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 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.
Rosalind: Shakespeare's Immortal Heroine - an excerpt
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Author
Esther French
Read an excerpt from “Rosalind: Shakespeare’s Immortal Heroine” by Angela Thirlwell, in which she traces the performance history of “As You Like It” and interviews famous actresses who have played this role onstage.
“Is it hip-hop or is it Shakespeare?” Learn more about Akala and how he uses hip-hop to spread an understanding of the relevance of Shakespeare’s poetry.
Two Shakespearean actors, a book, and a biographer corrected
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Author
Sarah Hovde
Famous Shakespearean actress Ellen Terry (1847-1928) took the liberty of correcting certain biographical errors in a book about her friend Henry Irving.
Hey nonny nonny! Shakespeare’s plays are filled with music. Using some context clues, can you match the songs to the plays in which they appear? Happy playing!
By the time the first battles of the American Revolution took place in 1775, Shakespeare had been imported from England on stage and page to the New World.
The Book of Will: An imagined backstory for the Shakespeare First Folio
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Author
Esther French
The Book of Will, a new play by Lauren Gunderson, explores the back-story of how Shakespeare’s friends assembled his plays into the book we know today as the First Folio, without which we might have forever lost plays such as…
