Shakespeare & Beyond

Charles Somerset’s “Shakspeare’s Early Days” of 1829 was a prototype of the Shakespearean biopic and also a critique of the theatrical establishment.

We asked some of our Shakespeare theater partners what the events of 2020 had illuminated for them about Shakespeare and theater.

“Two households, both alike in dignity…” Take this quiz to see if you can correctly order the lines of the prologue to Romeo and Juliet.

Thomas Sheppey devoted several densely written pages of his 17th-century manuscript to the topic of sleep — how to trigger it, how to interrupt it, how to influence its depth and length, and even how to stop people talking in…

Austin Tichenor writes about how the lack of biographical details about Shakespeare’s life leaves his audience always wanting more.

“Shakespeare’s dramas, in my interpretation, play with rival ideas of the nature of the political way,” writes Elizabeth Frazer. Read more in this excerpt from the introduction.

Follow the turkey on its fascinating journey from America to Europe to the Mughal and Ottoman empires, through early modern trade networks.

Chloe Gong writes about adapting “Romeo and Juliet” into her debut novel, “These Violent Delights,” which focuses on the blood feud at the heart of Shakespeare’s play. The story is about two teen heirs of rival gangs in 1920s Shanghai.

Learn about the early modern precursor to turducken (a huge turkey pie with duck but no chicken) and make your own mini pies using this adapted recipe.

Actor Edmund Kean’s more sympathetic portrayal of Shylock onstage in the early 19th century connected with the Jewish boxer Daniel Mendoza’s merciful defeat of an English champion.

Lavish dinners—and the cookbooks and instruction manuals for how to execute them—were popular during the Renaissance, and they emphasized the art of food, in addition to—and at times, over—its taste. Peacocks were thus an ideal banquet food because their colorful…

Shakespeare companies have lots of creative programs happening this month both online and in-person. Here’s what the Folger’s theater partners are up to this November.