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Shakespeare Bulletin
@shaxbull.bsky.social
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Peer-reviewed quarterly journal, publishing articles at the cutting edge of early modern performance studies. Posts by Dr. Peter Kirwan and Katy Shinas.
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NEW ISSUE KLAXON: Shakespeare Bulletin 43.2 is now published via Project Muse! In this open-access issue, scholars and practitioners engage in conversations across time, media, and geographic distance.

📰: muse.jhu.edu/issue/55948
November 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
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Today’s Extra Credit focuses on Sujata Iyengar’s article, “Dreams Deferred: Joseph Papp’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1964) and Gloria Naylor’s “Cora Lee””. Check out these open-access resources to go along with this open-access article!

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
November 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
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Laurie Maguire reviews the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2025 production of Twelfth Night, dir. Prasanna Puwanarajah.

🎭: www.rsc.org.uk/twelfth-nigh...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/article/971403

📷: Helen Murray
An image of Feste (Michael Grady-Hall) in a puffy, black and yellow clown outfit, with the text “Viola’s story had a happy ending only because it took place in the world of fiction, a world where “tempests are kind, and salt waves fresh in love” (3.4.388). In the production’s masterstroke, the play was framed as a Christmas story told by Feste.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
November 6, 2025 at 2:54 AM
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Emma Katherine Atwood and Olivia Soileau review Resurgens Theatre Company’s 2024 production of Tamburlaine the Great, Part One and Part Two, dir. Brent Griffin.

🎭: resurgenstheatre.org/past-product...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/article/971402

📷: John Michael Hoke
An image of Tamburlaine (Tamil Periasamy) holding Zenocrate’s (Faina Khibkin) bloody face with the text “Resurgens’s Tamburlaine the Great, Part One and Part Two was a tour de force, highlighting Marlowe’s musical language and forging an uncomfortable intimacy with tyrannical violence.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
November 6, 2025 at 2:54 AM
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Hanh Bui reviews the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2024 production of Pericles, dir. Tamara Harvey.

🎭: www.rsc.org.uk/pericles/pas...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/article/971401

📷: Johan Persson
An image of Pericles (Alfred Enoch) cradling Thaisa (Leah Haile) with the text “[W]hile the production did not directly register the world “right now,” it vastly succeeded in bringing to life Harvey’s vision of one family’s resilience against monumental, almost mythical odds. Through a combination of expert staging, design, and performances, this Pericles illuminated the human drive to persevere—and the equally compelling urge to share such stories of survival.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
November 5, 2025 at 3:43 AM
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Katie O’Hare reviews The Guthrie Theater’s 2024 productions of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V, dir. Joseph Haj.

🎭: www.guthrietheater.org/shows-and-ti...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/article/971400

📷: Dan Norman
An image of King Henry IV (William Sturdivant) and the Earl of Douglas (David Whalen) mid-combat with the text “Committing to seeing these plays all in one day developed an immersive, sporting, competitive element both in the plays and between them that might not be achieved through seeing them individually [...] History was being played out in the Guthrie Theater, and the desire to cross the finish line was palpable by the end.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
November 5, 2025 at 3:43 AM
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Scott Shepherd reviews Oh! Ophelia, Ophelia, presented by Choi Sung-ok’s Meta-dance Project as part of the 2024 K Stage Festa at Myeongdong Theater.

📰: muse.jhu.edu/article/971399

📷: Sang Hoon Ok
An image of Ophelia (Lee Ji-soo) dancing, with Hamlet (Kim Jae-min) behind her, with the text “[...] Oh! Ophelia, Ophelia offered an intricate version of Hamlet—a delicate rewriting which revealed a deep understanding of the play—and provided a more enjoyable experience than many conventional performances of Hamlet that I have attended.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
November 4, 2025 at 12:51 AM
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Justin B. Hopkins reviews New York Circus Project’s 2024 production of Hamlet, created by Sam Landa and Emma Owens.

🎭: www.newyorkcircusproject.org/hamlet

📰: muse.jhu.edu/article/971397

📷: Steve Sarafian
An image of Rosencrantz (Asom Hayman-Jones) and Guildenstern (Glenn Doyle) holding Hamlet (Maddox Morfit-Tighe) parallel to the floor with the text “[...] the thoughtful integration of circus acts throughout the production, choreographed by Landa and Danielle Diniz, successfully illustrated the dynamic emotions of the play’s characters, in some cases surpassing even what the script offered.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
November 4, 2025 at 12:51 AM
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David Cottis reviews Half Trick’s 2024 production of Antonio’s Revenge, dir. Courtney Bassett.

🎭: halftrick.com#antonio

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

📷: Eliza Roberts
An image of Pandulpho (Caden Scott) and Antonio (Juliet Gentle) tying up Piero (Courtney Bassett) with the text “Overall, Half Trick made the case for rescuing the play from its “rarely touched” status, giving us exactly the kind of production for which the Fringe exists—rough around the edges, but with its gory, beating heart in the right place.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
November 3, 2025 at 1:51 AM
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Terri Bourus reviews Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s 2024 production of Henry V, dir. Edward Hall.

🎭: www.chicagoshakes.com/productions/...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

📷: Liz Lauren
An image of Nell (Alejandra Escalante) in a torn up wedding dress and Pistol (Demetrios Troy) in a suit jacket and top hat, with members of the ensemble in military garb in the background with the text “[T]his “Chorus” did not just appear and disappear from time to time; instead, the community of soldiers introduced in these first moments dominated the production—in a way the rank-and-file warriors do not dominate Shakespeare’s text. This show enacted the story of a group of soldiers, before and in and after combat, one of whom just happened to be king.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
November 3, 2025 at 1:51 AM
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Suzy Lawrence reviews the 2024 production of Kiss Me, Kate at the Barbican Theatre, dir. Bartlett Sher.

🎭: kissmekatemusical.com

📰: muse.jhu.edu/article/971398

📷: Johann Persson
An image of Bill Calhoun as Luciento (Charlie Stemp) standing on a table with members of the company while Lois Lane as Bianca (Georgina Onuorah swirls her skirts, with the text “Overall, therefore, I felt that, while it succeeded in Sher’s aim to be “super-fun”, Kiss Me, Kate fell short of the director’s expressed desire to find its “core humanity” [...] The desire to end the show with a romantic reunion thereby overrode any possibility that a happy ending for a strong and independent Lilli could have been one where, having walked off the stage, she never came back at all.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
October 31, 2025 at 4:38 PM
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Joseph F. Stephenson reviews Shakespeare’s Globe’s 2024 production of The Taming of the Shrew, dir. Jude Christian.

🎭: www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/the...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

📷: Helen Murray
An image of Petruchio (Andrew Leung) holding a puppet for Katharina (Thalissa Teixeira) to kiss with the text “Jude Christian’s Summer 2024 production succeeded largely because it scrutinized and problematized the controversial content of the play, offering a profound and haunting reflection on the nature of broken human relationships for the twenty-first-century viewer.” over a blue background with the SB logo.
October 31, 2025 at 4:38 PM
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Today’s Extra Credit focuses on Louise Geddes and Nora Williams’ Afterword of Shakespeare Bulletin Issue 43.1, “The Fantasy of Relevance on the Shakespearean Stage”. Check out these open-access resources to go along with this open-access article!

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
October 29, 2025 at 6:22 PM
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Today’s Extra Credit focuses on Donovan Sherman’s article, “Whiteness and Witness: Fat Ham’s Classicism”. Check out these open-access resources to go along with this open-access article! All resources are included in the link in our bio.

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
“Extra credit with Donovan Sherman” overtop of a blue background with the SB logo
October 24, 2025 at 4:29 PM
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NEW ISSUE KLAXON: Shakespeare Bulletin 43.1 is now published! Now fully open access, this issue features a cluster of essays edited by Louise Geddes and Nora J. Williams reflecting on casting, race, community, and tragedy in productions performed on and off Broadway.

📰: muse.jhu.edu/issue/55715
October 10, 2025 at 4:43 PM
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"In my work at Brave Spirits Theatre, as both the resident dramaturg and production photographer, I had helped to build an archive of documents and photographs which memorialized our performances of early modern drama over several years.
“The reality of the company’s closure, however, prompted me to reflect on the choices I had made behind the lens and consider how they were informed by my viewpoint as a dramaturg. The essay argues that my dual role strengthened the company’s archival legacy and that fellow practitioners can use photography to integrate more collaborative perspectives into the record of early modern drama in performance." over a dark orange background with the SB logo.
May 19, 2025 at 4:16 PM
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Today’s Extra Credit focuses on Claire Kimball’s open-access article, “Photographing Early Modern Drama in Performance: A Visual Dramaturgy.” Check out these open-access resources to go along with this open-access article!

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...
“EXTRA CREDIT WITH Claire Kimball” over a dark orange background with the SB logo.
May 19, 2025 at 4:16 PM
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Today’s Extra Credit focuses on Jennifer T. Birkett’s open-access article, “New Solutions to Old Problems: Gender Equity and the 50/50 Shakespeare Project.” Check out these open-access resources to go along with this open-access article!

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/956896
“EXTRA CREDIT WITH Jennifer T. Birkett” over a dark orange background with the SB logo.
May 13, 2025 at 4:14 PM
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Vanessa I. Corredera reviews the Globe’s 2024 production of Much Ado About Nothing, dir. Sean Holmes.

🎭: www.shakespearesglobe.com/whats-on/muc...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/956911

📷: Marc Brenner
An image of Benedick (Ekow Quartey) and Beatrice (Amalia Vitale) standing in front of a backdrop of trees over a dark orange background with the SB logo and the text “Quartey and Vitale [as Benedick and Beatrice] [. . .] shared credible chemistry, delivering their barbs with enough vinegar to convey reticence about, if not outright hurt over, the possibility of falling in love—especially with each other—while at the same time seeming to relish one another’s intelligence.”
May 6, 2025 at 3:31 PM
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Dan Venning reviews FRIGID New York, Something from Abroad, and Quemoción’s 2023 production of Hamlet: La Telenovela, dir. Federico Mallet.

🎭: frigid.nyc/something-fr...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/956910

📷: Miguel Garzón Martínez
An image of Horacio (Martha Preve Ayora) and Hamlet (Federico Mallet) in Hamlet: La Telenovela over a dark orange background with the SB logo and the text “Hamlet: La Telenovela provided a theatrically compelling challenge to the Eurocentric canon that continues to revere Shakespeare as Bloomian ‘inventor of the human.’”
May 5, 2025 at 3:31 PM
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Dan Venning reviews Patrick Page’s 2023 production of All the Devils are Here, dir Simon Godwin.

🎭: allthedevilsplay.com

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/956910

📷: Julieta Cervantes
An image of Patrick Page in All the Devils are Here over a dark orange background with the SB logo and the text “Page’s virtuosic mastery as a performer made each character riveting and his assertions about the psychological foundations of Shakespearean villainy totally convincing, at least while watching him perform.”
May 2, 2025 at 3:31 PM
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Burak Urucu reviews Moda Sahnesi’s 2024 production of Othello, dir. Kemal Aydoğan.

🎭: www.modasahnesi.com/events/othel...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/956909

📷: Orçun Kaya
An image of Othello (Caner Cindoruk) and Iago (Ahmed Saka) over a dark orange background with the SB logo and the text “Saka’s performance as Iago was modest: his body language was humble and delicate, and his voice was striking with its soft, thin tone. His gradual change to an empowered manipulator was delivered seamlessly.”
May 1, 2025 at 3:31 PM
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Anna Kamaralli reviews Sport for Jove’s 2024 production of I Hate People; or Timon of Athens, dir. Margaret Thanos.

🎭: www.sportforjove.com.au/timon-of-ath...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/956908

📷: Kathy Luu
An image of Timon (Damien Ryan) leaning into Flavia (Deborah Galanos) over a dark orange background with the SB logo and the text “This production showed that [Timon] was never without a few, core people who (whatever their own flaws) truly cared about him, but that he treated them as badly as he did those who were actually exploiting him.”
April 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
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Liesl Jensen reviews the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s 2024 production of Arden of Faversham.

🎭: cupresents.org/performance/...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/956907

📷: Jennifer M. Koskinen
An image of Prompter (Heidi Schmidt), Will (Sean Scrutchins), Thomas Arden (Lavour Addison), Alice Arden (Noelia Antweiler), Shakebag (Jacob Dresch), and Mosby (Ryan Omar Stack) over a dark orange background with the SB logo and the text “In keeping with the farcical energy [. . .] violence was staged as comedy. Dummy pistols were given sound by actors shouting ‘Bang!’, and rubber daggers visibly wiggled throughout Arden’s successful murder.”
April 29, 2025 at 3:31 PM
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Erin Julian reviews Crow’s Theatre’s 2024 production of The Land Acknowledgement or As You Like It, created by Cliff Cardinal.

🎭: www.mirvish.com/shows/the-la...

📰: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/956906

📷: Dahlia Katz
An image of Cliff Cardinal wearing a hoodie and jacket in front of a simple curtain over a dark orange background with the SB logo and the text “Ultimately, the show invited audiences to consider just why Shakespeare is so important, while also exploiting Shakespeare’s cultural capital to make space for Indigenous voices and stories.”
April 28, 2025 at 2:56 PM