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Book excerpts, reviews, author interviews, and reading recommendations
"The Taming of the Shrew" on the American stage before "Kiss Me, Kate": An excerpt from "Shakespeare in a Divided America" by James Shapiro
James Shapiro
Shakespeare and Beyond

"The Taming of the Shrew" on the American stage before "Kiss Me, Kate": An excerpt from "Shakespeare in a Divided America" by James Shapiro

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The Taming of the Shrew is often referred to as one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” because of its controversial depiction of gender roles; last year’s Broadway production of Kiss Me, Kate, the 1948 musical based on The Taming of the…

Excerpt: The Afterlife of Shakespeare's Sonnets
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Shakespeare and Beyond

Excerpt: The Afterlife of Shakespeare's Sonnets

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Why weren’t Shakespeare’s sonnets included in the First Folio? And what was the effect on the way that later readers and critics considered Shakespeare’s total body of work? Jane Kingsley-Smith of Roehampton University, London, explores these questions in the below…

Excerpt - Shakespeare’s Church and the Pilgrim Fathers: Commemorating Plymouth Rock in Stratford
Stratford
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Excerpt - Shakespeare’s Church and the Pilgrim Fathers: Commemorating Plymouth Rock in Stratford

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Did you know that the Pilgrims have a presence in the church where William Shakespeare was baptized and buried? A stained glass window that bears the inscription, “The Gift of America to Shakespeare’s Church,” shows the Pilgrims landing on Plymouth…

Excerpt: Shakespeare and the Folktale
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Excerpt: Shakespeare and the Folktale

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What are the connections between traditional folktales and Shakespeare’s plays? Charlotte Artese, an English professor at Agnes Scott College in Georgia, sets out to explore these folktale sources in a new anthology of stories, Shakespeare and the Folktale, published October…

Caliban by the Yellow Sands: Shakespeare and immigrant communities in New York - Excerpt: Here in This Island We Arrived
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Caliban by the Yellow Sands: Shakespeare and immigrant communities in New York - Excerpt: Here in This Island We Arrived

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Here in This Island We Arrived: Shakespeare and Belonging in Immigrant New York is a 2019 book from Elisabeth H. Kinsley that explores Shakespeare performance in late 19th- and early 20-century Manhattan during a time of profound demographic change, when…

Emma Smith on Falstaff: An excerpt from 'This Is Shakespeare'
This is Shakespeare book cover
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Emma Smith on Falstaff: An excerpt from 'This Is Shakespeare'

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Shakespeare scholar Emma Smith takes 20 chapters to discuss 20 different Shakespeare plays in her new book This Is Shakespeare, offering insights on key characters, plot twists, and performance challenges. The excerpt below, which focuses on the character of Falstaff…

Excerpt - The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth
The Assassin of Verona
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Excerpt - The Assassin of Verona by Benet Brandreth

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In Benet Brandreth’s historical thriller “The Assassin of Verona,” William Shakespeare is disguised as a steward to the English ambassador in 1586 Venice.

Excerpt - Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett
Miranda in Milan book cover
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Excerpt - Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett

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What happens after “The Tempest” ends? “Miranda in Milan,” Katharine Duckett’s debut novel, picks up where Shakespeare’s play leaves off.

Excerpt: What Blest Genius? The Jubilee That Made Shakespeare
Shakespeare Jubilee
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Excerpt: What Blest Genius? The Jubilee That Made Shakespeare

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This new book by Andrew McConnell Stott is about David Garrick and the Shakespeare Jubilee of 1769 in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Excerpt - The Girl on the Balcony by Olivia Hussey
Girl on the Balcony - Olivia Hussey as Juliet
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Excerpt - The Girl on the Balcony by Olivia Hussey

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Read an excerpt from “The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After Romeo and Juliet,” a memoir by the star of Franco Zeffirelli’s classic film.

Excerpt -- 'Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite' by Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey, Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite (2018). Book cover.
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Excerpt -- 'Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite' by Roger Daltrey

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In his recent memoir, “Thanks a Lot Mr. Kibblewhite,” Roger Daltrey of The Who writes, among other things, about playing the Dromio twins in the BBC’s TV movie of “The Comedy of Errors” (1983).

Excerpt - 'Mad Blood Stirring' by Simon Mayo
'Mad Blood Stirring.' Simon Mayo. 2019.
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Excerpt - 'Mad Blood Stirring' by Simon Mayo

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Inspired by a real-life episode, Simon Mayo’s novel ‘Mad Blood Stirring’ tells the powerful story of a Shakespeare production by African American prisoners of war at Dartmoor prison in England, near the end of the War of 1812.

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