Shakespeare 400: Events and Performances Around NYC

By Alison Durkee

Though his stories and characters remain enduringly relevant, incredibly this year marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. To commemorate the occasion, museums and institutions throughout NYC will be celebrating the Bard’s life and work with special events, exhibitions, and performances. To attend or not to attend? Attend.

The availability of Shakespeare’s work over 400 years after he put pen to paper is largely thanks to the First Folio, the first published collection of the plays. Only 233 copies of the Folio, which was published in 1623, remain today; luckily, one will soon be making its way to the New-York Historical Society as part of First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare (June 7–July 16). The exhibition, a stop on a nationwide First Folio tour by the Folger Shakespeare Library, will display the Folio for six weeks at the museum, giving visitors the chance to witness a true piece of theatrical and literary history.

That isn’t the only exhibition honoring the Bard.. Currently on view through May 27 at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is Shakespeare’s Star Turn in America, which spotlights the popularity of Shakespeare’s plays in America from colonial times through to the present day. The Art Directors Club will be hosting its own tribute with Presenting Shakespeare: Much Ado About Posters, an exhibition of inspired posters from around the world.

In conjunction with their First Folio exhibition, the New-York Historical Society will host Scenes, Sonnets, and Soliloquies on June 13, a full day of workshops and performances by artists from Theatre for a New Audience, and Lincoln’s Shakespeare, an examination of the 16th President’s relationship with the Bard’s work (June 2). On June 26, the Historical Society will present Heroes and Heroines: Women in Shakespeare and Lessons for Today’s Leaders, in which Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Shakespeare scholar Michael Witmore, and actors from The Public Theater will discuss how Shakespeare’s work—and his female characters in particular—have influenced their own lives. For those taking this year’s milestone anniversary a bit more to heart, dress up as your favorite dead Shakespearean character and head to Shakespeare’s Funeral, an illustrated lecture and costume party hosted by the Morbid Anatomy Museum. The event, taking place on May 20, will focus on Shakespeare’s relationship with death in his life and work.

Of course, there’s no better way to celebrate Shakespeare’s legacy than by enjoying one of his plays onstage, and there are plenty of opportunities to do so this spring and summer. This year’s Shakespeare in the Park season kicks off with an all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew (May 24-June 26), followed by Troilus and Cressida (July 19-August 14). Closing out the season will be a musical adaptation of Twelfth Night as part of the Public Works program, which incorporates members of community groups throughout the city into the performance and theatremaking process. For a sneak preview of a different Public Theater production, head to the 92nd Street Y on July 14 for a performance by innovative theatre company Elevator Repair Service. The troupe will be presenting excerpts from their upcoming production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, a co-production with The Public that’s currently in its early stages.

For a very different look at Shakespeare’s tragedies and their examination of love, ambition, and existential doubt, check out Shakespeare and the Marionettes, a conference and performance (with some video thrown in) at the Italian Cultural Institute on May 12. It’ll provide a glimpse of mass media, 19th century style.

Merchant of Venice by Manuel Harden

Few theatres can match the iconic reputation the Globe. This summer, New York audiences will be able to experience the theatre’s Shakespearean work first-hand through the Lincoln Center Festival, which will feature the Globe’s The Merchant of Venice. The production, which will run at Lincoln Center from July 20-24, will star actor Jonathan Pryce, fresh off his Game of Thrones turn of violent divinity. To experience some stars on the rise, head down to The New School, as students from the School of Drama’s BFA program will take on Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale from May 5-8. Whether performed by students or Britain’s top actors, Shakespeare’s timeless stories, cunning characters, and immortal verse are sure to remind you that these past 400 years are really only the beginning.

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