Skip to main content
All 125 posts by

Esther French

Esther French is the Digital Managing Editor at the Folger Shakespeare Library.
How 'The New York Times' commemorated the Shakespeare tercentenary in 1916
Shakespeare and Beyond

How 'The New York Times' commemorated the Shakespeare tercentenary in 1916

Posted
Author
Esther French

2016 marks 400 years after William Shakespeare’s death, and the world is celebrating the quatercentenary with Shakespeare performances, festivals, and fireworks. One hundred years ago, what was said about the Shakespeare tercentenary in the United States? We see one of these windows…

'Worlds Elsewhere': Shakespeare's imagination roaming far and free
'Worlds Elsewhere' by Andrew Dickson
Shakespeare and Beyond

'Worlds Elsewhere': Shakespeare's imagination roaming far and free

Posted
Author
Esther French

William Shakespeare is a global phenomenon. In the four centuries since his death, the British playwright’s works have appeared at times and places where we might least expect them. Why is this so? Shakespeare was no world traveler. So then why…

King and Country: Shakespeare treasures from the Folger
Charles Kean Promptbook
Shakespeare and Beyond

King and Country: Shakespeare treasures from the Folger

Posted
Author
Esther French

A special exhibition of rare quartos, promptbooks, and other treasures from the Folger collection accompanies the Royal Shakespeare Company staging of King and Country: Shakespeare’s Great Cycle of Kings at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York this month. Director Gregory…

Quiz: Shakespeare's Fools
Shakespeare and Beyond

Quiz: Shakespeare's Fools

Posted
Author
Esther French

Shakespeare’s plays are filled with fools. How well do you know these clowns and comedians? Take our quiz and test your knowledge.

Quiz: Can you identify the Shakespeare play by only the first line?
Shakespeare and Beyond

Quiz: Can you identify the Shakespeare play by only the first line?

Posted
Author
Esther French

Test your Shakespeare knowledge and take our quiz!  See if you can identify the play with only the first line to go by. Be warned, it gets harder as you progress …

A behind-the-scenes tour of the Folger conservation lab
Shakespeare and Beyond

A behind-the-scenes tour of the Folger conservation lab

Posted
Author
Esther French

Renate Mesmer. Photo by Lloyd Wolf. Up on the third floor of the Folger Shakespeare Library, conservators work meticulously with rare books and other collection materials: preserving, repairing, preparing for display, and packaging for travel. Renate Mesmer, head of conservation,…

Follow the First Folio tour! Updates from Maine, Michigan, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Texas
Shakespeare and Beyond

Follow the First Folio tour! Updates from Maine, Michigan, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Texas

Posted
Author
Esther French

“If music be the food of love, play on…” At the National Music Museum in South Dakota, Shakespeare’s First Folio is surrounded by musical instruments from the playwright’s era, including the only English-made Renaissance cittern (c. 1579) known to survive…

Life of an icon: Shakespeare as playwright and poet
Shakespeare and Beyond

Life of an icon: Shakespeare as playwright and poet

Posted
Author
Esther French

Fifty of the most important manuscripts and printed works related to Shakespeare’s life and career are on display in the Folger exhibition Shakespeare, Life of an Icon, curated by Heather Wolfe. Some of these documents mark important milestones for Shakespeare…

Teller and The Tempest: Magic in Shakespeare's time
CST The Tempest
Shakespeare and Beyond

Teller and The Tempest: Magic in Shakespeare's time

Posted
Author
Esther French

Prospero (Larry Yando) suspends his daughter Miranda (Eva Louise Balistreiri) in midair as the ever-watchful Ariel (Nate Dendy) assists his master in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production of The Tempest, directed by Aaron Posner and Teller, in the Courtyard Theater, 2015.…

Documenting the life of an icon: Shakespeare at 400 years
Shakespeare and Beyond

Documenting the life of an icon: Shakespeare at 400 years

Posted
Author
Esther French

Shakespeare, Life of an Icon, the first of four special exhibitions at the Folger Shakespeare Library in 2016, offers a fresh and intimate perspective on William Shakespeare as the London playwright, bestselling poet, and man from Stratford. This once-in-a-lifetime assemblage shares…

Explore Shakespeare and world cinema, from China to Brazil
Maqbool
Shakespeare and Beyond

Explore Shakespeare and world cinema, from China to Brazil

Posted
Author
Esther French

Can you imagine Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra transposed to rural India, where Antony becomes a cock fighter and Cleopatra a medicine woman? Or what about a Hamlet in the Himalayas, with the title character seeking forgiveness and reconciliation instead of revenge? Mark…

David Garrick and the cult of bardolatry
David Garrick in Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare and Beyond

David Garrick and the cult of bardolatry

Posted
Author
Esther French

David Garrick and George Anne Bellamy in Romeo and Juliet. Based on a painting by Benjamn Wilson engraved by Ravenet. Enamel, ca. 1765. Folger Shakespeare Library. The leading actor-manager of the 1700s, David Garrick revolutionized English theatre with a lively,…

1 7 8 9 10 11