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.
The Folger is the world’s largest Shakespeare collection. We love mining this rich archive for gems, and on social media we often share collection items using #FolgerFinds. This blog post takes us through a year of Shakespeare #FolgerFinds on Instagram. January We start…
Renaissance cooking: Food historian Francine Segan and a recipe for 'pears' in broth (they're not really pears)
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Author
Esther French
Francine Segan is a food historian with a taste for the Renaissance. She’s the author of six cookbooks, including Shakespeare’s Kitchen (2003) and the Opera Lover’s Cookbook, which was nominated for a James Beard award. This year she’s been spending…
Did you pick up a souvenir X-wing figurine for the opening of Rogue One last night? Maybe you’re getting a tie-in edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for Christmas this year, or a poster from the Ghostbusters…
Five things to look for when you watch 'The Winter's Tale'
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Author
Esther French
If you’re going to see a performance of The Winter’s Tale, perhaps you’ve read the play (or maybe just the plot summary)—or maybe you’re going in cold. So, what should you look for in this Shakespeare play?
America's Shakespeare: The Bard goes west to California’s Gold Rush mining camps
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Esther French
Theater was very popular in California’s Gold Rush era, and miners couldn’t get enough of Shakespeare. Even gold-mining towns had stages or performance spaces.
Folger copy 54: The First Folio as family scrapbook
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Kathleen Lynch
One the First Folio’s owners, Captain Charles Hutchinson, clearly valued the book as a reflection on his family’s place in English history. Not only did he restore it, but he also treated it as a scrapbook of sorts, working in details and documents related to his family history.
Are you a fan of YA novels? Young adult literature is booming right now, from contemporary sob-fests like The Fault in Our Stars to action adventure series like The Maze Runner. And with Shakespeare a staple of the high school classroom, it makes…
We’ve got nine Shakespeare-themed Christmas gift ideas for you, selected from the Folger shop and all under $20. Find something for your friend, your sibling, your favorite English teacher, or yourself! 1. A Shakespeare quotes mug Drink hot chocolate from a mug with…
Off the Shelf: A Shakespearean Botanical, The Battle of Agincourt, Year of the Fat Knight, and more
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Shakespeare & Beyond
Here’s a round-up of Shakespeare-related books, fiction and nonfiction, that are on our must-read list. Ira’s Shakespeare Dream Glenda Armand (author), Floyd Cooper (illustrator) This story of famed African-American actor Ira Aldridge, who believed he could be a great Shakespearean…
First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare opening reception at the Mead Art Museum. May 9, 2016. Photo by Maria Stenzel. On a typical book tour, authors travel to read from their work, sign copies, and give talks. But…
