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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.

The Wonder of Will, the Marvel of Miguel: 400 years of Shakespeare and Cervantes
Shakespeare and Beyond

The Wonder of Will, the Marvel of Miguel: 400 years of Shakespeare and Cervantes

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Author
Kathryn Swanton

This year we remember the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. But 1616 also saw the passing of another great writer: Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, who we know best as the author of Don Quijote. As Shakespeare…

'Shakespeare Documented' online resource launches
Shakespeare and Beyond

'Shakespeare Documented' online resource launches

Posted
Author
Esther French

The diary of physician and vicar John Ward contains the only known account of Shakespeare’s death. On March 6, 1662/63 he writes, “Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merry meeting, and it seems drank too hard, for Shakespear died…

Follow the First Folio! Tour updates from Indiana, Oklahoma, and Oregon
Shakespeare and Beyond

Follow the First Folio! Tour updates from Indiana, Oklahoma, and Oregon

Posted
Author
Esther French

Over the course of 2016, the Folger Shakespeare Library is sending a First Folio to all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, DC. Each month we’ll be checking in on the progress of this traveling exhibition, First Folio! The Book that Gave…

Share your Shakespeare story
Shakespeare and Beyond

Share your Shakespeare story

Posted
Author
Esther French

How did you first encounter Shakespeare? Was it in a classroom or a theater? How old were you? Was it love at first sight, or did it take you some time to warm up to the Bard? Did any particular lines or…

Hamlet wasn't always the prince with the common touch
David Tennant as Hamlet
Shakespeare and Beyond

Hamlet wasn't always the prince with the common touch

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Author
Richard Schoch

When we think about Shakespeare on the stage we usually imagine two different historical moments: ‘then’ and ‘now’. ‘Then’ is Shakespeare’s lifetime, when Richard Burbage, the original Hamlet, first spoke ‘To be or not to be’ from the stage of…

How to audition for Shakespeare: Actors demonstrate tips
Shakespeare and Beyond

How to audition for Shakespeare: Actors demonstrate tips

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Author
Esther French

Laura Wayth confesses that she’s never read any of Shakespeare’s plays. But she’s listened to the plays performed over and over, and it’s her keen ear that informs her advice to actors in this episode of Shakespeare Unlimited. Wayth is…

'Sweetly Writ': King Lear and the First Folio in Oregon
Shakespeare and Beyond

'Sweetly Writ': King Lear and the First Folio in Oregon

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Author
Esther French

Barry Kraft as Lear in King Lear, produced by Southern Oregon University, Oregon Center for the Arts. (Credit: Prechtel photo) What can we learn from Shakespeare’s revisions to his plays, and what does that mean for the actors and directors…

A beautiful Twelfth Night
Shakespeare and Beyond

A beautiful Twelfth Night

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Author
Sarah Hovde

Folger Finds delivers delightful and insightful moments with the Folger collection. Sarah Hovde, a cataloger at the Folger Shakespeare Library, reveals a 1932 edition of Twelfth Night with beautiful engravings by Eric Ravilious. Twelfth Night, the last of the twelve…

Shakespeare, the ultimate connector
Michael Witmore
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare, the ultimate connector

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Author
Michael Witmore

Michael Witmore. Photo by Chris Hartlove. Once again, Shakespeare. This year the Folger is leading a nationwide celebration—The Wonder of Will—to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, or better, the fifth century of his afterlife. Why do we keep returning…

Revisit the top five Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episodes of 2015
l-r: Rex Daugherty (Tybalt), Aaron Bliden (Benvolio), and Brad Koed (Mercutio) in Romeo and Juliet, directed by Aaron Posner, Folger Theatre (2013). Photo by Teresa Wood.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Revisit the top five Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episodes of 2015

Posted
Author
Esther French

l-r: Rex Daugherty (Tybalt), Aaron Bliden (Benvolio), and Brad Koed (Mercutio) in Romeo and Juliet, directed by Aaron Posner, Folger Theatre (2013). Photo by Teresa Wood. We covered a lot in our podcast about Shakespeare this year, from the popular…

A very special Christmas gift
PR2752 1875k Sh.Col.
Shakespeare and Beyond

A very special Christmas gift

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Author
Sarah Hovde

Folger Finds delivers delightful and insightful moments with the Folger collection. Sarah Hovde, a cataloger at the Folger Shakespeare Library, shares the story behind a book that belonged to the library’s founder. Many of us have probably given or received…

The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery gets a second life
Robert Smirke. Falstaff rebuked. Oil on canvas, ca. 1795
Shakespeare and Beyond

The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery gets a second life

Posted
Author
Esther French

A late eighteenth-century Shakespeare art museum is experiencing a second life as a detailed online re-creation, the brainchild of University of Texas English professor Janine Barchas.  John Boydell, a British publisher, commissioned depictions of Shakespeare scenes from well-known artists of the day: Joshua…

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