Synopsis: Shakespeare’s first published work Venus and Adonis is a lyrical tale of goddess Venus being infatuated with and pursuing the youthful hunter Adonis. The narrative is witty and erotic with supporting tangential stories of animals. The other long narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece is more somber and portrays the lust of Tarquin and the subsequent shame experienced by Lucrece devoting very few lines to the rape itself. Lucrece’s lament takes […]

Synopsis: A college comedy with four pairs of lovers and a delightful sendup of pedantry. The King of Navarre and his three friends take an oath to devote themselves to studies and forswear women. The Princess of France and her three friends arrive soon after setting up a raucous farce that is also one of his subtlest explorations of language itself. Discussion Topics: As the title implies, love and endless ruminations on […]

Synopsis: In this, the most famous love tragedy of all time, Shakespeare’s doomed lovers find each other in a violent society beset with ancient grudges. Exquisite poetry, memorable characters and a relentless pace immerse the audience into the world of the play. Discussion Topics: How is love portrayed in this quintessential love story? What devices does Shakespeare employ to delineate Romeo and Juliet’s love to make it bigger and truer than what […]

Synopsis: A royal wedding from Greek mythology. Two pairs of lovers with all sorts of love triangles. A troupe of amateur actors. A quarrel between the faerie queen and the faerie king. And the delightful faerie mischief-maker Puck with assorted woodland creatures from the English countryside. Shakespeare’s second shortest play sets up all these plot strands and lets them collide into each other while creating a panoply of memorable characters. Discussion Topics: […]

Synopsis: Set further back than any other history, King John deals with rival claims to the English throne after the death of Richard I (the Lionheart). The brother John occupies the throne guided by his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. The King of France supports John’s nephew Arthur, a young boy who has a better claim through primogeniture. The power plays are crude, accidental fate introducing further uncertainty.   Discussion Topics: The idea […]

Synopsis: A poetic history written entirely in verse, Richard II is about the struggle between the legitimate but tyrannical Richard and the competent plainspoken Bolingbroke who is wronged yet unsympathetic. Exquisitely balanced in plot, character and tone, the play raises several troubling questions about the divine right of kings. Discussion Topics: Richard is highly performative with theatrically extravagant gestures, but in many ways opposite of the performative Richard III who invites the […]

Synopsis: The usurper Bolingbrooke from Richard II is now Henry IV and is beset with external and internal threats. The rebels led by  The rebels led by erstwhile ally Northumberland and his son ‘Hotspur’ join forces with the Welsh Glendower posing the external threat. The crown prince Hal is meanwhile carousing in disreputable Eastcheap in the company of the dissolute Falstaff, drinking and thieving while his father King frets and worries.   […]

THE DUBUQUE SHAKESPEARE PROJECT at the Carnegie Stout Library, Dubuque, IA Fall 2025 REINVENTING COMEDY The Merry Wives of Windsor Synopsis: Shakespeare’s only full play to be set in contemporary England, Merry Wives borrows Falstaff and other characters from Henry IV’s Eastcheap and throws them into suburban small town Windsor. Falstaff tries to seduce the titular wives, but the smart wives know just how to play him. A list of suitors to […]

THE DUBUQUE SHAKESPEARE PROJECT at the Carnegie Stout Library, Dubuque, IA Fall 2025 REINVENTING COMEDY   The Merchant of Venice In William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, the wealthy but depressed merchant Antonio defaults on a loan from the Jewish moneylender Shylock, who demands a literal pound of Antonio's flesh as payment due to past mistreatment. Antonio's friend Bassanio must go to Belmont to court the rich heiress Portia, whose hand in marriage […]

THE DUBUQUE SHAKESPEARE PROJECT at the Carnegie Stout Library, Dubuque, IA Fall 2025 REINVENTING COMEDY Much Ado About Nothing Much Ado About Nothing centers on two interconnected plots: the near-instant love of Claudio and Hero, and the witty antagonism between Beatrice and Benedick. Don John, the villain, attempts to disgrace Hero by fabricating evidence of her unfaithfulness, which leads to her public shaming. The other main plot involves friends tricking Beatrice and […]

THE DUBUQUE SHAKESPEARE PROJECT at the Carnegie Stout Library, Dubuque, IA Fall 2025 REINVENTING COMEDY As You Like It As You Like It is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare about Rosalind, a clever young woman banished from court, who disguises herself as a man and flees to the Forest of Arden with her cousin Celia. In the forest, they encounter Rosalind's love interest, Orlando, who is also seeking refuge from his […]