Richard III
Shakespeare and Game of Thrones
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’
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
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
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
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
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…
Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare's Tyrants
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 100 “How is it possible for a whole country to fall into the hands of a tyrant? That’s a deeply unsettling question that Shakespeare grappled with again and again.” Stephen Greenblatt’s new book Tyrant explores tyranny in Shakespeare’s…
An edition of Richard III "adapted for amateurs"
Black actor J.A. Arneaux starred as the title character in the Astor Place Company’s production of Richard III and published his own 19th-century edition.
Richard III's dagger
Richard (Drew Cortese) and the Duke of York (Remy Brettell) in Richard III, directed by Robert Richmond, Folger Theatre, 2014. Photo by Teresa Wood. This is an excerpt from Yale professor Joseph Roach’s talk for the Shakespeare Anniversary Lecture Series…
Repetition is celebrity: Shakespeare and Austen
As curators of Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity we both began our work in the archives with established interests in the connections between literary greatness and consumer culture. Janine has written about the marketing tactics…
Reading ahead for "Will & Jane"
As you’ve seen on this blog already, the next Folger exhibition, Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity (August 6 to November 6), will be a fascinating look at the posthumous celebrities of William Shakespeare and Jane…
Sneak Peek of Jim Hunter's Lighting Design for Julius Caesar
The exhalations whizzing in the air / Give so much light that I may read by them (Julius Caesar, II.i.46-47) Today’s guest post comes from Jim Hunter, the lighting designer for Julius Caesar. Jim is a professor of theatrical design at the University of South…