Eager for the 2023 season to begin? Get your Shakespeare fix now.

Immerse yourself in Shakespeare with these fabulous free lectures, held at the Toronto Reference Library, Beeton Hall.

Shakespeare Lectures: Prof. Misha Teramura on Richard II

Thu Mar 09, 2023

7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

60 mins

Join us for a lecture by Prof. Misha Teramura on Richard II, the first part of four history plays about the House of Lancaster.

Misha Teramura is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Toronto, where he teaches Shakespeare and early modern literature. He has published articles on such topics as Shakespeare's adaptations of Chaucer, lost plays, textual corruption, Elizabethan espionage, Renaissance theories of friendship, and messy handwriting. He currently serves as co-editor of the Lost Plays Database and is working on a book about dramatic manuscripts and an edition of Henry IV Part 2 for the Arden Shakespeare.

Shakespeare Lectures: Prof. Alexander Leggatt on King Lear

Thu Mar 02, 2023

7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

60 mins

Join us for a lecture by Prof. Alexander Leggatt on King Lear, perhaps Shakespeare's greatest and most devastating tragedies.

Alexander Leggatt is Professor Emeritus of English at University College, University of Toronto. He has published a number of books and articles on English drama, mostly on the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. A few of his many books include Shakespeare's Comedy of Love; Shakespeare in Performance: King Lear; Shakespeare's Political Drama: The History Plays and the Roman Plays; and Shakespeare's Tragedies: Violation and Identity.

Shakespeare Lectures: Prof. Jane Freeman on Much Ado About Nothing

Thu Feb 23, 2023

7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

60 mins

Join us for a lecture by Prof. Jane Freeman on Much Ado About Nothing, one of Shakespeare's more popular and frequently performed comedies.

Prof. Jane Freeman's areas of expertise are Shakespeare, Classical Rhetoric, and Oral/Written Communication. She is the Director of U of T's Graduate Centre for Academic Communication, a member of the Stratford Festival's Education Committee, and a member of the Stratford Festival Senate. A regular lecturer at Stratford, Jane founded the TRL Shakespeare Lecture Series with Lee Ramsay, and she's delighted to be back to host it this year for the twelfth time!

Shakespeare Lectures: Dr. Philippa Sheppard on Love's Labour's Lost

Thu Feb 16, 2023

7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

60 mins

Join us for a lecture by Dr. Philippa Sheppard on Love's Labour's Lost, a beloved early comedy by Shakespeare.

Dr. Philippa Sheppard has been teaching Shakespeare and Modern Drama at the University of Toronto for over twenty years. Her book, Devouring Time: Nostalgia in Contemporary Shakespearean Screen Adaptations, came out with McGill Queen's University Press in May of 2017. Additionally, she has published a number of articles on Shakespeare in academic journals, books, and in the public press. Giving talks and writing programme notes for the Stratford Festival is always a highlight of her year.

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