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William Shakespeare

King Lear was deemed too dark for its 17th century audiences.

Is There Such a Thing as a “Bad” Shakespeare Play?

More than four hundred years after the Bard’s death, the quality of his works is still a fluid scale

Illustration from Merchant of Venice

Four Hundred Years Later, Scholars Still Debate Whether Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” Is Anti-Semitic

Deconstructing what makes the Bard’s play so problematic

The three volumes of the newly-discovered copy of Shakespeare's First Folio.

Cool Finds

A New Copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio Was Found in a Scottish Library

Only a few hundred copies still survive

Kronborg Castle, listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, is known as the setting of William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'.

Cool Finds

Celebrate Shakespeare’s Legacy at Hamlet’s Castle

Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! A bed awaits at “Elsinore”

Trending Today

Three Things to Know About Judi Dench’s Theater Career

The acclaimed actor’s career spans decades

Epitaph on William Shakespeare's grave

Trending Today

Did Shakespeare Lose His Head?

Scans of the Bard’s grave reveal that robbers may have stolen his skull two centuries ago

Bristol Old Vic artistic director Tom Morris with the thunder run.

Cool Finds

A New Production of “King Lear” Features 18th-Century Special Effects

The Bristol Old Vic’s thunder run hasn’t been used since 1942

A First Folio kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, U.K.

Cool Finds

Shakespeare’s First Folio Goes on Tour in the U.S.

Rare copies of the tome, containing 36 of the Bard’s plays, will visit every state for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death

Trending Today

These Brave Playwrights Want to Rewrite Shakespeare

“They have been at a great feast of languages, and stol’n the scraps.”

Does this look like a stoner to you?

New Research

Did Shakespeare Smoke Pot?

Tobacco pipes in the Bard’s backyard may retain traces of cannabis, but some historians remain skeptical

Orson Welles as Macbeth in the 1948 film with Jeannette Nolan as Lady Macbeth

Cool Finds

Listen to 98 hours of Shakespeare’s Poems and Plays Performed by Great Actors

The playlist includes the voices of Edith Evans, Dylan Thomas, Orson Welles and Sir Ian McKellen

Detail from The herball, or, Generall historie of plantes gathered by John Gerarde, purportedly depicting Shakespeare.

Trending Today

Is This a Portrait of Shakespeare? One Historian Says Yes, Many Say No

Many experts doubt whether the engraving found in a 400-year old book is actually the Bard himself

An oil painting dated 1609 that is the portrait engraved by Martin Droeshout for the First Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays published in 1623.

New Research

New Research May Solve a Mystery Behind Shakespeare’s Sonnets

The first printing of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets was dedicated to a “Mr. WH”—has a scholar finally identified him?

Galileo Demonstrating Telescope

Art Meets Science

Was Shakespeare Aware of the Scientific Discoveries of His Time?

For his new book, Dan Falk followed a group of scholars who argue, unlike most, that the playwright was up to speed with the latest astronomy

Mr. Garrick and Miss Bellamy in the characters of Romeo and Juliet

Cool Finds

Old Illustrations Tell the Secret of How They Were Made

Old books are full of beautiful, intricate engravings. But without expertise in printmaking, how can you tell how those images were made?

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Shakespeares Plays

Can you name the plays of Shakespeare?

John Coyne's New Global Theatre creates a virtual performance where the production occurs on several different stages and is broadcast via monitors to the actors and the audience.

Recasting Shakespeare’s Stage

Designing a Globe Theatre for the 21st century

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Interview with Doug Stewart, Author of “To Be or Not to be Shakespeare”

Stewart tells how research shaped his opinion of Shakespeare and his work

Of various portraits identified with Shakespeare, only the Chandos portrait (above) is believed painted from life

To Be or Not to Be Shakespeare

While skeptics continue to question the authorship of his plays, a new exhibition raises doubts about the authenticity of his portraits

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The Rebirth of Shakespeare’s Globe

It took an American actor to champion the rebuilding of a British cultural symbol

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