Shakespeare in the world
How to think like a sonnet, or, fourteen ways of looking around a room
A sonnet packs a lot of meaning into a tiny space. Here are fourteen ways (one for each line) of approaching Shakespeare’s most well-known poems.
Sonnets & Chill: What did Shakespeare’s audiences do when the theaters were closed?
Speed reading Launce’s letter : / J. Gilbert ; W. Thomas, sc. 19th century. Folger Shakespeare Library. ART File S528t7 no.10 (size XS)All right, enough. We’ve all heard how super-productive William Shakespeare was when the plague shut down his theaters:…
Savor Shakespeare's sonnets with Patrick Stewart
Need some quality poetry to help you through these difficult times? Sir Patrick Stewart has been reading a Shakespeare sonnet a day on Twitter.
"A goodly prize": Award-winning Shakespeare movies
Since we’ve just completed the annual Hollywood marathon called “Awards Season” — several self-congratulatory months filled with the Independent Spirit Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, various guild awards from around the world, the British Film & Television Academy Awards (the…
5 classic TV Shakespeare references from the late 60s and early 70s: The Flintstones, Gilligan's Island, Star Trek, The Brady Bunch, and Happy Days
The cast of The Merry Wives of Windsor with a 1970s twist at Folger Theatre. The Brady Bunch-inspired scenic design is by Tony Cisek. (Cameron Whitman Photography) Shakespeare’s influence can be found in many aspects of American culture, from film…
Have yourself a merry Shakespeare Christmas
It’s that time of year, when some of us have visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads, many are looking forward to (or dreading) gathering with family and friends, and a certain subset of us wonder, somewhat longingly and…
We asked 5 artistic directors: How did making Shakespeare change in the 2010s?
We asked five artistic directors from Shakespeare companies around the United States: How did making Shakespeare change between 2010 and 2020? Plus, we recap a wild decade for Shakespeare lovers.
The Shakespeare 2020 Project: A plan to read through the complete works in one year
As the author of books that retell Star Wars in the style of Shakespeare, I am often asked, “If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only take the complete works of Shakespeare or the Star Wars…
'Our humble author will continue the story': Shakespearean prequels and sequels
Claudius (Craig Wallace, center), Rosencrantz (Romell Witherspoon, right), and Guildenstern (Adam Wesley Brown). Gertrude (Kimberly Schraf) pictured in background. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Folger Theatre, 2015. Photo by Jeff Malet. Maybe ’twas ever thus, but the current crop of…
Venus and Adonis: The classical myth that inspired Shakespeare's epic poem and John Blow's 17th-century opera
What many consider to be the earliest known English opera shares its mythological subject with Shakespeare’s most popular published work during his lifetime: the epic poem Venus and Adonis. Here we see great artists from different centuries using different art…
Verdi's Macbeth: "The opera without a love affair!"
Macbeth posta in musica da Giuseppe Verdi e per grata memoria dedicato al suo amatissimo suocero Antonio Barezzi Riduzione per Pianoforte solo de E. Muzio. . 1847. FOLGER 266549“L’opera senza amore!” That was the Italians’ reaction to Verdi’s Macbeth when…
Shakespeare's muses: The magic in his method
Shakspere / . 1832. Folger ART Box R167 no.1 (size L)It’s a tantalizing mystery: What was Shakespeare’s inspiration? What was the source of his talent? How on earth did he do what he did? Were his abilities and success the…