Stephen Greenblatt on Christopher Marlowe
Marlowe and Shakespeare were both born in 1564, rising from working-class origins to find success in the new world of the theater. But before Shakespeare transformed English drama, Marlowe had already done so.
Al Letson on his play Julius X
Journalist, playwright, and poet Al Letson talks about Julius X, his play that borrows lines, characters, and plot from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar to tell the story of Malcolm X. He shares the play’s origins and his approach to creating art.
Director Rosa Joshi on Julius Caesar Today
Rosa Joshi’s bold staging of Julius Caesar at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, performed entirely by women and nonbinary actors, reframes Shakespeare’s political thriller for today’s fight against autocracy.
Reading Jane Austen in the 21st Century
250 years after her birth, Jane Austen’s appeal endures. Scholar Patricia A. Matthew discusses editing three Austen novels and how new research on Caribbean sugar plantations expands our view of the Regency era.
Inside Hamlet’s Head with Jeremy McCarter
A six-episode podcast drops you inside Hamlet from the prince’s POV. Director Jeremy McCarter explains how 21st-century technology unlocked a fresh take on Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Shakespeare, Money, and Meaning-Making
Can reading King Lear help us rethink economic policy? Can Measure for Measure shape how we talk about justice? Professors Laurette Dubé and Paul Yachnin explore how Shakespeare can help us imagine more humane systems for our world.
Staging Hamlet in Grand Theft Auto
When theaters shut down during COVID, actors Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen performed Hamlet inside Grand Theft Auto Online. Filmmaker Pinny Grylls captured it all in a documentary, Grand Theft Hamlet.
Simon Russell Beale on Shakespeare, from Hamlet to Titus
Called “the finest actor of his generation,” Beale has played just about everyone in Shakespeare’s canon. He reflects on the roles that have shaped his career and how his approach has evolved over time.
Shakespeare’s Boy Player Alexander Cooke
In Shakespeare’s time, women onstage were played by boys, and for those boy players, fame could be fleeting. Nicole Galland’s novel Boy follows Alexander “Sander” Cooke, a real-life actor in Shakespeare’s company.
King Lear and Mao’s China, with Nan Z. Da
What can King Lear teach us about power today? Nan Z. Da shares how Shakespeare’s play echoes her family’s experience in Maoist China, how Shakespeare anticipates authoritarianism, and why Lear may be Shakespeare’s most “Chinese” play.