Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Hamnet, the acclaimed novel by Maggie O’Farrell, is now a major film. The story imagines t... more

Before Shakespeare became a literary icon, he was a working writer trying to earn a living... more

Imprisoned for nearly 20 years by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, foug... more

Long before Shakespeare became a household name, there was Richard Burbage. As the first a... more

Shakespeare’s plays are filled with unforgettable women—but too often, their voices are cu... more

Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare were both born in 1564, rising from working-cl... more

You may know Al Letson as a journalist—he’s the host of the popular investigative podcast ... more

Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar feels urgently contemporary in Rosa Joshi’s new production at ... more

250 years after her birth, Jane Austen is more popular than ever, with the publication of ... more

What if, instead of just watching Hamlet, you could step inside the prince’s mind? A revel... more

Can reading King Lear help us rethink economic policy? Can Measure for Measure shape how w... more

When live performance shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, actors Sam Crane and Mark Oo... more

Called “the finest actor of his generation,” Sir Simon Russell Beale has played just about... more

In Shakespeare’s time, the actresses were boys—and for the most celebrated of them, fame c... more

Nan Z. Da, in her book The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear, finds unsettling parallels betwee... more

What were the top musical hits of Shakespeare’s England? What lyrics were stuck in people’... more

Who was Lambert Simnel—the boy who nearly claimed the Tudor throne? In late 15th-century E... more

Historian Surekha Davies joins us to explore how ideas of wonder, race, and the monstrous ... more

Judith Shakespeare’s life is a mystery. While history records her as the younger daughter ... more

How does Shakespeare’s King Lear resonate in a world facing climate catastrophe? Novelist ... more

What if Gertrude had more power than we thought? What if Ophelia’s fate wasn’t sealed from... more

How did early modern England understand race and how has that influenced our thinking? Rac... more

How do Shakespeare’s timeless themes translate to the South Asian diaspora? Could the man ... more

Olivia Hussey, whose spirited portrayal of Juliet when she was just a teenager herself bec... more

What does it mean to be called an “upstart crow”? In 1592, a pamphlet titled Greene’s groa... more

2024 has been the year of the iconic lovers Romeo and Juliet, and director Sam Gold has br... more

What happens when a king believes he rules by divine right yet loses the trust of his peop... more

Forget dusty textbooks and silent classrooms—the Folger Shakespeare Library has released n... more