To read a play after seeing it performed on stage is to give it a second chance. The plot, the characters, and the words may be largely the same, but the experience is transformed by the change in medium, with a different scope for the imagination and a significantly altered quality of attention. About half of Shakespeare’s plays appeared in print during his lifetime, and some may even have been sold at the theater where they were performed. But for half of his plays there was no second chance opportunity provided by print—not, that is, until the publication of the First Folio. This lecture will reflect on the 18 plays that appeared in print for the first time in the First Folio and will focus in particular upon "The Winter’s Tale," Shakespeare's supreme play about the possibility of a second chance.

 REGISTER 

This event is free and open to the public. Registration required for guaranteed seating.

McConomy Auditorium, University Center
5032 Forbes Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA

About the Presenter

Stephen Greenblatt
Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University

Stephen Greenblat is the author of fourteen books, including "Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics," "The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve," "The Swerve: How the World Became Modern," "Shakespeare's Freedom," "Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare," "Hamlet in Purgatory," "Marvelous Possessions," and "Renaissance Self-Fashioning."

Shakespeare's First Folio (1623-2023)

This lecture is part of an ensemble of activities organized around the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio. Learn more about related exhibits currently running at the Hunt Library and the Frick Pittsburgh.

Presented by Carnegie Mellon University Libraries and the Center for Print, Networks, and Performance (CPNP) with additional support from the Department of English, The Frick Pittsburgh, the Humanities Center, the Center for the Arts in Society, the School of Drama, the Department of History, and the University Lecture Series.