Bardfilm
The Shakespeare Conspiracy
The Oxfordian position in the obstreperous Authorship Question controversy was surely given a shot in the arm when the great Shakespearean actor … [Read More...]
“Muse of Fire” documentary in the works
Telegraph U.K. showbiz editor Anita Singh has a piece posted from Cannes on a new documentary in the works that "aims to show that Shakespeare … [Read More...]

Shakespeare in Love directed by John Madden
© 2006 John Murphy Bard-love received an unexpected shot-in-the-arm with the 1998 release of this buoyant, multi-Academy Award-winning imagining … [Read More...]
Bard Northwest

Words, words, words…
(part 3 in a series by Debra Murphy on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2010 production of Hamlet directed by Bill Rauch and starring Dan Donohue) One … [Read More...]

PAE’s free Shax-in-the-Parks COMEDY OF ERRORS
Portland Actors Ensemble's FREE Shakespeare-in-the-Parks production of "The Comedy of Errors" opens this Saturday, July 31 at Laurelhurst Park. … [Read More...]

Bag & Baggage’s Twelfth Night in Hillsboro
Here's the scoop from Bag & Baggage: Fun and Affordable for the Entire Family! What could be better than gorgeous Shakespeare, … [Read More...]
Bard at Large

Branagh directing THOR movie
On first glance, it might sound odd to think that the director chosen for the upcoming slam-bang Thor movie, based on the Marvel Comics series, is Kenneth Branagh. But on further perusal it seems like a canny fit. Branagh, after all, occasionally inclines to the Wagnerian, as evidenced by certain over-the-top moments in Hamlet. He even, on occasion, I have to admit, fan though I am, succumbs to outright … [Read More...]

NPR on the forgeries of William Henry Ireland
National Public Radio has a lively feature on the strange career of young William Henry Ireland, who in 1795 perpetrated one of the most famous hoaxes in the history of Bardolatry by passing off some of his own poetry, and even an entire play (Vortigern) as newly unearthed works of You Know Who. And why did that young scamp Ireland do it? Many historians, including his new biographer, Doug Stewart, … [Read More...]

Juvenile Offenders Sentenced to Shakespeare
Auden famously opined that "poetry makes nothing happen." But maybe just maybe, sometimes, it can change lives...? In a Massachussetts program called "Shakespeare in the Courts" that has been running some ten years, juvenile offenders are given the option of participating in a live Shakespeare production as an alternative to sentencing to a correctional institution. According to Louise Kennedy of … [Read More...]
Bard poo?
The mind boggles at what might be discovered in the back garden of New Place, the home Shakespeare bought in Stratford when his London career began to turn golden. The back garden, it would appear, is finally being excavated. Read on. … [Read More...]

New Bard-novel: The Final Act of Mr Shakespeare by Robert Winder
I've been chattering a bit about Bill Cain's play, Equivocation, of late (here and here), and it turns out that a new novel has hyst been published dealing with similar themes; namely, how a fictionalized Bard might have handled an onerous commission with dangerous political overtones, and what his real opinions might have been on said dangerous subjects. The novel in question is The Final Act of … [Read More...]

To stage high concept, or not to stage high concept?
That is the question posed by NYC-based theatre critic David Cote in a blog article published by the Guardian UK entitled, "Most Stagings of Shakespeare Don't Go Far Enough". Quoth Cote, after taking Wall Street Journal theatre critic Terry Teachout to task for "grousing" about concept staging in a Big Thing interview: I also wince at conceptual Shakespeare, but for another reason: most directorial … [Read More...]

Was the Bard in Rome during the "lost years"?
And speaking of the was-Will-a-Catholic question, news is breaking all over the 'net this morning that the English College in Rome has uncovered guestbook signatures which may have been scribbled by Himself. Here's from the London Times: According to Father Andrew Headon, vice-rector of the college and organiser of the exhibition, the names can be deciphered as “[King] Arthur’s [compatriot] from … [Read More...]
Online Database of Shakespeare on Film, Video & TV
An item of great interest to Shakespeare-on-film buffs: The British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFVC) is developing an international database of Shakespeare on Film, Television and Radio. Here's their initial write-up: In 2005 the BUFVC, through its association with the Open University, was the recipient of a three-year Resource Enhancement grant from the Arts & Humanities Research … [Read More...]
Hamlet's Understudy
Every avid theatregoer knows the pain, sooner or later, of having bought tickets to some performance specifically because of a certain actor, only to discover, upon arrival, that the actor has gotten sick or been injured, and the role is to be played by the Understudy. I've never (personally) had that happen with a Hamlet yet, though I confess to having seen a Hamlet or two where I wish it had happened; … [Read More...]
11 Great Regional Actors named Lunt-Fontanne Fellows
The Ten Chimneys Foundation in Wisconsin, founded by legendary theatre couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, has launched a fellowship program for the nation's top regional actors. Here's the description from the foundation's site: In the summer of 2008, eleven of the most prestigious and accomplished regional theatres in the country were invited to nominate multiple actors for consideration to be … [Read More...]

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