Shakespeare - Why? And Wherefore?
PRESENTED BY SPORT FOR JOVE AND SHEPHERD'S PURSE THEATRE
HOSTED BY DAMIEN RYAN
Why do Shakespeare's plays still seem to know us better than we know ourselves? Why does every generation reinvent it? What surprises us most about his endurance? Has your understanding of Shakespeare changed over 40 years of writing of him? What would he recognise in our world—and what would astonish him? Why these plays – why now – why ever?
What would you ask James Shapiro about Shakespeare if you had the chance? Well… “the hour’s now come…and the very minute bids thee ope thine ear…!”
In a thrilling event for Sport for Jove, internationally acclaimed Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro (1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606, and Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?) joins Damien Ryan on stage for a captivating evening of conversation exploring the life, works and extraordinary afterlife of the world's greatest playwright. From enduring mysteries and modern myths to the remarkable stories behind the plays themselves, this is an opportunity to hear one of our planet’s most insightful literary voices in an intimate, thought-provoking and entertaining discussion.
Whether you're a lifelong Shakespeare enthusiast, an educator, a student or simply curious about the mind behind the masterpieces, this promises to be an unforgettable evening celebrating, interrogating, x-raying the playwright who never stops surprising us.
about james shapiro
James Shapiro has taught Shakespeare at Columbia University for the past four decades. He is the author of a number of prizewinning books, including Shakespeare and the Jews, 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, Contested Will, 1606: The Year of Lear, Shakespeare in a Divided America, and the forthcoming Othello: An American Tragedy. He has been awarded Guggenheim, Cullman Center, and NEH fellowships, and his reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The TLS, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The London Review of Books, and the New York Review of Books. He has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, served on the boards of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Folger Shakespeare Library, and since 2012 has advised productions as a Shakespeare Scholar in Residence at New York’s Public Theater. His next book, forthcoming in early 2027, is Othello: An American Tragedy.
Dates and Booking
SEYMOUR CENTRE
MON, 8 MAR
6.30pm
one night only
