Shakespeare

The Folger Shakespeare
The full text of all of Shakespeare's plays. Also includes commentary, textual notes, and further reading.

No Fear Shakespeare
Having trouble understanding Shakespeare's meaning?  No Fear Shakespeare provides the original text alongside a modern translation. 

Entire First Folio
From the Folger Library.  The First Folio, published in 1623, was the first published collection of Shakespeare's plays. Here, you can flip through an entire First Folio, closely examine pages, print, copy text or images, search text, and more!

Acting:

Patrick Stewart on the Wisdom of John Barton Janet Suzman on Acting in Shakespearean Comedy Judi Dench – Viola’s monologue, Twelfth Night "Naturalistic acting": John Barton uses Ian McKellan John Barton on Passion vs Intellect Judy Dench, Lady Macbeth Sleepwalking scene Ken Branagh does Hamlet's "To be" speech Daughters Regan & Goneril conspire

Sir Lawrence Olivier as Hamlet

Audio Articles on Shakespeare

• A Caribbean Take On Shakespeare's 'Much Ado' 
• Scholar Says 'Lost' Shakespeare Play Is No Hoax 
• Shakespeare To Be Performed In Klingon

 Authorship Controversy:

• Who Wrote Shakespeare's Plays? The Debate Goes On 
• Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable - Exploring other potential authors of the work of Shakespeare

 
Backstage:

• Production of King Lear at L.C.C.
• Backstage With Shakespeare In The Park (Central Park in NYC)
• Set changeover - time lapse video of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's crew changing sets from The Taming of the Shrew to Romeo and Juliet

Biographical:

• A Shakespeare Timeline

Language and Play Analysis:

•  No Fear Shakespeare - Every play in plain English, opposite the text
•  A General Glossary to Shakespeare's Works - find definitions for every word that appears in the works of  Shakespeare.
•  Richard II's deposition scene--2013 Royal Shakespeare Company production
•  Introduction to the Working Shakespeare DVD series - with Cecily Berry, famous speech teacher
•  Brian Cox master class with Theo 

Shakespeare Resources:

• Elizabethan England - includes information about all things Shakespearean and Elizabethan
• Internet Shakespeare Editions - scholarly, fully annotated texts of Shakespeare's plays, multimedia explorations of the context of Shakespeare's life and works, and records of his plays in performance.
• Life in Elizabethan England:  A Compendium of Common Knowledge, 1558-1603
• The Fashion & Culture and of the Elizabethan Lifestyle - Includes links to information about Elizabethan food, fashion, weapons, medicine, and more.
• The Folger Shakespeare Library - Research library in Washington, D.C. with the world’s largest collection of Shakespearean printed matter.
•  The Folger Library's YouTube Channel - Recommend: "Macbeth, the supernatural horror," "Living iambic pentameter" and any other areas of your interest.
• PlayShakespeare - An excellent clearing house for all things Shakespeare. It includes reviews of productions from all over, as well as discussion forums and resources for students.
•  Shaksper: The Global Electronic Shakespeare Conference - a moderated mailing list for Shakespearean researchers, instructors, students, and others who share their academic interests and concerns.
   

Theatres of the Time

• The Globe Theatre - The theatre where Shakespeare's company played.
• The Rose Theatre - Where competing playwright Christopher Marlowe's plays were performed.

 
Theatres from the Current Time that Specialize in Shakespeare

• The Oregon Shakespeare Festival - Drive down to Ashland and see some world-class Shakespearean theater!
• Shakespeare's Globe - Rebuilt on the site of the original Globe Theatre.
• The Royal Shakespeare Company - England's Royal Shakespeare Company is the most prestigious in the world. They play in London, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace. 

Playing Shakespeare with John Barton consists of a 4-DVD informal master class with the venerable stage director. Find them at the LCC Library under call numbers:  DVD 1155, DVD 1156, DVD 1157, and DVD 1158

We don't have any depictions of the theatre where Shakespeare worked, the Globe.  But we have a glimpse of what it must have been like from the sketch below, drawn in 1596 by Dutch student Johannes de Witt.  It shows us the interior of the Globe's rival, the Swan Theatre.

Shakespeare's Globe finished construction in 1997.  It is located in London, on the original site of The Globe Theatre where Shakespeare worked.  Builders tried to be as faithful as possible to Elizabethan construction methods and theatre designs.

The oldest Elizabethan theatre in America, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Elizabethan Stage has been rebuilt twice and improved several times.

The Droeshout Engraving
from the First Folio, 1623
about 228 copies remain

Shakespeare's funerary monument
c. 1617-1622
Holy Trinity Church,
Stratford-on-Avon

The Chandos Portrait
attributed to John Taylor, c. 1610
National Portrait Gallery, London

The Cobbe Portrait
Unknown artist
c. 1610
National Portrait Gallery, London

The Marshall Portrait
William Marshall
from Shakespeare's Poems
1640