Collecting extracts of text in commonplace books and binding multiple books together to create a sammelband were two notable practices of readers in the 16th and 17th centuries, as Jason Scott-Warren (University of Cambridge) explains in this excerpt from a Shakespeare Unlimited podcast episode about books and reading in Shakespeare’s England.
These Shakespeare quotes about friendship point to the complexities of relationships between characters in the plays.
“Nowhere does Shakespeare attend more to theatrical enterprise and potential than in A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” writes Michele Osherow, Folger Theatre’s resident dramaturg. “It makes the play irresistible to those who practice theatre and to those who crave its incomparable pleasures.” Read more in this playbill excerpt from Folger Theatre’s new production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” onstage through August 28 as part of “The Playhouse” at the National Building Museum.
Austin Tichenor explores small-cast Shakespeare and the artistic possibilities of a few performers playing multiple roles.
Take a closer look at some unusual chess sets in the Folger collection, spanning continents and centuries.
With the golden eagle, we continue following artist Missy Dunaway on a bird-watching expedition through Shakespeare’s works. The eagle soars throughout Shakespeare’s world, Renaissance literature, and beyond – symbolizing strength, power, and the divine.
