Foul Papers and Bad Quartos: Shakespeare’s Changing Texts

Is there such a thing as a definitive edition of one of Shakespeare’s plays? Even the casual reader or theatergoer may notice small and sometimes large discrepancies between published and acting editions of most plays in the canon. While many of these changes have been made by modern editors, even in Shakespeare’s time it was difficult if not impossible to know what Shakespeare intended, since many of his plays in the best-known published version in The First Folio differ from the quartos and “foul papers” that bear the playwright’s hand. On Friday, September 8th at 6 PM in LPL’s Callahan Hall, join playwright and teacher Michael Levine as he discusses the various types of changes that exist in some versions of Shakespeare’s better-known plays and examine several speeches from Twelfth Night to see how the Folio version differs from several modern editions.

“Foul Papers and Bad Quartos” is presented as part of Lewiston Public Library’s Ye Olde Shakespeare Week. For more information, contact the library’s Adult & Teen Services Department at 513-3135, or visit Ye Olde Shakespeare Week.

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Michael Levine is the Artistic Director and Founder of the Naked Shakespeare series, a group currently performing First Fridays at Mechanics Hall in downtown Portland. He is also the co-founder of Oak Street Theatre and Acorn Productions where has taught acting and playwrighting in Portland for close to 20 years. He has directed many productions for Acorn, including The Cocktail Hour, Measure for Measure, Burn This, Buried Child, and Much Ado About Nothing, the first ever production at the St. Lawrence Arts Center, which he helped design and construct. Mr. Levine is a graduate of M.I.T., where he studied playwrighting with A.R. Gurney, and acting with Kristen Linklater, and Shakespeare and Company.