Fortnight of Festivities

April 10th-14th: First Folio on exhibit from 12-2 PM

April 10th:

• Opening of Exhibition:  "A Great Variety of Readers: Celebrating 400 Years of Shakespeare's First Folio”, at 12 PM

• Student (3-12) Sonnet Contest Awards Ceremony, at 4 PM

  • Teri Cross Davis, Folger Poetry Program Coordinator, will read at the Sonnet Contest Awards Ceremony. 

• A poetry reading by author Teri Cross Davis, at 7 PM

  • Teri Cross Davis is the poetry coordinator for the Folger Shakespeare Library in D.C., winner of the 2017 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry, and author of the 2016 novel, Haint.

  • For more information: https://www.nationalbook.org/people/teri-ellen-cross-davis/ 

April 11th:

• Edible Shakespeare Contest, from 3-4 PM

  • Loosely based on the library tradition of "Edible Book Festivals", the winner of this event will win gift cards ($100 & $50, respectively)! The only parameters are that you make a treat that is Shakespeare-themed in some way, and it needs to be delivered to us by the day of!

  • Examples: It could be something mentioned mentioned in a Shakespeare play, something punny ("Too bee or not too bee"), something graphic that alludes to Shakespeare (Think: Hamlet's skull, the witches in Macbeth, etc.)

  • Creativity is completely up to you - We look forward to your yummy entries!

• Keynote/Opening Talk: Dr. Claire M. L. Bourne, “Milton’s First Folio in Philadelphia and the Myth of Discovery, at 7 PM

  • Dr. Claire M. L. Bourne is the co-author, with Jason Scott-Warren (University of Cambridge) of '“thy unvalued Booke”: John Milton's Copy of the Shakespeare First Folio', which identified John Milton as the former owner and annotator of the copy of the Shakespeare First Folio. Now available at the Free Library of Philadelphia (Milton Quarterly 56 [2022]). 

April 12th: Bookmaking Workshop, from 12-1:30 PM

• • Materials provided. Join us as to explore the technology of the printed book, create your own, and leave with a book of your very own making!

April 13th: A Virtual Talk by Dr. Emma Smith, “Four Centuries of Folios” , at 3:30 PM

• • Dr. Emma Smith's research combines a range of approaches to Shakespeare and early modern drama. Much of her recent work has been about the reception of Shakespeare in performance, print, and criticism, and about the scholarly and cultural investments in Shakespearean criticism. Her work on Shakespeare's First Folio, for example, combined the history of the book with work on collecting, historical performance, the editorial tradition and Shakespeare's cultural and economic value over four centuries. Her most recent book This Is Shakespeare was a Sunday Times bestseller and has been translated into several other languages. 

  • Some of her other interests include drama in performance, the methodology of writing about theatre, reviewing and its rhetoric, and productive analogies between cinema, film theory, and early modern performance. She has also worked with theatre companies including at the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and Donmar Warehouse, participated in radio programmes.

  • For more information: https://www.english.ox.ac.uk/people/professor-emma-smith

 

April 17th-21st: First Folio on exhibit from 12- 2 PM

April 19th: Gerit Quealy, "Shakespeare in the Wild", at 3 PM

• • Gerit Quealy is an American writer, editor, and actor. She is best known for Botanical Shakespeare: An Illustrated Compendium of all the Flowers, Fruits, Herbs, Trees, Seeds, and Grasses Cited by the World's Greatest Playwright, in which she teamed up with Japanese artist Sumié Hasegawa.

  • As a journalist, her work has appeared in the NYTimes, Huffington Post, NBC, Biography, Woman’s Day, Country Living and a raft of garden magazines, among other outlets. She has been a visiting lecturer and workshop leader at Columbia University, Williams College, CCNY, SUNY-Albany, among others, on subjects ranging from Shakespeare's classical references to works from his contemporaries.

  • For more information: https://roundtable.org/educator/gerit-quealy 

April 20th: Micheal O’Siadhail poetry reading at 7 PM

April 21st: Micheal O’Siadhail craft talk, at 1 PM

April 22nd: Dr. Marc Gagné, "Shakespeare in the Heavens", at 7 PM

• • As are other Fortnight events, "Shakespeare and the Heavens" is free and open to the public. However, due to the limited seating in Mather Planetarium, tickets are required, incurring a $2.00 service fee. Link to tickets coming soon!

April 20th-22nd: Performances of "Twelfth Night", presented by WCU Department of Theatre, directed by Professor John Bellomo 

• • Twelfth Night tells the story of Viola, a young heroine who washes up on the shores of Illyria, disguises herself as a man, is sent to court a countess and falls hard for a Duke. As she navigates this strange and wonderful new land, she finds her true self and her true love in the process. Celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio with us! Located in the E.O. Bull Center for the Arts. 

  • Tickets available at: http://www.wcupatix.com/theatreanddance 

The Renaissance Fair, from 12-3 PM

• • Free and open to the public! 

FREE outdoor, final Performance of "Twelfth Night"  on the WCU Quad

• • Curtains open at 3 PM, performed on a Globe-like Shakespearean stage!