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Charlotte Cushman, an American star
Thomas Sully. Charlotte Cushman. Oil on canvas, 1843. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Charlotte Cushman, an American star

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Shakespeare & Beyond

Thomas Sully. Charlotte Cushman. Oil on canvas, 1843. As we celebrate Shakespeare in 2016, it’s also time to mark some other dates on the calendar. This Saturday, July 23, 2016, is the 200th anniversary of Charlotte Cushman’s birth. Cushman was among the…

50 episodes and counting: Shakespeare Unlimited podcast explores race, imperialism, magic, music, Star Wars, and more
Shakespeare and Beyond

50 episodes and counting: Shakespeare Unlimited podcast explores race, imperialism, magic, music, Star Wars, and more

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Esther French

The Shakespeare Unlimited podcast connects Shakespeare and his plays with our world today through interviews with actors, directors, and scholars—but also with astronomers, a conservator, and a professional magician, among others. The 50th episode, which deals with race, Othello, and how…

The perfect Shakespeare-inspired cocktails for summer: Juliet’s Emoji-to and Caliban's Wrong Island Iced Tea from 'Shakespeare, Not Stirred'
Shakespeare and Beyond

The perfect Shakespeare-inspired cocktails for summer: Juliet’s Emoji-to and Caliban's Wrong Island Iced Tea from 'Shakespeare, Not Stirred'

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Esther French

Mix your own drinks with recipes inspired by Shakespeare characters! Two professors combined their love of cocktails with their love of Shakespeare to create Shakespeare, Not Stirred: Cocktails for Your Everyday Dramas, a collection of recipes with names like “Kate’s…

Creating Shakespeare's First Folio
First Folio
Shakespeare and Beyond

Creating Shakespeare's First Folio

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Esther French

A First Folio at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Photo by Lloyd Wolf. Imagine a world without Macbeth, Twelfth Night, or Julius Caesar. We likely wouldn’t have half of Shakespeare’s plays without the First Folio. Who was responsible for making this book,…

A behind-the-scenes tour of the Folger conservation lab
Shakespeare and Beyond

A behind-the-scenes tour of the Folger conservation lab

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Author
Esther French

Renate Mesmer. Photo by Lloyd Wolf. Up on the third floor of the Folger Shakespeare Library, conservators work meticulously with rare books and other collection materials: preserving, repairing, preparing for display, and packaging for travel. Renate Mesmer, head of conservation,…

Teller and The Tempest: Magic in Shakespeare's time
CST The Tempest
Shakespeare and Beyond

Teller and The Tempest: Magic in Shakespeare's time

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Author
Esther French

Prospero (Larry Yando) suspends his daughter Miranda (Eva Louise Balistreiri) in midair as the ever-watchful Ariel (Nate Dendy) assists his master in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of The Tempest, directed by Aaron Posner and Teller, in the Courtyard Theater, 2015.…

Explore Shakespeare and world cinema, from China to Brazil
Maqbool
Shakespeare and Beyond

Explore Shakespeare and world cinema, from China to Brazil

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Esther French

Can you imagine Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra transposed to rural India, where Antony becomes a cock fighter and Cleopatra a medicine woman? Or what about a Hamlet in the Himalayas, with the title character seeking forgiveness and reconciliation instead of revenge? Mark…

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

How to audition for Shakespeare: Actors demonstrate tips

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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…

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

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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…

Which Shakespeare portraits are legitimate?
Folger Reading Room bust
Shakespeare and Beyond

Which Shakespeare portraits are legitimate?

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Esther French

Every few years it seems, a newly discovered portrait of Shakespeare emerges, only to be discredited after the media maelstrom. But it points to a keen public interest in knowing what Shakespeare looked like, to put a face to a name with which we are so intimately familiar.

May the Force Be With You: William Shakespeare's Star Wars
Shakespeare and Beyond

May the Force Be With You: William Shakespeare's Star Wars

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Esther French

Luke Skywalker strikes an iconic Hamlet pose in this illustration from the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars series. Credit Nicolas Delort. Courtesy Quirk Books. Shakespeare and Star Wars would appear to have very little in common. Or at least they did,…

Andrea Mays: The Millionaire and the Bard
Shakespeare and Beyond

Andrea Mays: The Millionaire and the Bard

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Author
Esther French

Henry Clay Folger paid a world record price for a book—not once, but twice—as he became the world’s leading collector of Shakespeare First Folios. In this episode from Shakespeare Unlimited, economist and author Andrea Mays talks with Neva Grant about…

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