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Richard III

Ian McKellen on Richard III, Macbeth, and Gandalf
Shakespeare Unlimited

Ian McKellen on Richard III, Macbeth, and Gandalf

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Sir Ian McKellen tells us about some of his most famous roles: playing Macbeth opposite Dame Judi Dench, King Richard III with a screenplay he co-wrote, and Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of the Rings films.

Folger Finds: Edwin Booth's royal tunic
Shakespeare & Beyond

Folger Finds: Edwin Booth's royal tunic

Posted
Author
Esther Ferington
Marking the anniversary of actor Edwin Booth's birth on November 13, 1833, we explore a stunning historical costume from the Folger collection: an embroidered-velvet tunic that Booth wore onstage as King Richard III.
Mike Lew on Teenage Dick
Shakespeare Unlimited

Mike Lew on Teenage Dick

Posted

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 174 In Mike Lew’s play Teenage Dick, Richard, a high-school senior with cerebral palsy, is determined to become class president by any means necessary. Commissioned by theater artist Gregg Mozgala and Apothetae, the company Mozgala started to talk about…

Richard III: My kingdom for a horse
Shakespeare & Beyond

Richard III: My kingdom for a horse

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond
"My kingdom for a horse!" A titanic villain in Shakespeare's history plays, Richard III departs the stage and this life at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Mark the battle's anniversary with these posts and podcast episodes.
Richard III and disability: Excerpt - "Unfixable Forms" by Katherine Schaap Williams
Shakespeare & Beyond

Richard III and disability: Excerpt - "Unfixable Forms" by Katherine Schaap Williams

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

What did Richard III and his disability represent to Shakespeare’s original audiences? And how has this Shakespeare villain shaped the field of early modern disability studies today? Katherine Schaap Williams takes a closer look at these questions in the below…

Richard III in Prison
Shakespeare Unlimited

Richard III in Prison

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Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 166 Frannie Shepherd-Bates founded Shakespeare in Prison in 2012. Nine years later, SIP is the signature community program of the Detroit Public Theatre and has worked on a total of eight plays with a women’s ensemble at…

Shakespeare and Game of Thrones
Shakespeare Unlimited

Shakespeare and Game of Thrones

Posted

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 159 Based on his knowledge of Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays, Harvard’s Dr. Jeffrey R. Wilson knew just how HBO’s Game of Thrones would play out. Jon Snow, the illegitimate son, was a Richard III type, who would win…

How to control dreams and avoid nightmares… and the ghost visitations in ‘Richard III’
Shakespeare & Beyond

How to control dreams and avoid nightmares… and the ghost visitations in ‘Richard III’

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

  Richard III, act 5 scene 3, in the tent, Richard asleep, ghosts of persons he had murdered. Painted by J. Opie, R.A. ; engraved by W. Sharp. Published 1794. Folger Shakespeare Library. Nightmares and ominous dreams are used to…

"Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen": Hedgehogs in Shakespeare's plays and the early modern imagination
hedgehog illustration
Shakespeare & Beyond

"Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen": Hedgehogs in Shakespeare's plays and the early modern imagination

Posted
Author
Haylie Swenson

Edward Topsell. The historie of foure-footed beastes. 1607. FOLGER STC 24123 copy 1 While the global population of European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) is stable, their numbers have been rapidly declining in the UK for decades, especially in rural areas. This…

Richard III: Taffety Punk's Bootleg Shakespeare
Shakespeare & Beyond

Richard III: Taffety Punk's Bootleg Shakespeare

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Kimberly Gilbert as Richard III. Photo by Brittany Diliberto. Bootleg Shakespeare is not your typical night at the theater: The actors show up on the day of the performance with only their lines memorized; after a few hours of rehearsals,…

Drawing Shakespeare: Richard III
Richard III drawing
Shakespeare & Beyond

Drawing Shakespeare: Richard III

Posted
Author
Paul Glenshaw
Artist Paul Glenshaw writes about drawing the bas-relief of Richard III by sculptor John Gregory on the front of the Folger Shakespeare Library building.
In the Giving Vein: The Pop-Cultural Legacy of Olivier's Richard III
Shakespeare & Beyond

In the Giving Vein: The Pop-Cultural Legacy of Olivier's Richard III

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor
With a US audience of tens of millions in its TV release at the same time it was released in American theaters, Laurence Olivier's film "Richard III" (1955) has left a lasting, sometimes hilarious, legacy in pop culture, from Peter Sellers's lofty and amusing reading of the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" in Olivier's style to modern-day TV villains who speak directly to the camera and win us to their side.
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