Esther French
A Shakespeare tale for winter, told in summer
The Winter’s Tale is onstage this summer at Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, African-American Shakespeare Company, and Nashville Shakespeare Festival.
Shakespeare in Love: From the screen to the stage in Chicago, Oregon, Utah, and New Jersey
“Shakespeare in Love,” the Oscar-winning 1998 movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes, has become a popular stage play, adapted by Lee Hall. Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey are all…
Comparing Timon of Athens with Iago
Timon of Athens vs. Iago! Actors Ian Merrill Peakes and Louis Butelli discuss these Shakespeare characters, their degree of self-awareness, and their villain status.
An Iranian Hamlet
Arian Moayed is an Iranian Hamlet who straddles the line between East and West in a new dual-language production from Waterwell in New York.
What's onstage at American Shakespeare theaters in May: a 1940s-style Midsummer and more
This month, we check in with our theater partners at Seattle Shakespeare Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Folger Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and Atlanta Shakespeare Company.
This whimsical Shakespeare atlas takes you around the world to the places in his plays
This 1934 Shakespeare atlas from the Folger collection contains 19 hand-drawn maps of places (both real and imaginary) from scenes in Shakespeare plays.
What's onstage in March at Shakespeare theaters across America
Which Shakespeare plays are onstage this month? We check in with our theater partners Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare in Detroit, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Gamut Theatre, The Old Globe, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
The pelican in her piety
If you search for the word “pelican” in Shakespeare’s plays, you come across three instances, in Hamlet, King Lear, and Richard II. All three refer to a symbolic meaning of the pelican that can feel remote to today’s reader or…
Shakespeare scenes on Mardi Gras floats
A poster in the Folger collections shows charming illustrations of Mardi Gras floats in New Orleans that represent 18 of Shakespeare’s plays.
Fakespeare: 5 quotes commonly misattributed to Shakespeare
Fake quotes have been in the news lately, from the Republican National Committee’s Abraham Lincoln flub to the bogus Winston Churchill quote about supporting funding for the arts during World War II. Such misattribution is familiar to Shakespeare enthusiasts. Every…
Shakespeare the salesman: Advertising Coca Cola, iPhones, and chewing tobacco
Shakespeare is a familiar sight in the theater and on the movie screen, but he’s permeated many other areas of American life. Advertisers have picked up on the ubiquity of Shakespeare for more than two centuries.
What's onstage in February at Shakespeare theaters across America
Which Shakespeare plays are onstage this month? We check in with our theater partners Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival.