The Shakespeare Lecture was established in 1992. Friends of the McGill Library events such as the Shakespeare Lecture create a strong presence in the community, and build awareness of the Library’s role in the life and outreach of McGill.
A vast amount of material on Shakespeare is available throughout the McGill Library system with most of our holdings residing at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library and in our Rare Books and Special Collections. Some of the earliest editions of Shakespeare’s plays can be consulted in Rare Books and Special Collections, including, notably, a copy of the Second Folio (1632) of collected plays, and two copies of the Fourth Folio (1685). Like the rarer Third Folio (1663; 1664), the Fourth Folio includes seven plays not part of the First (1623) or Second Folios, most of which are now considered spurious. This fourth and last of the great seventeenth-century folio publications of Shakespeare’s plays was an important source for later editions. Rare Books and Special Collections also has a 1598 quarto of Richard II. Over the years, the Library has been fortunate to receive gifts, both financially and in kind to strengthen the collection of materials on Shakespeare. This could not have accomplished without the support and contribution from many of our friends and donors.
The Shakespeare Lecture is presented in partnership with the Stratford Festival.
Upcoming
- 2025 lecture to be announced
Past lectures
-
Jessica B. Hill, Actor, Playwright, and Teacher
Jessica B. Hill in Conversation with Professor Paul Yachnin
January 25, 2024 -
Kimberley Rampersad, Director and Paul Gross, Actor
The Hardness of King Lear: Kimberley Rampersad and Paul Gross in Conversation
January 18, 2023 -
Antoni Cimolino, Artistic Director, Stratford Shakespeare Festival and Siamak Hariri, Founding Partner, Hariri Pontarini Architects
Stratford Festival's New Tom Patterson Theatre: A Virtual Conversation between Antoni Cimolino and Siamak Hariri
February 3, 2022 -
Antoni Cimolino, Artistic Director, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Shakespeare and the Weight of this Sad Time
November 4, 2020 -
Jonathan Goad, Actor and Director, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Taking Ownership: Stratford’s Jonathan Goad talks acting, directing, and playing with Shakespeare
November 19, 2019 -
Tom McCamus & Chick Reid, Actors, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Our life in theatre: questions & answers
November 13, 2018 -
Scott Wentworth, Actor and Director, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
"Julius Caesar" Before The Rehearsal Room
November 7, 2017 -
Graham Abbey with Michelle Giroux, Actors, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
A Muse of Fire: the enduring power of Shakespeare’s history cycle
November 15, 2016 -
Deborah Hay & Ben Carlson, Actors, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
A conversation with Prof. Paul Yachnin
November 9, 2015 - Martha Henry, Actor, Director, Teacher, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
A conversation with Martha Henry
November 4, 2014 - Seana McKenna, Actor, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Shakespeare in 3D: An Actor's Point of View
November 12, 2013 - Lucy Peacock, Actor, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Work. Prayer. Carnival. My Journey With Shakespeare
October 25, 2012 - Antoni Cimolino, General Director, Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Why I Believe in Shakespeare
October 24, 2011 - Paul Yachnin
The Beast in Shakespeare: How an Animal became the World's Greatest Writer
March 4, 2010 - Albert Schultz
From Page to Stage: Shakespeare the Director
March 19, 2009 - Barbara Hodgdon
Bride-ing the Shrew: Costumes that Matter
March 18, 2008 - Gareth Armstrong and Kenneth Gross
Shakespeare and the Jews
March 29, 2007 - Prof. Michael Bristol
King Lear is a member of my family
Or What I’ve learned from my students
March 23, 2006 - Prof. Paul Yachnin & Prof. Desmond Manderson
Love on Trial: Same-Sex Marriage in the Court of Shakespeare September 27, 2004 - Mr. Jean-Louis Roux
Translating Shakespeare in French: Enjoyment and Torture
March 24, 1998 - Mr. Maurice Podbrey
Shakespeare: From the Classroom to the Stage
March 10, 1997 - Prof. Leanore Lieblein
Shakespeare in Quebec
March 14, 1996 - Prof. John Ripley
From Drunken Catherine to Joyous Juliet: Shakespeare on Stage in the Nineteenth Century Montreal
March 15, 1995 - Prof. Peter Daly
Visual and Symbolic Approaches to Shakespeare
March 15, 1994 - Prof. Roger Williams
The Ides of March: An Evening of Shakespeare
March 16, 1992