Starting May 7 and running through May 30, the North Carolina Museum of History will showcase the traveling exhibit First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare. This touring exhibit is on offer from the Folger Shakespeare Library in honor of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
In advance of the exhibit, the museum is offering a wide selection of programs to enrich understanding of William Shakespeare and his work, including the “Shakespeare Marathon: 38 Plays in 5 Days.”
From Saturday, April, 23, at noon, through Thursday, April 28, at 6:00 am, Burning Coal Theatre Company and the NC Museum of History present a round-the-clock reading of all thirty-eight plays by William Shakespeare. Thirty-eight theatrical groups from across North Carolina will perform the stage readings with minimal props and costumes. For a complete schedule and list of theatre companies, click here.
Additional programs include a reading by poet Joseph Mills on Friday, May 6, at 5:00 pm. Mills read from his latest collection, Exit, Pursued by a Bear (Press 53). Inspired by Shakespeare’s stage directions, the poems are witty, comical, and thought-provoking. Mills also will share some backstory on the Bard’s most famous stage directions and will sign books after the program. The exhibit First Folio! opens to First Friday visitors at 7:00 pm.
Programs are free, unless otherwise noted, and presented in collaboration with North Carolina theatre companies, professors at UNC-Chapel Hill, and others.
For a complete list of upcoming programs, click here.