Theater and performance

We talk to scholar Fiona Ritchie, whose new book, Shakespeare in the Theatre: Sarah Siddons and John Philip Kemble, details their rise to fame.

The former Royal Shakespeare Company Artistic Director joins us to talk about where to start with Shakespeare, directing Kenneth Branagh’s big break, and his new book.

Austin Tichenor explores small-cast Shakespeare and the artistic possibilities of a few performers playing multiple roles.

Director Sam Gold shares what he loves most about Macbeth, why it stands out from other Shakespeare tragedies he’s directed, and how his ideas about the play changed over time.

Thanks to everyone who registered a guess for this month’s Crocodile Mystery and congratulations to those of you who answered correctly! As many of you pointed out, the oddity in the final disposition of characters is Macbeth’s full-bodied presence on…

Thanks to those who registered your guesses on our most recent Crocodile Mystery. All of the guesses gazed upward, when the answer actually lay underfoot. While these strange designs resemble theatrical lighting effects, they are, in fact, designs for stage…

John Masefield has a burning question he needs answered. Literally. Writing from his home Hill Crest in Boar’s Hill, Oxford, the Poet Laureate asks theater production veteran Allan Wade a crucial question about staging his home theatrical production of Macbeth.1…

A few of favorite quotes from some of the directors we’ve had on the Folger’s Shakespeare Unlimited podcast since 2014.

Folger Resident Dramaturg Michele Osherow explores the history of ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor,’ the wit of its wives, and the far-out 1970s setting of Folger Theatre’s production.

Costume designer and long-time Folger collaborator Mariah Anzaldo Hale’s guides us through the costume journey of Constanze Weber through the first act of the play.

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 133 Director Kenny Leon’s production of Much Ado About Nothing mesmerized audiences during the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park last summer. Now, you can watch this exuberant, sassy, and political performance, starring Orange is the New Black’s…

Wig designer Dori Beau Seigneur takes us through the process of fashioning the fabulous hair currently being sported on the Folger stage.