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The Folger Spotlight

ENCORES: 'Shakespeare and Comics' with Mya Gosling (2016)

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Folger ENCORES, red theater seats fading into darkness
Folger ENCORES, red theater seats fading into darkness

Folger Public Programs is pleased to present ENCORES, a bi-weekly online series highlighting past performances and recalling the rich history of programming on the historic Folger stage. ENCORES provides a way to connect and revisit the breadth of Folger offerings with a wider audience and we’re thrilled to be able to share them with you.

ENCORES presents

A selection from
Free Folger Friday: Shakespeare and Comics
presented by Mya Gosling
April 29, 2016
Read about the event on Folgerpedia

Cartoonist Mya Gosling is joined by Kate Pitt, the former Folger Humanities and Lecture Coordinator, for a discussion of the popular Shakespeare webcomic Good Tickle Brain. Gosling wrote the event in webcomic form on her website, which you can view here. You can read more about Gosling’s experience at the Folger here.

Read the introduction by cartoonist Mya Gosling and former Folger Humanities and Lecture Coordinator Kate Pitt:

MYA: Hello and welcome to Folger Encores. I’m Mya Gosling, the Creator of Good Tickle Brain, the world’s foremost and possibly only Shakespeare stick figure webcomic.

KATE: And I’m Kate Pitt, Dramaturg for Good Tickle Brain and former Humanities and Lecture Coordinator at the Folger. In this Encores series, the Folger is sharing selections from their plays, music talks, and readings with you. In this episode, we’re revisiting a conversation Mya and I had in front of a live audience at the Folger in 2016.

MYA: Good Tickle Brain is a webcomic that uses stick figures to shine a spotlight on the silly side of Shakespeare, from three panel summaries of entire plays to goofy pop culture mashups and everything in between.

KATE: This was Mya’s first public talk as a full time Shakespeare cartoonist.

MYA: I think it was my first public talk ever.

KATE: And at the end of our conversation, she drew a brand new, never before seen comic live on stage.

MYA: The comic featured characters from Twelfth Night, celebrated in early January, so we thought it would be a perfect way to start the new year. If you want to see the comics, I drew about my visit to the Folger, including an extremely exciting trip into the vault, check out the link in the show notes.

KATE: We hope you enjoy this excerpt and please join us again for biweekly episodes of Encores highlighting all that the Folger has to offer.

KATE AND MYA: Happy Twelfth Night!

Encores LogoCheck back each Friday for a new “from the archives” performance, introduced by some of our favorite artists, showcasing the best of Folger Theatre, Folger Consort, O.B. Hardison Poetry, and lectures.

Folger Theatre

Folger Theatre is the vibrant center piece of the Folger’s public programs. With a focus on Shakespeare, Folger Theatre produces plays reflecting the breadth of the library’s peerless collection. In this unique setting, with collaborations between artists and experts, Folger Theatre produces innovative stagings that have been commended as “breathtakingly original...strikingly contemporary” (The Washington Post). Led since 1991 by Artistic Producer Janet Alexander Griffin, Folger Theatre has received 135 nominations and 23 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production. During the recent seasons Folger Theatre has received the Outstanding Resident Play Award for its productions of Measure for Measure in 2007, Hamlet in 2011 and The Taming of the Shrew in 2013. Other highlights from Folger Theatre’s producing history include these Helen Hayes Award recipients or nominees for outstanding production: Romeo and Juliet (2013), Orestes: A Tragic Romp (2010), Henry VIII (2010), Arcadia (2009), Macbeth (2008), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2006), Melissa Arctic (2006), She Stoops to Conquer (2002), Shakespeare’s R & J (2001), Much Ado About Nothing (1998), and Romeo and Juliet (1997). — View all posts by Folger Theatre