Isabelle Schuler on Lady Macbeth and Queen Hereafter
Isabelle Schuler tells us about her new novel, Queen Hereafter.
David West Read on & Juliet
Hit musical & Juliet combines Romeo and Juliet with the songs of pop hitmaker Max Martin. Its writer, Schitt’s Creek writer and executive producer David West Read, tells us about how the idea came to him while he was concussed.
Lolita Chakrabarti on Adapting Hamnet for the Stage
Lolita Chakrabarti on writing the Shakespeare family, puppet kestrels, Ira Aldridge, and adapting Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet for the stage.
Debra Ann Byrd on Becoming Othello
Theater-maker and past Folger Fellow Debra Ann Byrd tells us about her solo show.
Talene Monahon on Her New Revenge Comedy, Jane Anger
Talene Monahon’s play Jane Anger was inspired by the pandemic and a radical 16th-century proto-feminist pamphlet.
John Adams Gives Antony and Cleopatra the Operatic Treatment
Adams talks with host Barbara Bogaev about how he turned a five-act play into a two-act opera—which scenes got the hook, new lines written in the style of the Bard, and what Shakespeare may have thought of the play’s characters.
Brett Dean and Matthew Jocelyn on Their Hamlet Opera
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 191 A new opera version of Hamlet is onstage at New York’s Metropolitan Opera through June 9. Composer Brett Dean and librettist Matthew Jocelyn talk with host Barbara Bogaev about adapting the texts of the earliest editions…
Madeline Sayet on Where We Belong
We talk with Madeline Sayet about growing up Mohegan in Connecticut, her evolving relationship with Shakespeare today, and what it means to belong in a complicated world.
How Pericles Inspired Mark Haddon's novel The Porpoise
Shakespeare Unlimited:Episode 131 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time author Mark Haddon’s books take twists and turns that sometimes seem to only make sense in the context of his stories. Shakespeare’s Pericles takes twists and turns that…
How 'King Lear' Inspired 'Empire'
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 69 You can find Shakespeare in all sorts of places, including the Fox TV series Empire. The story of an aging ruler – in this case the head of a hip-hop music dynasty – who sets his…