The New York Public Library Celebrates Shakespeare with Exhibitions, Programs, Digital Tributes, and More

APRIL 6, 2016 – The New York Public Library is paying tribute to legendary writer William Shakespeare with a series of free displays, discussions, and events throughout 2016, the year that marks the 400th anniversary of his death.

The Library is offering three exhibitions at two of its locations:

Shakespeare’s Star Turn in America: Open now through May 27 at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, this exhibition documents the history and ongoing popularity of American Shakespeare productions through the lens of the Library’s renowned collections. A small sampling of highlights includes scripts with director’s notes from productions as early as a 1774 staging of King Henry IV, a preliminary storyboard by Julie Taymor for her critically-acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2013, costumes including Julia Marlow costumes for Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing, and Katharine Hepburn's hand-written notes and sketches about staging for Much Ado About Nothing.
Artists for LPA Share Shakespeare: Open now through May 14 at the Library for Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, this corridor exhibition features a diverse group of contemporary artists – such as Sting, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Carroll Burnett, Allan Cumming, and more – sharing their personal stories about Shakespeare. Each piece is paired with items from the Library’s collections.
Be Not Afraid of Greatness: Shakespeare’s Influence on American Writers: Open April 21 to May 14 on the third floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, this one-case display of items from the Library’s collections will focus on Shakespeare’s influence on American authors. Items will include one of the Library’s six Shakespeare First Folios; an 1851 first edition of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville; a page of Melville’s manuscript of "Hawthorne and His Mosses" which grapples with Shakespeare and American writers; an 1885 first edition of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain; two pages from the typescript of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land; a 1937 New Yorker humor piece by James Thurber; Vladimir Nabokov's notecards from Pale Fire on which he wrote out a quote from Timon of Athens that inspired the book's title; and more.

There will also be a wide variety of public programming at many NYPL locations this spring, including Shakespeare film nights every Tuesday from April 5 to May 3 at the Library for the Performing Arts. A full list of events can be found at nypl.org, but specific events include:

Shakespeare vs. Mozart: A Library Debate: Friday, April 1 at 7 p.m. at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in collaboration with Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival on Friday. Shakespeare experts Michael Sexton of The Shakespeare Society and Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker face off against Peter Hoyt and Michael Beckerman of the Mostly Mozart Festival and New York University, and pianist Orli Shaham to determine who is the greatest genius.
An Evening with Julie Taymor: Monday, April 11 at 6 p.m. at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. In countless brilliant projects, award-winning director of theater and film Julie Taymor uses puppetry, mime, light and shadows to make magic and bring the work of Shakespeare and others to life. She will sit down with SITI Artistic Director Anne Bogart for a conversation about designing and directing theater, opera, and film.
As You Like It: A Brothers Balliett Shakespeare Party: Tuesday, April 19 at 7 p.m. at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. The Brothers Balliett and a lively troupe of some of New York’s most adventurous musicians come to the Library to lead an interactive group reading of As You Like It. Sit among a circle of instrumentalists and singers, and take a turn reading a scene from Shakespeare’s beloved pastoral comedy, with an original soundtrack provided by Brad and Doug Balliett.
Conversations from the Cullman Center: The Year of Lear – James Shapiro and John Lithgow: Monday, May 2, 7 p.m. at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Professor and author James Shapiro discusses his new book The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 with renowned actor John Lithgow. This event is currently at capacity, but there will be a stand by line.

The Library is also doing one digital project – 30 Days of Shakespeare, which features 30 different NYPL staff members reading their favorite Shakespeare monologues, speeches, sonnets, and so on from April 1 to April 30. NYPL President Tony Marx and Mellon Director Bill Kelly are amongst the participants.

About The New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.