Inspired by Shakespeare

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. 

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.

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.

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 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.

Discover books, costume sketches, and theatrical props for Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in the Folger collection along with items from Folger Theatre’s production of Al Letson’s Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. 

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.

What is Shakespeare’s role in a genre of literature—science fiction—that flourished centuries after his plays first took the stage? Scholar Sarah Annes Brown explores the influence of Shakespeare the man and his writing.

Austin Tichenor travels back to Elizabethan England with Nicole Galland’s novel Boy about Shakespeare’s acting company member Alexander Cooke in a surprisingly contemporary exploration of gender roles onstage and off.

Author Anthony Del Col shares how the newest Kill Shakespeare adventure found its inspiration in Westerns like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

One of 18th-century Britain’s most prolific narrative painters, Henry Fuseli found inspiration in Shakespeare, with his painting of Macbeth and the witches one of his “best poetical conceptions.”

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is having a moment—actually two, with A Room in the Castle and The Comedy of Hamlet! (a prequel) exploring Shakespeare’s characters before, during, and after the events of his greatest tragedy.