Archived Articles
The 2021 Season and later:
Illinois Shakespeare Festival dramaturgy articles can now be found on the Illinois State University NEWS website. Visit Beyond the Stage on NEWS for the ongoing archive.
The 2020 Season:
Interview: Bringing Shakespeare to Youths
Behind-the-scenes interviews with directors Britannia Howe and Lori Adams about the 2020 Bard in a Box touring productions.
Jack of all Trades
Actor Jack Hradecky and many other ISF alums return to Shakespeare with Twelfth Night at Illinois State University.
Seeing Double in the 2020 Season
The three plays for this season have at least one thing in common: they are full of references to doubles and double images.
A "Hire" Artform
Each season, Production Manager Elena Hansen leads the charge to hire our production staff.
The Winter's Tale leads to Summer Stories
A look behind the Sutter Family Shakespeare Scholarship and the 2020 recipient, Nora McKirdie.
Interview: On Track with Casting
How does the Illinois Shakespeare Festival cast actors across three productions?
Macbeth:
Interview: Blood, Magic, and Tragedy
Director Geoffrey Kent discusses his ideas for ISF's production of Macbeth set in Viking Age Norway.
Who Are the Weird Sisters?
This article explores traces of folklore and mythology in the mysterious witches who change Macbeth's life.
The 2019 Season:
Why Adapt the Classics?
What does it mean to “adapt” Shakespeare and Austen? What new ideas will our three directors bring, while still preserving the original works’ beautiful language?
The Performance of Love
Aside from all being "a fresh look at classic stories," how are the three productions in ISF's 2019 season connected?
Shakespeare in 1599
What was happening in Shakespeare’s life in 1599, the year that he likely wrote As You Like It and Julius Caesar?
Interview: Come on Out and Try It!
Author Nancy Steele Brokaw discusses her Green Show and Theatre for Young Audiences plays for the 2019 season.
Shakespeare Inside and Out
How does the theatre building itself impact performance? The two stages that Shakespeare’s company used lets us think about the difference between a show at the open-air Ewing Theatre and a show in the indoors CPA Theatre.
Probing Shakespeare’s Words
The Illinois Shakespeare Festival dramaturgy team is hard at work putting together a glossary of Shakespeare’s words for rehearsals.
As You Like It:
Interview: Mysteries of Life and Love
Co-adapters Robert Quinlan and Jordan Coughtry discuss what they love most about Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
Into the Woods
How does the Forest of Arden fit into the symbolism of forests in Shakespeare’s work, where magic and miracles occur?
Pride and Prejudice:
Jane Austen and the French Revolution
How did the English react to the social upheaval in France, which was still ongoing when Austen started writing Pride and Prejudice?
Interview: Imagining a World Together
Director Deanna Jent talks about the challenge and fun of adapting Pride and Prejudice for the stage.
How (Not) to Propose
What can we learn about courtship culture in Austen's time through the failed marriage proposals in the novel?
Caesar:
Interview: Women In Politics and Theatre
Director Quetta Carpenter talks about gender, politics, and the media in her adaptation of Caesar.
Ever Thus to Tyrants
Was Julius Caesar a tyrant as the conspirators claimed? And does that justify his assassination?