Skip to main content
All 196 posts on

Staging Shakespeare

The First English Actresses
Nell Gwyn. Print, by R. Tomson after Peter Lely, from Cunningham, The story of Nell Gwyn. 1883. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Shakespeare and Beyond

The First English Actresses

Posted
Author
Georgianna Ziegler

In 1660, women (rather than men) began playing female roles, including female Shakespearean roles, on the professional English stage. Learn more about these early actresses.

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in January
Oberon (Edward O'Blenis) emerges to survey his fairy kingdom. Photo by Liz Lauren.
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in January

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

Every month, we share a snapshot of Shakespeare in performance across the country. What’s onstage in January? We visit our theater partners to find out.

Shakespeare theaters stage 'A Christmas Carol'
Shakespeare and Beyond

Shakespeare theaters stage 'A Christmas Carol'

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

Are there similarities between staging Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ and putting on the Shakespeare plays that are these companies’ bread and butter? We asked our theater partners.

Was it the first Shakespeare film? The silent King John
Herbert Beerbohm Tree as King John in King John by William Shakespeare. Oil on canvas. Charles Buchel, 1900. Victoria and Albert Museum.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Was it the first Shakespeare film? The silent King John

Posted
Author
Michael Anderegg

With Herbert Beerbohm Tree as the king, the four-minute silent movie “King John” (1899) is often called “the first Shakespeare film,” as Michael Anderegg explains. Watch the surviving one-minute fragment and learn more about its theatrical star.

Twelfth Night: The Hamlet of the comedies
William Oliver Watkins as Orsino and Caitlin McWethy as Viola in Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s 2018 Twelfth Night, directed by Austin Tichenor. By Mikki Schaffner Photography.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Twelfth Night: The Hamlet of the comedies

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor suggests that “Twelfth Night” is the “Hamlet” of the comedies, dealing with loss, separation, and death and using some surprisingly similar elements — but in a far happier way.

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in November
Gamut Theatre Group's
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in November

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

Every month, we share a snapshot of Shakespeare in performance around America. What plays are onstage in November? We visit our theater partners to find out.

Elsie Leslie: Sparkling Child Star of the American Stage
Elsie Leslie Lyde. Photograph. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Elsie Leslie: Sparkling Child Star of the American Stage

Posted
Author
emma poltrack

Discover American child star Elsie Leslie through a fascinating mix of Folger finds, including Elsie Leslie as Prince Arthur in King John and posing for a photo with preeminent actor Edwin Booth.

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in October
A song and dance number from Chicago Shakespeare's North American premiere production of “Nell Gwynn.”
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in October

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

Every month, we share a snapshot of Shakespeare in performance around America. What plays are onstage this month? We visit our theater partners to find out.

At the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, "UpRight" readings in surprise locations
Shakespeare and Beyond

At the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, "UpRight" readings in surprise locations

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

The Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s Pop-UpRight Shakespeare series brings lively, “upright,” on-your-feet staged readings of Shakespeare’s plays to surprise locations in and around Nashville.

Elizabethan theater etiquette and audience expectations today
Imagining the audience at the Globe
Shakespeare and Beyond

Elizabethan theater etiquette and audience expectations today

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor writes about the theater-going experience in Shakespeare’s time and how that contrasts with audience expectations today.

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in September
Sarah Harlett as Richard III. Seattle Shakespeare Company's all-female production.
Shakespeare and Beyond

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in September

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

Find out what’s onstage at Shakespeare theaters across the United States in September.

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

What's onstage at Shakespeare theaters in August

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

This month might be your last chance to catch some of that sweet, sweet summertime Shakespeare before the weather starts to cool down and it’s time to head back to school. See what the Folger’s theater partners have onstage this…

1 9 10 11 12 13 17