inspired productions and adaptations performed on stages, large and small, across the United States.

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