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.
Shakespeare & Beyond
Shakespeare & Beyond also explores the topics that shape our experience of Shakespeare today: trends in performance, the latest discoveries and scholarship, news stories, pop culture, interesting books, new movies, the rich context of theater and literary history, and more. As the word “beyond” suggests, from time to time Shakespeare & Beyond also covers topics that are not directly linked to Shakespeare.
Questions or comments? You can reach us at shakespeareandbeyond@folger.edu.
Holiday Festivities and Elizabethan Theater
Erika T. Lin studies early modern holidays and her work has yielded some surprising revelations—not only about the festivities themselves, but about the relationship between holidays and what we now think of as “theater.”
2024 Folger Holiday Gift Guide
We’ve got the perfect gift for everyone on your list in this guide to some of our favorites from the Folger Shop.
Teaching Shakespeare to GenZ
Educator Jocelyn A. Chadwick looks at the opportunities for teaching Shakespeare in today’s classroom, encouraged by GenZ’s passion for connecting literature from the past with their own here and now, bringing in the music, movies, and even ads that shape their world, to create their own unique meaning.
“That holy feeling”: Al Pacino on looking for Shakespeare
Austin Tichenor takes a look at Al Pacino’s new memoir, Sonny Boy. Pacino describes how central Shakespeare was to his development as a young actor.
The Reading List: Family Stories
The end of the year brings feasts, celebrations, and family. Our reading list of Folger Book Club picks offers a wide range of ways to reflect on the ties that bind us.
What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in November
Explore what’s playing at our Shakespeare Theater Partners around the country this November.
Shakespeare's Most Adolescent Play
It may not surprise you to hear that Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare’s teenaged play but that might have surprised earlier readers who considered the play adolescent for other reasons.
Saving Prince Henry
Though Henry V reigned over England for only nine years and four months, he looms large over English history. In a new biography, historian and journalist Dan Jones examines Henry’s life anew.
Bringing Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Operatic Heights
Washington National Opera’s Artistic Director Francesca Zambello interviews director, Brenna Corner, about Verdi’s opera inspired by Macbeth.
What the Nurse Might Have Said
Acclaimed Shakespearean actor Harriet Walter reimagines what the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet might have said after Juliet’s death in an excerpt from She Speaks!.
Watch | A look at early modern "selfies" by calligrapher, artist, and writer Esther Inglis
Enjoy a video from the Esther Inglis special exhibition, showing how early modrern calligrapher, artist, and writer Inglis’s self-portraits helped tell her story.
Staging Puerto Rican Culture: Speaking Spanish and English in Romeo and Juliet
Carla Della Gatta explores how bilingual staging methods help evoke Puerto Rican culture for the Capulet women in Folger Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet.