Skip to main content
Shakespeare & Beyond

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.

Shakespeare Unlimited: Hearing the voices of discovery
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare Unlimited: Hearing the voices of discovery

Posted
Author
Esther Ferington

In our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast, now celebrating its 100th episode, you can hear so many surprising and often first-person stories by scholars, musicians, authors, actors, and others on all manner of Shakespearean topics.

Celebrating 100 episodes of Shakespeare Unlimited
Shakespeare and Beyond

Celebrating 100 episodes of Shakespeare Unlimited

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

Today, we’re releasing the 100th episode of our podcast, Shakespeare Unlimited. Since 2015, when we kicked things off with an episode about Nelson Mandela and the Robben Island Shakespeare, we’ve met the people who answer letters to Juliet, chatted with rappers (on more…

Play on! Q&A: Elise Thoron and Julie Felise Dubiner on translating 'The Merchant of Venice'
Julie Felise Dubiner and Elise Thoron
Shakespeare and Beyond

Play on! Q&A: Elise Thoron and Julie Felise Dubiner on translating 'The Merchant of Venice'

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

The playwright and dramaturg who worked on translating ‘The Merchant of Venice’ share insights into the play and the translation process.

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in June
Photo: Rosalind stands alone onstange with her arms outstretched in
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in June

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

Each month, we bring you a snapshot of Shakespeare in performance across America. Grab your picnic basket and follow us: June is the start of summer Shakespeare season, and we know just where to go.

Excerpt - Shakespeare in the Theatre: Peter Sellars
Shakespeare and Beyond

Excerpt - Shakespeare in the Theatre: Peter Sellars

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

This excerpt from Ayanna Thompson’s book explores Peter Sellars’s “uniquely American take on William Shakespeare” and his 1980 production of King Lear.

Explore promptbooks from the 1950s festival Shakespeare Under the Stars
King Henry VIII prompt book
Shakespeare and Beyond

Explore promptbooks from the 1950s festival Shakespeare Under the Stars

Posted
Author
Esther French

The Folger collection contains a number of prompt books from Shakespeare Under the Stars productions, which were gifts from Arthur Lithgow.

Questionable parenting: Shakespeare and the father portrayals in his plays
Leontes - the father in The Winter's Tale
Shakespeare and Beyond

Questionable parenting: Shakespeare and the father portrayals in his plays

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

What kind of father was Shakespeare? The fathers he portrays in his plays don’t always come off looking so good, but he also explores parental regret.

How Restoration playwrights reshaped Shakespeare’s plays to fit changing political norms and theatrical tastes
Shakespeare and Beyond

How Restoration playwrights reshaped Shakespeare’s plays to fit changing political norms and theatrical tastes

Posted
Author
Claude Fretz

Restoration Shakespeare was a complex theatrical experience that integrated song, music, dance, and acting; indeed, music and dance, alongside stage machines and movable scenes, were central to the success of Restoration theatre more generally.

Ungenial geniuses: Shaw on Shakespeare
Shakespeare and Beyond

Ungenial geniuses: Shaw on Shakespeare

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

We revisit an essay about Shakespeare and Shaw from the 1994 Folger exhibition “Roasting the Swan of Avon: Shakespeare’s Redoubtable Enemies and Dubious Friends.”

Shakespeare's Heroines (some of them, anyway)
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare's Heroines (some of them, anyway)

Posted
Author
Abbie Weinberg

Explore a set of early 19th-century watercolor portraits of Shakespearean heroines in the Folger collection.

Play on! Q&A: Caridad Svich on translating ‘Henry VIII’
Caridad Svich
Shakespeare and Beyond

Play on! Q&A: Caridad Svich on translating ‘Henry VIII’

Posted
Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Playwright Caridad Svich writes how ‘Henry VIII’ oscillates between characters’ desire for power, on the one hand, and forgiveness, on the other.

Conquering Hero: What to do about 'Much Ado'?
Much Ado About Nothing
Shakespeare and Beyond

Conquering Hero: What to do about 'Much Ado'?

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor explores the character complexities of Hero in Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and how to address her reconciliation with Claudio.

1 44 45 46 47 48 70