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Fresh Lineup of Shakespeare Guild Attractions
By: Courtnie Mele May. 04, 2014
Check below for a fresh lineup of Shakespeare Guild events!
Stephen Grant Portrays the Founders of the Folger Shakespeare Library
Monday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m.National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park South, Manhattan
Free, But Reservations Requested People are often surprised to learn that the world's largest repository of Shakespeareana is to be found, not in London or Stratford, but in Washington. How this came to be is the subject of a fascinating new biography by Stephen H. Grant. He tells the remarkable story of Henry and Emily Jordan Folger, a quiet Brooklyn couple who devoted their lives to Collecting Shakespeare. Henry was a close associate of John D. Rockefeller, and he eventually rose to the helm of the Standard Oil Company of New York. But the philanthropic passion that obsessed a major corporation's most unassuming executive was not to become public till April 23, 1932, when President Hoover presided over a Capitol Hill ceremony at which the Folger Shakespeare Library was presented to the American people. After his conversation with John F. Andrews, a scholar who spent a decade as Director of Academic Programs at the institution the Folgers created, Mr. Grant will sign copies of his book, which will be available for purchase.
Dicapo Opera Theatre
184 East 76th Street, Manhattan
Members $10, Others $20 David Kastan is the first American to serve as a General Editor of The Arden Shakespeare, a prestigious collection that has been England's standard-bearer for more than a century. A distinguished professor at Yale University, Mr. Kastan has also won plaudits for his teaching at Dartmouth College and Columbia University. His many publications include Shakespeare and the Shapes of Time (1982), Shakespeare After Theory (1999), and Shakespeare and the Book (2001). Mr. Kastan co-edited Stagng the Renaissance: Essays on Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama (1991), and he is the sole editor of The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature (2006). For this occasion he'll focus primarily on A Will to Believe: Shakespeare and Religion (2014), and after he chats with Mr. Andrews and responds to questions from the audience, he'll be happy to inscribe copies, which will be on hand for those who wish to obtain them.
Dicapo Opera Theatre
184 East 76th Street, Manhattan
Members $10, Others $20 We've long known that hundreds of familiar words and phrases originated with Shakespeare. But which ones, and how many? And how much do we owe to writers such as Austen, Chaucer, Scott, and Twain? That is the subject of Authorisms, our latest "dicksonary" from Paul Dickson. Acclaimed for his authoritative Baseball Dictionary, now in its third edition, Mr. Dickson has also treated us to The Congress Dictionary: The Ways and Meanings of Capitol Hill, to Words from the White House, and toJournalese: A Dictionary for Deciphering the News. A former editor for Merriam-Webster, Mr. Dickson has appeared on All Things Considered and other NPR programs, and he was a frequent contributor to the late William Safire's popular "On Language" column for the New York Times Magazine. His latest volume will be on hand for purchase, and after he talks with Mr. Andrews and addresses comments and queries from those who attend this presentation, he'll be delighted to sign copies. Talking About the Henry IV Plays with Stacy Keach and Edward Gero Thursday, May 29, at 12:15
Woman's National Democratic Club
1526 New Hampshire Avenue, Washington
Luncheon & Program $30 As Falstaff in Michael Kahn's riveting interpretation of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, one of America's most distinguished and versatile actors is returning to a role he first played four decades ago in Central Park. Not only has Stacy Keach earned plaudits in such classics as Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, and Richard III. He has also depicted Lyndon Johnson in Barbara Garson's Macbird, and LBJ's White House successor in Frost/Nixon. Meanwhile he is renowned for dozens of television hits, among them his celebrated Mike Hammer series, and for roles in more than seventy films, most recently Nebraska, an Oscar contender for Best Picture. Joining Mr. Keach is Edward Gero, a winner of four Helen Hayes Awards and a nominee for nearly a dozen more. Mr. Gero is completing a Shakespeare Theatre journey that commenced twenty years ago when he played Bolingbroke to Richard Thomas' title figure in Richard II. He'll soon be starring as Justice Scalia in an Arena Stage premiere ofThe Originalist, a show that could well be bound for Broadway in 2015. After a wide-ranging dialogue with Mr. Andrews, both stars will respond to questions and comments from the audience. And Mr. Keach will be available to sign copies of All in All: An Actor's Life On and Off the Stage, which will be on hand for purchase. Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker Reflects on Bardic Relics Monday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m.
National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park South, Manhattan
Free, But Reservations Requested In "The Poet's Hand," one of the most riveting and talked-about articles he's ever written for The New Yorker, Adam Gopnikasks "Why do we still search for relics of the Bard?" It's an intriguing question, and Mr. Gopnik focuses it on two developments that have the potential to alter our perceptions of a playwright whose works seem just as vibrant and timely today as they were when he was at the peak of his career at the Globe. Best known for Paris to the Moon, a touching account of the years he and his family spent in the City of Light, Mr. Gopnik has also enriched our lives with Americans in Paris and The Table Comes First: France, Family, and the Meaning of Food. One of his recent titles, Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life, was hinted at during a National Arts Club conversation with Mr. Andrews in 2008. It's conceivable that this gathering will feature another preview, relating to a book project that will be taking Mr. Gopnik to London this summer. To reserve space for these engagements, please email shakesguild@msn.com or call 505-988-9560. If you wish, you may pay at the door for the programs on May 13-14. For more information about these and other Shakespeare Guild offerings, please visit www.shakesguild.org/events.html.
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