Shakespeare & Beyond

2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth and the world is throwing a party in her honor all year long. We’re kicking off our celebration with a round-up of Austen stories and resources for reading and watching.

Imagine you want to become a power player in the rather authoritarian court of Queen Elizabeth. You want her to notice you in a favorable way, so you need to dress, act, and speak just right. Here are a few pointers.

Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty shares the extraordinary history of rice across the world resulting in horchata, a deeply personal drink for him.

Explore fireworks in our collection, which include illustrations from extravagant public spectacles and technical manuals with instructions for making your own.

Kathryn Vomero Santos explores an intriguing reference to Henry IV, Part 1 in Korean American author Chang-rae Lee’s novel Native Speaker.

See what’s playing at our Shakespeare Theater Partners around the country this July.

“Serious actors. No director. One rehearsal. In a bar.” That’s Back Room Shakespeare Project’s motto and it makes for a unique relationship between actor and audience that Austin Tichenor writes enhances the power of Shakespeare’s work.

We’re celebrating the solstice with Shakespeare quotes about summer, which is mentioned 86 times in the plays and poems, more than any other season.

We’re celebrating Pride Month by sharing some of our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast interviews and blog posts with acclaimed artists, actors, directors, scholars, and writers about queer Shakespeare over the centuries.

Viola aka Cesario is stunned to realize that she is in the middle of a love triangle, after Olivia sends a ring. Order the lines of her Twelfth Night speech as she puts it all together in our quiz.

In an excerpt from The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear, author Nan Z. Da looks at the role of the Fool in Shakespeare’s King Lear and the Chou in Peking Opera.

In an excerpt from Straight Acting, Will Tosh tells the story of Richard Barnfield’s meteoric rise in literary London in the 1590s and how his groundbreaking poetry influenced Shakespeare’s sonnets.