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Hamlet

And so they play their parts: Double-casting Shakespeare’s plays
Shakespeare and Beyond

And so they play their parts: Double-casting Shakespeare’s plays

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Author
Austin Tichenor

Double-casting is a theater technique (as opposed to a literary one) that creates a meta-narrative, transforming a large-cast play into a present-tense adventure. Actors swapping costumes and changing roles (and sometimes genders) becomes part of the thrilling ride, and theater’s…

Order It: Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy
a man thinking
Shakespeare and Beyond

Order It: Hamlet's "to be or not to be" soliloquy

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

“To be or not to be” – do you know what comes after? This quiz challenges you to drag and drop the lines of Hamlet’s famous speech into the correct order.

Losing the name of action: Hamlet reconsidered
Shakespeare and Beyond

Losing the name of action: Hamlet reconsidered

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

Photograph by Lizzie Caswall Smith of Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson as Hamlet. Folger Shakespeare Library. During this global pandemic, when the whole world is quarantined to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Hamlet seems like a character perfectly suited to…

The madness of Hamlet and King Lear: When psychiatrists used Shakespeare to argue legal definitions of insanity in the courtroom
King Lear, III, 2. Johann Heinrich Ramberg. 19th century. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Shakespeare and Beyond

The madness of Hamlet and King Lear: When psychiatrists used Shakespeare to argue legal definitions of insanity in the courtroom

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Author
Shakespeare & Beyond

King Lear, III, 2. Johann Heinrich Ramberg. 19th century. Folger Shakespeare Library. Well-known Shakespeare characters such as King Lear and Hamlet suffer (or appear to suffer) from madness — and early American psychiatrists took note. Observations drawn from literature began…

Possets, drugs, and milky effects: A look at recipes, Shakespeare's plays, and other historical references
posset recipe
Shakespeare and Beyond

Possets, drugs, and milky effects: A look at recipes, Shakespeare's plays, and other historical references

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Author
Khristian S. Smith

Shakespeare’s plays are full of references to food and cookery, but they’re not always very appetizing. In Hamlet, the ghost of elder Hamlet describes the effect of the poison that Claudius pours into his ears, how it winds its way…

"This wide and universal theater": Tricks of the theatrical trade in Shakespeare's plays
1 Henry IV at Folger Theatre
Shakespeare and Beyond

"This wide and universal theater": Tricks of the theatrical trade in Shakespeare's plays

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

“Write what you know” is the age-old wisdom young writers are always given, and though he never wrote a backstage comedy (or, for that matter, a backstage history, tragedy, or romance), William Shakespeare filled his plays with the tricks of…

'Our humble author will continue the story': Shakespearean prequels and sequels
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Shakespeare and Beyond

'Our humble author will continue the story': Shakespearean prequels and sequels

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

Claudius (Craig Wallace, center), Rosencrantz (Romell Witherspoon, right), and Guildenstern (Adam Wesley Brown). Gertrude (Kimberly Schraf) pictured in background. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Folger Theatre, 2015. Photo by Jeff Malet. Maybe ’twas ever thus, but the current crop of…

Utah Shakespeare Festival re-examines Hamlet and Ophelia
Hamlet and Ophelia embrace in the Utah Shakespeare Festival production of Hamlet.
Shakespeare and Beyond

Utah Shakespeare Festival re-examines Hamlet and Ophelia

Posted
Author
Ben Lauer

The Utah Shakespeare Festival has a fresh take on Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship, inspired by Artistic Collaborator Jerry Murdock.

Can you feel the Shakespeare love tonight?
The Lion King
Shakespeare and Beyond

Can you feel the Shakespeare love tonight?

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

In many ways Simba resembles Prince Hal more than Hamlet, in that he’s also a headstrong prince who disobeys his father but ultimately learns to accept responsibility and claim his throne.

Lisa Klein on Ophelia
Shakespeare Unlimited

Lisa Klein on Ophelia

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Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 124 Have you ever wanted to know more about Ophelia? What does she think about the events at Elsinore? What is her relationship to Hamlet? Whose account of her death should we believe? Shakespeare’s Hamlet leaves lots…

John Barrymore: A bridge to Shakespearean actors past
Photograph of John Barrymore as Hamlet
Shakespeare and Beyond

John Barrymore: A bridge to Shakespearean actors past

Posted
Author
Austin Tichenor

John Barrymore is sometimes passed over in the lists of great Shakespeare actors, but he was an important transitional figure in our understanding of the evolution of Shakespearean performance styles, writes Austin Tichenor.

Drawing Shakespeare: Hamlet
drawing of Hamlet bas relief on Folger Shakespeare Library building exterior
Shakespeare and Beyond

Drawing Shakespeare: Hamlet

Posted
Author
Paul Glenshaw

In this Folger bas-relief, sculptor John Gregory shows Hamlet facing the sources of his torment: his father’s murder and his mother’s betrayal.

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