Graphics
A Title By Any Other Name
May/03/2018 14:57
A short quiz to see how well you can intuit Shakespeare's play titles from emoji. Not sure how consistent they are in how they make these work, but we managed eleven out of twelve. Give it a shot, and test your skills!
So Many Ways To Die, So Little Time...
April/22/2018 10:01
Stamp of Approval (Part 2)
April/10/2018 15:50
Our first post on commemorative stamps got us interested in how Shakespeare is represented on postage stamps. So we dug around, and found two things. First, from Hat Trick Designs and Marion Deuchars, this series of six stamps that came out in 2011 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Royal Shakespeare Company's founding. Starting at top left, here is the key to actors and plays respectively: David Tennant (Hamlet), Anthony Sher (The Tempest), Chuk Iwuji (Henry VI), Paul Scofield (King Lear), Sarah Kestelman (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Ian McKellen and Francesca Annis (Romeo and Juliet).
From the same anniversary, and with the aid of illustrator Rebecca Sutherland, a set of four stamps, in a very different style, showing the four Stratford on Avon theaters. The actors are harder to identify, but we think they are, from top left and going clockwise: Francesca Annis, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Judy Dench.
Stamp of Approval (Part 1)
April/10/2018 15:43
Almost exactly two years ago, in 2016, the Royal Mail issued ten commemorative stamps celebrating Shakespeare's 400th anniversary. Scholar Sir Jonathan Bate chose quotes from Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar. Have a look at what other plays and sonnets made the cut.
Shakespeare's Co-Writers
October/27/2016 16:30
Shakespeare did not work alone, but was profoundly influenced by those around him -- actors, directors, writers and other theater professionals. This delightful infographic from the Oxford University Press neatly captures the vibrant artistic environment in which he worked.
