All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
- As You Like It Act II Scene VII
To take away William Shakespeare's works from the English language would be like removing London from England—the loss would be incalculable. Fortunately, we don’t have to imagine that cultural desert. Other than Shakespeare, it’s impossible to find another playwright whose works have been performed all over the world and influenced countless other works of art.
While we can’t go to the theater right now, you can watch Shakespeare in performance online using Kanopy, our streaming movie application. Log in, or set up your free Kanopy account. I have created a playlist of some of my personal favorites here . An alternative is to search the title of your own favorite Shakespeare plays and perhaps create your own playlist in Kanopy for future watching.
If you would prefer to read or listen to ebooks and e-Audiobooks also dedicated to Shakespeare, check out this book list.
A smattering of Shakespeare's own works; works about Shakespeare and works inspired by Shakespeare in ebook and e-audio form in honor of his 456th birthday.
Finally, I hope Shakespeare would enjoy my favorite brief clip of Robin Williams as John Keating from The Dead Poet’s Society. We know Shakespeare had a sense of humor, or where did all those comedies come from?
