A Field Guide to 15 Trees Native to the Literary Landscape
To commemorate Arbor Day, here's a meticulous and largely unserious botanical guide to 15 of the weirdest trees in literature.
To Celebrate the 460th Birthday of Legendary Writer William Shakespeare, We’re Stealing His Stories
At some point in April 1564, William Shakespeare was born. 460 years later, we're still recycling his ideas.
65 Years Ago, “A Raisin in the Sun” Changed American Theatre
Sixty-five years ago this month, Lorraine Hansberry’s pivotal play A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway, and it’s exerted a gravitational pull on American culture ever since.
Remembering Edward Bond, Scandalous Playwright
The playwright Edward Bond wasn't famous, exactly. But he was a little infamous, which was probably good enough for him.
Dangerous Liaisons on the Upper East Side: 25 Years of Delicious Cruelty
25 years ago, Buffy met Elle Woods in a steamy story by an 18th-century French novelist. The 1990s were weird.
70 Years of Waiting: Happy Birthday, Godot
The title character of Samuel Beckett's absurdist classic is 70 years old. But maybe don't wait for him to show up before you cut the cake.
You Never Forget Your First Folio: How William Shakespeare Invented Books
Shakespeare invented a lot of things, including, apparently, book culture. Thou art welcome, BookTok.
Six Tons of Sand and a Dream: Remembering Playwright Tina Howe
Tina Howe was a playwright, which is to say, she wasn't a household name. But she was a beloved and respected artist whose body of work resonates through the careers of any number of artists that you've definitely heard of.
Remembering Alan Arkin, an Everyman With a Side of Chaos
The funniest grandpa in Little Miss Sunshine was also the scariest guy in Wait Until Dark and the saddest salesman in Glengarry Glen Ross. Alan Arkin could play almost anyone while always being unmistakably himself.
15 Tony Award Winners
This Sunday night is the 76th Tony Awards, the biggest night in American theater. Or at least the biggest night in a certain fourteen-square-block section of American theater.
10 Things That Will Put You in the Mood for The Banshees of Inisherin
Irish playwright and filmmaker Martin McDonagh has made a career out of telling stories about (mostly) men behaving (mostly) badly. Here are more titles in that vein.
9 Asian-American Playwrights You Should Know
The American theater's representation of Asian experiences has often been problematic. These writers have tried to change that.
More Plays by Black Playwrights
Much of the most vital writing in the American theater today is coming from Black playwrights. Let the library acquaint you with a few
So You Say You Hate Musicals
We've heard your grumbles. We don't accept them. We bet we can change your mind.
Riffing on the Bard
A selection of books by contemporary authors reimagining Shakespeare's plays.
Plays by African-American Playwrights
For decades, African-American playwrights have pushed the American theater to embrace bold, daring and popular new forms and have, in the process, contributed some of the most enduring stories and characters in the American literary canon. The library has on its shelves an assortment of scripts from this robust tradition.
Theater Nerds Unite
Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the musical West Side Story by exploring library materials that might be of interest to theater geeks.
