The Shakespeare & Beyond blog features a wide range of Shakespeare-related topics: the early modern period in which he lived, the ways his plays have been interpreted and staged over the past four centuries, the enduring power of his characters and language, and more.
Shakespeare & Beyond
![Shax_beyond_small_banner](https://images.folger.edu/uploads/2022/11/Shax_beyond_small_banner.jpg?resize=1200%2C400&gravity)
Shakespeare & Beyond also explores the topics that shape our experience of Shakespeare today: trends in performance, the latest discoveries and scholarship, news stories, pop culture, interesting books, new movies, the rich context of theater and literary history, and more. As the word “beyond” suggests, from time to time Shakespeare & Beyond also covers topics that are not directly linked to Shakespeare.
Questions or comments? You can reach us at shakespeareandbeyond@folger.edu.
![Ian McKellen and other Hamlets Ian McKellen and other Hamlets](https://images.folger.edu/uploads/2021/05/hamlet-mckellen-TWI.jpg?fit=10%2C10)
Not of an age: The history behind Ian McKellen’s Hamlet
In June, Ian McKellen will take the stage as the title character in Hamlet at the Theatre Royal Windsor. McKellen is no stranger to the role: he played Hamlet in Prospect Theatre Company’s touring production a half century ago. It…
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Spilling the beans: The Islamic history of coffee
Before there were Starbucks and the quirky coffeeshops masquerading as cozy work corners for many of us, there was the mid-17th century coffeeshop boom in England. During the 1600s, the general conversation about coffee nodded to its status as the…
![Measure for Measure, from the Chicago Shakespeare Theater](https://images.folger.edu/uploads/2021/05/CST_MeasureforMeasure_2021.jpg?fit=10%2C10)
Where to find Shakespeare in May
Check out awesome performances and programs from Shakespeare theaters across the United States this month.
Excerpt: 'Irregular Unions' by Katharine Cleland
Katharine Cleland examines Jessica and Lorenzo’s clandestine marriage in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” in this excerpt from her book “Irregular Unions.”
Quiz: Greek mythological figures in Shakespeare's plays
Troilus and Cressida is perhaps Shakespeare’s most obvious connection with classic Greek literature, given that the play’s events occur during the Trojan War. But references to Greek mythology are liberally sprinkled throughout the rest of Shakespeare’s plays as well. See…
![Austin Tichenor as William Shakespeare Austin Tichenor as William Shakespeare](https://images.folger.edu/uploads/2021/04/TWood_RSC_324.jpg?fit=10%2C10)
"Painter’s art": Biofictional perspectives on Shakespeare
Austin Tichenor as William Shakespeare in William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged), Folger Theatre, 2016. Photo by Teresa Wood. Depictions of William Shakespeare in fictional works are animated by the same impulse behind fanfiction — to fill in the…
![Muhammad ben Hadou The Moroccan ambassador on horseback](https://images.folger.edu/uploads/2021/04/ben-hadou.jpg?fit=10%2C10)
Performance, advertising, and Anglo-Maghrebi diplomacy in Restoration and Augustan London
In February 1682, it was reported in the London newspaper Loyal Protestant, and True Domestic Intelligence that ‘His Excellency the Morocco Ambassador is exceedingly well pleased with his Entertainments; Insomuch that he declared, that he thought there were not such…
Highlights from Shakespeare's Birthday 2021
Thanks for celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday with us this year! We received many creative and inspiring responses to our invitation to #ShareYourShakespeare on social media. Many people recited a line, speech, or sonnet from Shakespeare’s works. Here are a few of…
![Seven Ages of Man Seven Ages of Man](https://images.folger.edu/uploads/2023/04/006568-fb-1.jpg?fit=10%2C10)
Up Close: A 'Seven Ages of Man' painting
Take a closer look at a 19th-century oil painting in the Folger collection that depicts all seven ages of man from Jaques’s speech in Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.”
Where to Find Shakespeare in April
Find out how Shakespeare theaters across the United States are celebrating the Bard’s birthday this year.
Better than laughing: Renaissance melancholy
The most famous book about Renaissance melancholy, Robert Burton’s The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), celebrates its four hundredth anniversary this year. Though it was published five years after Shakespeare’s death, it gathers together ideas about melancholy from antiquity right through…
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Order It: Sonnet 98
It’s springtime, and Sonnet 98 is a wonderful seasonal selection from Shakespeare. Take this quiz to see if you can put the sonnet’s 14 lines into their correct order.