In our final blog entry of 2020, Cymbeline in the Anthropocene project leader Randall Martin delves into the textual allusions indicating Cymbeline was originally a Christmas play, signifying an existential turning between ages that was relevant to audiences in both 1610, the year of its first performance, and in 2020. At the end of a year dominated by global health, ecological, and social crises, Cymbeline's prophecies offer a wisdom we can take into a new year, and a new era, as the world continues to transform.

We are delighted to announce that internationally distinguished Argentinian playwright, translator, actor, and opera and theatre director Mónica Maffía will be joining Cymbeline in the Anthropocene. Dr. Maffía will create a new translation of Cymbeline in Castilian Spanish, which will be performed by her Buenos Aires-based theatre company, Setebos.

Sharing Cymbeline, a community-sourced virtual project run by Shakespeare Link UK, has entered the action-packed, final half of Cymbeline. Submissions remain open for community performances of excerpts from the play's final act. In the videos below, directors of the Willow Globe Susanna Best and Philip Bowen (click here for our recent interview with Susanna and Philip!) recount the play's spectacular climax and denouement, giving potential community actors context for their performances.

Episode three of Ricardo II: A Bilingual Adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard II reads like a miniature study of land relations by various factions across the Merced Shakespearefest's bilingual cast. Following the failed duel between Henry Bolingbroke and Tomás Mercedes/Mowbray, this episode follows Henry, his father John of Gaunt, and king Ricardo II, as the six-year exile of Henry introduces grief and geographical distance into the relationships between these characters.