Shakespeare & Beyond

For our yearlong celebration of Shakespeare in 2016, we’ve been inviting the world to share videos about personal connections and experiences with Shakespeare, with the hashtag #MySHX400. The results are varied, unexpected, and interesting. Enjoy some of those Shakespeare stories here and tell us…

Kimberly Gilbert will play Joan la Pucelle in 2016 in Bootleg Shakespeare: Henry VI, Part 1. Photo by Marcus Kyd. On Monday, July 18, the Taffety Punk Theatre Company will take over Folger Theatre to plan and perform a “bootleg” version…

We were inspired by the “wall of cards” about Shakespeare created by San Diego visitors to the First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare tour, and we’d like to know why Shakespeare matters to you, too. Try our new Shakespeare Matters card to join the conversation,…

Folger Finds delivers delightful and insightful moments with the Folger collection. Sarah Hovde, a cataloger at the Folger Shakespeare Library, shows us some surprise artwork in a 1910 edition of Macbeth. When cataloging a rare book, librarians try to balance describing the things…

Folger Curator of Manuscripts Heather Wolfe dropped a bombshell in The New York Times this past week: Newly discovered depictions of Shakespeare’s coat of arms from the seventeenth century provide documentary evidence that while the heralds made the grant of arms to his…

America’s Shakespeare: How George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams quoted Shakespeare during and after the American Revolution.

Connan Morrissey (Hermione) and Laura C. Harris (Perdita) embrace at the end of The Winter’s Tale, directed by Blake Robison, Folger Theatre, 2009. Carol Pratt. Shakespeare’s heroines often end up with husbands who don’t seem good enough for them, while…

Sword-fighting workshops for kids! Selfies with Shakespeare! The First Folio continues on its tour of the United States during this special 400th anniversary year for Shakespeare. Here’s a quick cheat sheet of all the places where you can find our traveling exhibition, First Folio! The Book that…

Shakespeare’s Fathers   Which Shakespeare characters (fathers or their children) speak these lines? A daughter’s love   “Good my lord, You have begot me, bred me, loved me. I return those duties back as are right fit: Obey you, love…

The Shakespeare Unlimited podcast connects Shakespeare and his plays with our world today through interviews with actors, directors, and scholars—but also with astronomers, a conservator, and a professional magician, among others. The 50th episode, which deals with race, Othello, and how…

As curators of the upcoming exhibition Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity opening at the Folger on August 6, we could not help viewing the new Austen film Love & Friendship through a Shakespearean lens—and with…

Q: I know about Queen Elizabeth I’s summer progresses, but how did ordinary people spend their summers in Shakespeare’s time? A: For most Elizabethans, summer presented little opportunity for a vacation from regular work routines. There were still farms to tend,…