Tag: Shakespeare

You can’t speak of literary history without mentioning Shakespeare, the British bard one of the most famous pens to ever wield dialogue.

So when the 400^th anniversary of his death rolled around on April 23, 2016, and I learned that the First Folio—copies of the original manuscript of his plays published in 1623, would be stopping by the University of South Carolina in Columbia, I knew I had to make my way there. Published seven years after Shakespeare’s death, this book is so significant because it’s the reason 36 of his plays survived beyond his lifetime, and it’s critical to the preservation of 18 of them, which had never been published before.

The plays we would not have known if this book had not been printed include “Julius Caesar,” “Macbeth,” “As You Like It” and “The Tempest.” Having seen all but one of these performed, I have to say what a loss this would have been! To round off my post celebrating Shakespeare and his accomplishments, I look back at the incredible performances I’ve seen staged by the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival at Boscobel. If you live anywhere near the remarkable programming, I highly recommend experiencing one of their performances.