Articles about William Shakespeare and reviews of Shakespeare productions in the Philadelphia area.
“He was not of an age, but for all time!”—Ben Jonson, preface to the First Folio, 1616
Katherine Fritz sat down with Ian August to chat Shakespeare, history, and what it means to be the guy who says, “I think I’d like to write a sequel to Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus.”
View More Classic Plays, Living Playwrights? Interview with Ian August, author of THE MOOR’S SON (PAC)
I have some friends who think William Shakespeare is the greatest writer in the English language, but they don’t like going to the theater to…
View More HAMLET (Hedgerow): The play’s the thing
Aaron Cromie brings his inimitable brand of wit and insight to this exuberant interpretation of HENRY V.
View More HENRY V (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre): Bringing history to life and making learning fun
RICHARD II is a richly rewarding play, full of insightful and startling verse, but you might want to read a synopsis before seeing this production.
View More Richard II (Quintessence): Let us sit on the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings
Burns and his cast humanize Shakespeare’s characters and provide a smart, jolly time that is tinged with genuine sentiment.
View More AS YOU LIKE IT (Quintessence): Do you not know I am a woman?
Every staged version of Hamlet is edited. Posterity left us two “authentic” written versions of William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, as well as a poorly transcribed but…
View More [podcast] Cutting Hamlet: Director Dan Hodge on adapting Shakespeare’s masterpiece for the stage
PAC’s THE RAPE OF LUCRECE is not only the performance of a lifetime by Dan Hodge, but also a momentous socio-political statement and a stirring call to activism.
View More THE RAPE OF LUCRECE (Philadelphia Artists’ Collective): 2014 Fringe review 4.2
As indicated by Phindie’s 2014 Critics’ Awards, the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective is one of the most consistently excellent independent theater companies in the city. Their…
View More THE RAPE OF LUCRECE (Philadelphia Artists’ Collective): 2014 Fringe review 4.1
Phindie will provide more Philly Fringe Festival coverage than any publication in the world! Coverage begins with 15 picks from star Phindie writer Deb Miller.
View More Deb Miller’s 15 Top Picks for the 2014 Philadelphia Fringe Festival
In the first section three-part series, Kathryn Behrman sits down with Walnut artistic director Bernard Havard and other local theater folk to consider the playhouse’s commitment to popular entertainment.
View More The Walnut Street Theatre: Part 1, The People’s Playhouse
On Monday, May 12, 2014 (the day after Mother’s Day), upstart local Shakespeare company Revolution Shakespeare will present a staged reading of the Bard’s classic KING LEAR. The reading’s director, Samantha Bellomo tells Phindie what excites her about the decision to give the reading an all-female cast.
View More Why present an all-female production of KING LEAR? Revolution Shakespeare’s director lays down a persuasive case ahead of their reading
They’ve known each other for what—a couple of hours? Already they’re crazy in love, and they’ll steadfastly love each other against all odds. A love to die for. One of the world’s most celebrated and enduring love stories, ROMEO AND JULIET, is currently on stage at The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre.
View More ROMEO AND JULIET (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre): A Love to Die for
You may have seen the Lantern Theater Company’s JULIUS CAESAR, which recast Shakespeare’s political tragedy in Feudal Japan. You may also have seen the open letter that local playwright and performer Makoto Hirano hand-delivered to The Lantern on “How to Stage Your Show Without Being Super Racist,” which he signed “Makoto Hirano, Dance-theatre artist, actual Japanese person, and actual Samurai descendent,” reposted on Phindie with Hirano’s consent.
View More The fault, dear Brutus, Act II: Interview with Makoto Hirano about “Super Racist” Julius Caesar
“Will it be in yellow face,” my friend asked when I told him about Lantern Theater Company’s decision to stage Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in feudal Japan, when what the meant was “in kimonos with some Japanese screens and music” seemed somehow culturally tone deaf.
View More The fault, dear Brutus, is Super Racism: Makoto Hirano Criticizes Lantern’s Julius Caesar
On their website, Team Sunshine Performance Corporation calls themselves “an unstoppable force for good.” Among other things, they love play fighting and projects that sound insane. In that vein is their current collaboration with Shakespeare in Clark Park, HENRY IV: YOUR PRINCE AND MINE.
View More Join the Battle: Team Sunshine & Immersive Arts Involvement
If William Shakespeare was alive today he’d be a …. well, he’d probably be a poet and playwright, but he’d also make a damn good political speechwriter. The crux of his JULIUS CAESAR, now in an accessible production by Lantern Theater Company, comes in a speech following the title character’s assassination.
View More JULIUS CAESAR (Lantern): Political persuasion in feudal Japan
Director Charles McMahon, founding artistic director of the Lantern Theater Company, asserts that all of Shakespeare’s plays, whenever or wherever they’re set, are in fact observations about contemporary England. By shifting the locales to places outside of his homeland.
View More On the Universality of Shakespeare: Roman History through a Shoji Screen in the Lantern’s THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CAESAR
Love sought is good, but given unsought, is better Philadelphia’s newest Shakespeare company, Revolution Shakespeare, will present the second offering of its inaugural season on…
View More The City of Brotherly Bard: Revolution Shakespeare returns with a show and a webseries
Carmen Khan has devoted much of her life and professional career to Shakespeare. She is well known to the Philadelphia theater community as the founding…
View More Celebrating Shakespeare at 450: An Interview with The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre’s Carmen Khan
Harry Slack has cut the gaping holes in Shakespeare’s logic into microscope slides, and the result is a hilarious and self-aware send-up of the rarely-discussed flaws in the work of our most beloved playwright.
View More GENDER COMEDY: A LESS STUPID TWELFTH NIGHT GAY FANTASIA (Curio): A loving parody brings infectious glee