Tag: Shakespeare
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New Shakespeare play celebrates warrior queen
Is it brilliant or blasphemy? The ambitious production combines material from the Bard’s plays with fresh lines from playwright Jeanie O’Hare to tell the bloody history of Margaret of Anjou.
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Avo, bougie and rando: the new words for 2018
Is the English language getting out of hand? Merriam-Webster has added more than 800 new words to its dictionary, including “TL;DR”. Our language has been constantly changing for centuries.
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Shakespeare exposed by plagiarism detector
Is the world's greatest writer a cheat? Software normally used to outwit exam fraud has disclosed an obscure manuscript that was the source of many of the Bard's most famous lines.
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Trumpian ‘Julius Caesar’ dropped by sponsors
Shakespeare’s play about Ancient Rome has entertained audiences for centuries. But two US firms have pulled their support from a production in New York. Why? Its lead looks a lot like Trump…
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Girls urged to follow Cleopatra not Kimmie
A leading head teacher has some advice for her female students: there are better role models than Kim Kardashian West. Look no further, she says, than the plays of Shakespeare. Is she right?
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Hamlet comes home after epic world tour
One play. Two years. 197 countries. Twelve exhausted actors. On Sunday, the most ambitious project in theatre history came to an end. Was it a stroke of genius, or just madness?
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Shakespeare intervenes in refugee crisis
The British Library has digitised a powerful speech in Shakespeare’s own handwriting: a heartfelt plea for the humane treatment of refugees. Does the bard have an answer to Europe’s crisis?
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World Book Day sparks debate about ‘great’ works
This week marks World Book Day, a celebration of books and reading in over 100 countries. Can it be true that all the great books in the world were written before 1832?
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‘Embittered, anguished’ Macbeth hits cinemas
Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard star in a new, ‘stripped back’ film adaptation of Macbeth. The Scottish Play has bewitched audiences for centuries, so why is it...
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Romeo and Juliet: Fighting gang culture
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two warring families who finally put aside their differences. Must it always take a tragedy to...
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‘True face of Shakespeare’ revealed at last?
A botanist has stumbled across ‘the literary discovery of the century’: a portrait of Shakespeare in his prime. Should the little we know of the bard’s life affect how we judge his plays?
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‘Evil’ king laid to rest 530 years after death
Thousands gathered to watch King Richard III’s reburial ceremony, but his reputation as a tyrant lives on through centuries-old propaganda. Can we ever really know historical figures?
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Stage star labels theatre a ‘white invention’
A row over diversity in British drama has escalated after renowned actor Janet Suzman claimed theatre is in the ‘DNA’ of white people. Does the stage need to do more to diversify?
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Richard III's skeleton throws up DNA surprise
The bones found under a Leicester car park two years ago are definitely those of the last Plantagenet king, Richard III. But his DNA has cast doubt over the royal bloodline. Does that matter?
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First black Iago cast in Shakespeare's Othello
Shakespeare’s villain will be played by a black actor for the first time in Britain, the Royal Shakespeare Company has announced. Is this a great step forward for racial equality in acting?