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Shakespeare & Beyond

Shakespeare & Beyond

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.

Taffety Tarts: How Folger manuscript recipes helped a 17th-century pastry make it into the Oxford English Dictionary
Taffety tarts
Shakespeare and Beyond

Taffety Tarts: How Folger manuscript recipes helped a 17th-century pastry make it into the Oxford English Dictionary

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Author
Mary-Anne Boermans

Food historian and The Great British Baking Show winner Mary-Anne Boermans writes about piecing together 17th-century manuscript recipes for Taffety Tarts.

Whither the Shakespeare purist?
Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare and Beyond

Whither the Shakespeare purist?

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Author
Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor of the Reduced Shakespeare Company asks what it means to be a Shakespeare purist and attempts to interpret audience reactions.

Drawing Shakespeare: Richard III
Richard III drawing
Shakespeare and Beyond

Drawing Shakespeare: Richard III

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Author
Paul Glenshaw

Artist Paul Glenshaw writes about drawing the bas-relief of Richard III by sculptor John Gregory on the front of the Folger Shakespeare Library building.

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in March
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in March

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Author
Ben Lauer

Every month, we take a look at Shakespeare in performance at theaters across the USA. See what’s onstage in the month of March.

Seed cake inspired by Thomas Tusser
seed cake
Shakespeare and Beyond

Seed cake inspired by Thomas Tusser

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Author
Marissa Nicosia

See a 17th-century recipe for seed cake inspired by the farmer poet Thomas Tusser. Ingredients include rosewater, caraway seeds, and sherry.

Women painting Shakespeare in the time of Jane Austen and Queen Victoria
Angelica Kauffmann painted; engraver unknown. Two Gentlemen of Verona Act 5, scene 4. ART File S528t7 no.40
Shakespeare and Beyond

Women painting Shakespeare in the time of Jane Austen and Queen Victoria

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Author
Georgianna Ziegler

During the late 18th and early 19th century, professional women artists in England were becoming more prominent and turning to Shakespeare for material.

Nora Titone shares highlights from the Folger's Booth collection
Edwin Booth's 100th Hamlet performance
Shakespeare and Beyond

Nora Titone shares highlights from the Folger's Booth collection

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

Nora Titone, author of a book on Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth, shares highlights from the Folger’s Booth collection.

Early Shakespeare films: scripts, stars, and souvenirs
Laurence Olivier
Shakespeare and Beyond

Early Shakespeare films: scripts, stars, and souvenirs

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

These recent additions to the Folger collection relate to a range of early Shakespeare films that represented important firsts, won awards, and witnessed the transition from silent films to “talkies.”

Citrus and sugar: Making marmalade with Hannah Woolley
marmalade
Shakespeare and Beyond

Citrus and sugar: Making marmalade with Hannah Woolley

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Author
Marissa Nicosia

Hannah Woolley’s 17-century recipe for marmalade captures the flavors of exotic citrus with the preservative power of sugar, which had only recently been made widely available to upper- and middle-class British people.

Drawing Shakespeare: King Lear
King Lear by Paul Glenshaw
Shakespeare and Beyond

Drawing Shakespeare: King Lear

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Author
Paul Glenshaw

Artist Paul Glenshaw writes about drawing the bas-relief of King Lear by sculptor John Gregory on the front of the Folger Shakespeare Library building.

Shakespeare book clubs: the pleasures and frustrations of diving into the plays with a group
Chicago Shakespeare Theater: The Taming of the Shrew
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare book clubs: the pleasures and frustrations of diving into the plays with a group

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Author
Austin Tichenor

It’s not unusual to see theaters sponsoring monthly or semi-regular meetings devoted to reading and talking about Shakespeare’s plays.

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in February
Clay Vanderbeek (Rosencrantz) and Nate Ruleaux (Guildenstern) in Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s 2019 production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead directed by Donald Hicken. Photo by Joshua McKerrow.
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in February

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Author
Ben Lauer

Every month, we call up our Shakespeare theater partners to see what they have onstage. Find out what’s on across the US in February.

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