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First Folio Day
Performances and display to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the 1623 publication of William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, better known as the First Folio.
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2023 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, better known as the First Folio. April 23 is Shakespeare’s birthday (by legend, at least, since we know only that Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564), and also the day of his death in 1616.
To mark these occasions, Penn students from The Theatre Arts Program’s Acting Shakespeare class, taught by Jennifer Joan Thompson, will perform excerpts from Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night. Additional performances will feature winners of the Penn English Department's sonnet contest.
The first four Folios and other materials from the Horace Howard Furness Shakespeare Library will be on display in the historic Lea Library. Birthday cake for all will complete the celebration.
This event is part of a region-wide series of celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the First Folio. Learn more about these collaborative scholarly projects and events.
Advanced registration is requested for non-Penn visitors to facilitate building access.
Featured image: Title page engraving from Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [“First Folio”] (London, 1623), Horace Howard Furness Memorial Collection.