Quarantine Quartos

Just as the closure of the London playhouses by bubonic plague obliged Shakespeare to go into isolation in the early 1590s and write Venus and Adonis, so the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has obliged Shakespeare Institute faculty to stay away from the seminar rooms and rehearsal spaces of Stratford and discuss their research from their own homes.  

Wendy Armstrong on Richard III

PhD student Wendy Armstrong discusses Richard III.  

Previous quarantine quartos

The theatre business c.1600 - who got rich (and who didn’t) at the Globe

PhD student Meryl Faiers looks at who got rich and who didn’t at the Globe at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries.

How can the works of Shakespeare help to improve the lives of disadvantaged social groups?

Rowan Mackenzie discusses her work in applied Shakespeare, particularly her own organisation Shakespeare Unbard. How can the works of our greatest dramatist help to improve the lives of disadvantaged social groups?  .

Beyonce and Shakespeare - you can't go wrong

Charlie Bannocks (MA Shakespeare and Creativity) shares her love of A Midsummer Night's Dream - from her own experience of directing a production to puppets. 

Visual stagecraft in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Simon Smith investigates the role of sight in early modern theatrical culture, in order to offer an account of Hamlet as a play that is as precise, sophisticated and challenging in its visual stagecraft as in its verbal design, anticipating and even requiring playgoers’ eyes to be as engaged and critically reflective as their ears. 

Which is the most doggy Shakespeare play?

Tiffany Stern sets out to discover her favourite Shakespeare play – by asking which text is most ‘doggy’. Examining six dog-filled plays, and featuring special guest appearances by Millie the puppy, this 10 minute talk is for anyone who likes Shakespearean drama and/or cute dogs. 

Playhouse cultures of sight

Simon Smith talks about his research into playhouse cultures of sight. Based on his new publication, an edited collection called Shakespeare/Sense: Contemporary Readings in Sensory Culture (ebook version), Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2020. The talk presents material from his chapter in the collection. 

Europe's National Poet: Shakespeare and Non-English Patriotism

In this 30-minute illustrated talk, the Director of the Shakespeare Institute considers Shakespeare's status on the European mainland. How is it that a writer regarded on this side of the Channel as Britain's national property should have been embraced so warmly in other countries, and how come they have some the best monuments and theatres dedicated to him into the bargain?

An interview with Juliet Stevenson

In connection with her acceptance of the 2020 Pragnell Prize, Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute, recorded an interview with Juliet Stevenson, in which she discusses some of the performances she gave at the RSC from the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. A short video extract is below to pique your interest and the full interview is available as a podcast to listen to at your leisure. 

Michael Dobson: As You Like It

Professor Michael Dobson discusses why As You Like It is his favourite Shakespeare play.

Ewan Fernie: Twelfth Night

Professor Ewan Fernie discusses his love for Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'.

The Archaeology of Shakespeare's Magic: Macbeth in a Bottle

Dr Chris Laoutaris of the Shakespeare Institute explores what the archaeological evidence of Renaissance magic, witchcraft and superstitious practices might tell us about Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Live-streaming Shakespearean performance

Here is Dr Erin Sullivan, taking the occasion of a period when the only theatre to be seen is to be seen online to consider her own research about the live-streaming of Shakespearean performance.