Shakespeare In The Stacks Highlights April Events at Tewksbury Library

All events are FREE and sponsored by the Friends of the Tewksbury Public Library.  Pre-registration is strongly recommended for each event.

On Wednesday, April 4 at 6:30pm, join actor Richard Clark for his one-man show – “The Lunatic, The Lover And The Poet: Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits.”   

About The Show: Come and share some of the most memorable moments in dramatic literature.  Let your imagination sally forth with fabled kings as they "mount barb'd steeds to fright the souls of fearsome adversaries."  Eavesdrop on the intimate murmurings of Romeo; the obsessive passiosn of Anthony and Cleopatra; and the demented musings of King Richard as he broods over the love he will never have.  Twelve different characters, twenty five monologues and soliloquies from his most famous plays.  Laugh with the fools, cry with the afflicted, dream with the poets, beware the possessed!  Don't miss the essence of the world's greatest wordsmith!  REGISTER HERE.

On Tuesday, April 10 at 6:30pm, join actor Stephen Collins for his one-man show – “Shake-Scene.”   

About The Show: Who had more effect on the English language that William Shakespeare?  He created over 1700 common words that before him were either used in a new manner or didn't exist at all.  He did this by changing nouns into verbs, changing verbs into adjectives, connecting words never before used together, adding prefixes and suffixes, or just invented entirely new words from scratch.  Let actor Stephen Collins make Shakespeare's words come alive for your audience.  From the evil machinations of Richard III, to the philsophical bantering of Falstaff, to the brilliant oratory of Brutus and Antony, Stephen brings the Bard's words to life.  Shakespeare's tragedies, comedies, histories, and sonnets are all represented in this exciting show.  REGISTER HERE.

On Wednesday, April 18 at 6:30pm, join author Sam Blumenfeld for a discussion of his book – “The Marlowe-Shakespeare Connection: A New Study of the Authorship Question."

About The Talk: The "Marlowe-Shakespeare Connection" addresses the long-standing debate over the Shakespare authorship question and offers a daring solution: that the true author of the works attributed to Shakespeare was in fact poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe.  The book suggests that Marlowe, supposedly killed in a tavern brawl in 1593, actually faked his own death in order to save himself from an inquisition and certain execution, then continued writing under the pseudonym of William Shakespeare.  Citing substantial and compelling evidence, the author outlines several hypotheses to support the case, including the theory that several top people in Queen Elizabeth's government were involved in the plot to save Marlowe, who was reportedly a spy in the Secret Service.  REGISTER HERE.

On Tuesday, April 24 at 6:30pm, join author Doug Stewart for a discussion of his book – “The Boy Who Would Be Shakespeare: A Tale Of Forgery and Folly."

About The Talk: In London in the winter of 1795, a 19 year-old apprentice named William-Henry Ireland pretended he'd discovered an unknown play in Shakespeare's handwriting wihle rummaging in an old trunk.  The boy had hoped to impress his chilly, Shakespeare-worshipping father.  Instead he caused a public sensation.  No one had seen any of Shakespeare's manuscripts before.  Scholars, dukes, the future king, the poet laureate - people who should have known better - were overjoyed.  The new play was greeted as Shakespeare's lost masterpiece and staged before a tumultuous full house at Drury Lane Theatre.  The play and the boy's other forgeries were forensically implausible, but the people who inspected them ached to see first hand the words that had flowed from Shakespeare's quill.  So see them they did.  REGISTER HERE. 

On Wednesday, May 2 at 5:30pm, join fellow Shakespeare enthusists for a screening of "Anonymous." 

About The Movie: Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabeth England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brillant minds such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Sigmund Freud, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare?  Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature.  Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when scandalous political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles lusting for the power of the throne were brought to light in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.  REGISTER HERE.