Race and Shakespearean Performance

Humanities Forum

What does it mean to cast Shakespeare in a nontraditional way? How is Shakespeare’s universalism constructed within explicit discussions and debates about racial identity? And, do the answers to these questions impact our understanding of authorship, authority, and authenticity? This talk will examine the ways Shakespeare, race, and performance intersect on the twenty-first century stage.

Ayanna Thompson is Associate Dean of Faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor of English at Arizona State University. She specializes in Renaissance drama and focuses on issues of race and performance.

Sponsored by the Dresher Center for the Humanities with support from the  Department of English and the Theater Department