Episodes 7 and 8 of Merced Shakespearefest's Ricardo II: A Bilingual Adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard II document the impetuous king's breakdown, leading to him reliquishing the throne to Henry Bolingbroke.

Amber Loper’s A Caged Bird’s Song: An Avian Adaptation of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline  is a brilliant creation of the ecocritical and post-human imagination. Inspired by the play’s abundant bird imagery and Rebecca Ann Bach’s "Avian Shakespeare," Loper playfully reimagines Shakespeare’s original characters and conflicts from the viewpoint of birds in order to bring to life their hardships in the environmentally degraded conditions of 20th and 21st century California.

Episode six of Merced Shakespearefest’s Ricardo II…., entitled “Derechos y Regalias / Rights and Royalties” dramatizes the play’s power imbalances through vastly contrasting natural settings. The king’s excesses and mismanagement of resources are embodied in the stark contrast between the almost literally scorched earth he has left across the land, and the artificial lushness of the spaces he himself inhabits.

In Fall 2020, the English Senior Capstone course at UC Merced, led by Dr. Katherine Steele Brokaw, spent the semester researching Shakespeare and Ecology. Students read the work of several ecocritics and environmental activists, as well as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, and Cymbeline. The students developed their own research projects, and also did collaborative research projects related to an eco-adaptation of Cymbeline, in anticipation of Shakespeare in Yosemite’s Spring 2021 production of the play.

Episode five of Merced Shakespearefest's Ricardo II: A Bilingual Adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard II is titled "Hombres de Guerra / Men of War," but the standout character in this installment of the play is Queen Isabella. 

With the new year underway, many of our collaborating theatre companies have begun rehearsing Cymbeline—if perhaps under more unusual circumstances than usual. As the covid-19 crisis continues to change how theatre makers are able to share their craft, many of our Cymbeline in the Anthropocene collaborators are adapting new ways to reach their audiences.

In episode 4, "Arrendador de Inglaterra / Landlord of England," the king and his entourage travel to visit John of Gaunt, who grieves his banished son from a sick bed. When the king arrives only to mock John's illness, what follows is a witty but ominous repartee.

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.