Shakespeare & Beyond

Inspired by a real-life episode, Simon Mayo’s novel ‘Mad Blood Stirring’ tells the powerful story of a Shakespeare production by African American prisoners of war at Dartmoor prison in England, near the end of the War of 1812.

Enjoy our five most popular #FolgerFinds posts on Instagram of items from the Folger Shakespeare Library collection, from a silhouette of a ‘Midsummer’ scene with Bottom and Titania to vintage photos of 19th-century actress Julia Marlowe.

Enjoy our most popular Shakespeare & Beyond blog posts from 2018, an eclectic range including a tasty 17th-century recipe, a quiz, a new play on Sarah Bernhardt and Hamlet, a female science fiction author from 1666, and a look at…

Revisit some of our most popular 2018 Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episodes, from Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway to a conversation with actor Derek Jacobi to the tyrants in Shakespeare’s plays.

From rudeness to gross behavior, Ruth Goodman’s book “How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England” sheds some surprising light on what bad behavior really meant, including the reason that Shakespeare had Sampson threaten to “bite my thumb” at another character…

A detailed but absurd decor chat with Lady Macbeth is one of Susan Harlan’s many hilarious design interviews with literary figures in her new book “Decorating a Room of One’s Own.”

Tracy Young, who had previously directed “The Winter’s Tale,” writes about the challenges of translating “The Winter’s Tale” for the Play on! project.

Enjoy a discussion led by Washington Post journalist Robert Costa, moderator of Washington Week, with Georgianna Ziegler, curator of Churchill’s Shakespeare, and Allen Packwood, director of the Churchill Archives Centre, exploring Shakespeare’s influences on Winston Churchill.

We’ve got eight Shakespeare-related Christmas gift ideas from the Folger shop, most of them under $30 and some under $15, from books and jewelry to a bath duck and more.

If you’ve been following the Shakespeare & Beyond blog, you’ll know that the Folger has been doing a monthly series of Q&As with some of the playwrights and dramaturgs involved with Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Play on! project to translate all…

The TV series “Shakespeare Uncovered” returns this Friday, October 12, with richly visual episodes. Watch video previews of Helen Hunt on “Much Ado About Nothing” and F. Murray Abraham on “The Merchant of Venice.”

We’ve got five great ideas for a Shakespeare-themed Halloween costume, from Hermione to Touchstone.