As we celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio, the popularity of its author is stronger than it has ever been, as his reputation, already at a height unknown to any other writer, simply increases. Why is that? Well, it’s because in the realm of literature, few works hold as much significance and enduring influence as William Shakespeare’s plays. These masterpieces of storytelling and language have captivated audiences for centuries, transcending time and cultural boundaries to remain relevant and impactful even in the 21st century. Among the many contri ..read more

Some of Europe’s most popular tourist attractions feature Shakespeare in one way or another –theatres, the town where he grew up, the house where he was born, and so on – and there is a new, exciting feature soon to be added. How would you like to tap your feet on the only surviving stage from Shakespeare’s time, the original boards that he trod as an actor? Well, you may get that chance. The story begins in 1592/3 when the plague shut the London theatres down. The young actor, Will Shakespeare, who had been taken in by Lord Strange’s theatre group at the Rose Theatre soon after his arrival i ..read more

In recent months, there has been a trend in Florida to restrict the teaching of Shakespeare in high schools. This is one of the casualties of the passage of laws regarding sexual content in school reading materials. One of the victims is classroom Shakespeare where several school districts are interfering in the curriculum and insisting on the teaching of Shakespeare via extracts of his plays rather than reading the whole play, and completely excluding some. Such minimization of Shakespeare – the use of extracts in place of reading the whole text – comes in the context of a general conservati ..read more

English literature is important in the worlds of language and education. From Shakespeare’s plays to modern novels, English literature has not only delighted readers for centuries, but it has also played an important role in extending vocabulary and improving language skills.  This article investigates how English literature helps to build language abilities, expand vocabulary, encourage a deeper grasp of the English language, and promote critical thinking. Let’s dive in! Expanding Vocabulary Through English Literature and Language Learning Applications English literature, together with ..read more

By Ralph Goldswain Violence? What violence? Titus Andronicus was hugely popular when it came out in 1594. Since then, until the twenty-first century, it was largely ignored, probably because its violence was too grossly over the top for the Victorians, who had developed narrow Shakespearean expectations, which this play simply didn’t meet. It’s an early play by an aspiring young playwright, trying his hand at working on a play on his own. In the process of serving his “apprenticeship” with Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe, two of the finest writers of his time, the young Shakespeare perhaps ..read more

By Ralph Goldswain The Globe’s breathtaking Henry V. This is a very intelligent working of Shakespeare’s text. That’s the first thing to say, and the second is that Oliver Johnstone’s performance as Henry is outstanding. To turn a centuries-old interpretation of a Shakespeare play on its head without taking liberties with the text is unusual but it happens here. The English king who has the most claim to being a ‘good’ king and a ‘good’ man, a reputation gained mainly as a result of the depiction of him in Shakespeare’s play, becomes an angry and emotional toddler, weeping and screaming by tu ..read more

By Ralph Goldswain If kids love a show written and staged for kids then it doesn’t matter what the grown-ups think, and while Splendid Productions’ Midsummer Mechanicals confused at least one grown up – this reviewer – the kids were laughing and shouting and providing the sound effects by answering prompts to make thunder and wind, and even abstract things like fear, and silent things like snow. They were also offered circus and pantomime effects like clown acts and the opportunity of shouting “He’s behind you!” repeatedly when a bear came on and the actors pretended they couldn’t see it. Thr ..read more

By Ralph Goldswain Bravo, bravo and double bravo! This is not only one of Shakespeare’s greatest entertainments with its almost continuous music, including several songs, its magic, lots of belly-laughing comedy, including slapstick, and with an engaging romance at its centre: it is also a profound essay on power in all its forms and, perhaps most interesting for our times, very much about the colonialism that was beginning in Shakespeare’s time and which the developing world is still trying to work out of its system.  But a director can’t emphasise all of those things when presenting th ..read more

History was made yesterday, Monday 4th July at 7.45 pm (UK time) when “the first ever full production of Hamlet inside Grand Theft Auto Online” was live-streamed on YouTube. The production was put together by Rustic Mascara, the nom the plume of Sam Crane, a talented stage actor, critically acclaimed for his performances at the National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, in The West End, and on Broadway. Comments were going wild through the performance. We’d love to know what you think of it! Watch the whole performance here ..read more

By Ralph Goldswain King Lear has been called Shakespeare’s greatest play. It has also been said that it’s impossible to make it work on the stage. Those contradictory statements may both be true. On the one hand, if the text is studied as a work of literature, which it is in many introductory Shakespeare courses in colleges and universities around the world, one can only marvel at Shakespeare’s genius. The poetic unity, the characterisation, the dramatic structures, are all master classes in creative writing, even to the invention of stream-of consciousness – four centuries before James Joyce ..read more