King Lear

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 69 You can find Shakespeare in all sorts of places, including the Fox TV series Empire. The story of an aging ruler – in this case the head of a hip-hop music dynasty – who sets his…

Barry Kraft as Lear in King Lear, produced by Southern Oregon University, Oregon Center for the Arts. (Credit: Prechtel photo) What can we learn from Shakespeare’s revisions to his plays, and what does that mean for the actors and directors…

The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 Author James Shapiro’s new book The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 considers the period when the playwright wrote three of his greatest tragedies, King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. Dr. Shapiro…

1606 was a critical year for Shakespeare, the year in which he wrote King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra. It was also a time in which James I faced internal political challenges that threatened to tear England apart.

For many of the books in our collection, an unassuming cover can turn out to protect a fascinating text block. What makes this one unusual is the discovery, upon opening the cover, that this book is meant to be read not with the…

By your leave, gods:—this is a Roman’s part Come, Cassius’ sword -Julius Caesar, V.ii.100  One of the great challenges of playing Cassius in Folger Theatre’s production of Julius Caesar is (spoiler alert!) committing suicide on-stage eight times a week. Louis…

Your friendly neighborhood blogger, Louis Butelli. Hello once again from your friend Louis Butelli. The folks here at the Folger Production Diary have asked me to contribute some late summer entries before rehearsals begin for the Folger’s upcoming production of…

One of the fundamental building blocks with which an actor works is an awareness of the relationships into which his character enters. For the actor playing Roderigo in any production of Othello, at a certain moment he must confront the…