Exhibit Co-Curator
Dates: December 21, 2015 – May 29, 2016
Venue: Harry Ransom Center

Commemorating the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death in 1616, the exhibition at the Harry Ransom Center documented the enduring legacy, longevity and relevance of the most frequently performed and most venerated English playwright. The exhibit drew on over 150 items from the Ransom Center’s notable and unique collections of internationally recognized performance materials, set designs and printed books, many of which have never been publicly exhibited before. Highlights include:

  • Robert Greene’s “Groats-worth of Wit” (1592)
  • The Ransom Center’s three Shakespeare first folios (1623)
  • David Garrick’s travel diary (1751)
  • Edward Gordon Craig’s diaries during his staging of Hamlet at the Moscow Art Theatre (1911)
  • John Wilkes Booth’s promptbook for Richard III (ca. 1861)
  • Alphonse Mucha’s poster of Sarah Bernhardt in Hamlet (1899)
  • Rosalind Iden’s costume for Rosalind in the Donald Wolfit Shakespeare Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing (ca. 1945)
  • Costume renderings from B. J. Simmons & Co. including Orson Welles in the role of Othello (ca. 1951)
  • Leading a tour of the exhibition.
  • Visitors to the gallery examine selections from the Ransom Center’s Shakespeare promptbook collection.
  • Visitors read Edward Gordon Craig’s Cranach Press ‘Hamlet’
  • Rosalind Iden’s costume from the Donald Wolfit production of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’
  • Entrance to the exhibition
  • Shakespeare in Print section, with first folio case on the right
  • David Garrick’s travel diary in a section explaining restoration Shakespeare
  • A display detailing Edward Gordon Craig’s production of Hamlet and its translation to a fine art book
  • Shakespeare in Performance section
  • Gender-bending performances of Shakespeare featuring Charlotte Cushman and Sarah Bernhardt
  • Proof of Edward Gordon Craig’s engraving for Ophelia
  • Ernst Stern’s set design for Donald Wolfit’s ‘King Lear,’ ca. 1945
  • Norman Bel Geddes’ design for his unproduced ‘King Lear,’ 1917
  • Gown worn by Rosalind Iden in the role of Beatrice in the Donald Wolfit Shakespeare Company’s production of ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ ca 1945.
  • Lily Brayton in the role of Ophelia in Hamlet, 1905.
  • A costume design by B.J. Simmons & Co for Orson Welles in the role of Othello, ca. 1951.
  • John Wilkes Booth’s promptbook for ‘Richard III,’ ca. 1861