The Theater of History (Richard III)
Ever since it first appeared onstage, Richard III has remained among Shakespeare’s most widely produced and popular plays, and its …
Tag Archives: William Shakespeare
Divine Comedy (The Comedy of Errors)
One of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, The Comedy of Errors is also two plays in one. The action begins with a …
Topsy-Turvy, or the Feast of Epiphany (TWELFTH NIGHT)
On the twelfth night after Christmas—no later than January sixth—the great Elizabethan houses held enormous festivals of eating, drinking and …
The Double Meanings of MACBETH
Macbeth, more than perhaps any of Shakespeare’s other plays, seems to have been written fast. It feels like a feverish …
The Birth of Modern Tragedy (ROMEO & JULIET)
[The long version of the program essay. Having taught the play the semester before at the New School, I had …
Shrewd Ambiguities (THE TAMING OF THE SHREW)
[Written for Ed Sylvanus Iskandar’s production, which employed an immersive frame and frequently disrupted Shakespeare’s text via Duncan Sheik pop …
The Beast With Two Backs (Othello)
In August of 1600, a 42-year-old man named Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud sailed to London. An ambassador from the court …
Bottomless Dream (2015)
[Updating of my old Midsummer note for the 2015-16 Free For All production] There’s a famous proverbial saying about music criticism, that …
Brave New World (The Tempest)
Written in the fall of 2014 for Ethan McSweeny’s production of The Tempest at STC. I am including Albrecht Durer’s portrait of …
Wanderlust (As You Like It)
Written for STC’s inaugural show of the 2014-2015 Season, As You Like It, in a beautifully intimate production, starring Zoe Waites …
