Inside Shakespeare's plays

What happens when a Shakespeare play is made up in real time? The ISC creates fully unscripted performances from a single audience prompt—blending poetry, comedy, and spontaneity into a play that’s never the same twice.

We all know that Shakespeare loved twins, but less talked about is how much he adored triplets. Shakespeare understood the power of three and deployed it, perhaps most unexpectedly, says Austin Tichenor, in the comedy As You Like It.

Acclaimed actor Adjoa Andoh shares how “swinging the lens” in both Bridgerton and Shakespeare reveals new perspectives on power, identity, and belonging, inviting audiences to see familiar stories in radically different ways.

Womersley shares how tragedies like Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear place audiences inside difficult moral dilemmas, inviting us to wrestle with enduring questions about identity, power, and what it means to do the right thing.

As You Like It is one of Shakespeare’s festive comedies, but there are also heavier themes in the play. We asked Folger Director Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper for her take on Shakespeare’s beloved comedy.

In 1936, Britain’s first feature-length Shakespeare “talkie” premiered: As You Like It featuring Elisabeth Bergner and Laurence Olivier in his first Shakespeare role on screen. Explore the film’s press kits and study guides.

Shakespeare’s era was abuzz with mathematical progress. Rob Eastaway uncovers the many surprising ways math shaped Shakespeare’s plays―and his world―in an excerpt from his book, Much Ado About Numbers.

From sweet potatoes to ale, try our quiz on eating and drinking in Shakespere’s plays.

We may recognize Saint Crispin’s Day from its famous mention in Shakespeare’s Henry V. But who is Saint Crispin and why is he celebrated on October 25?

Challenge yourself with our haunting quiz about the phantoms and apparitions in Shakespeare’s plays and how they are portrayed, from Banquo’s ghost in Macbeth to Hamlet’s father’s Ghost, and many more.

Shakespeare’s plays are full of unforgettable women, but too often their voices are cut short. In She Speaks!, acclaimed actor Harriet Walter imagines what they might tell us if given the chance in original poems that deepen their stories.

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.