William Shakespeare

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Monkeys Will Never Randomly Type Shakespeare
Monkeys Will Never
Randomly Type Shakespeare
NEW STUDY
Nov 1, 2024 10:54 AM CDT

Monkeys Will Never Randomly Type Shakespeare

It would take 7 universe lifetimes to complete the Bard's works, mathematicians say

(Newser) - The old adage goes that if you give an army of chimpanzees typewriters, one will eventually write the complete works of William Shakespeare by chance. The so-called infinite monkey theorem is a thought experiment meant to demonstrate that events with a non-zero probability will occur over infinite time. In other...

Shakespeare Tourism Hinges on an Iffy Claim

Elizabeth Winkler of 'NYT' pokes some fun at Stratford-upon-Avon's $315M industry

(Newser) - Stratford-upon-Avon's lucrative tourist industry hinges on a claim that William Shakespeare's 1564 place of birth is open for visitors. New York Times writer Elizabeth Winkler goes on an entertaining journey through the doors of the Bard's alleged birth home in the small West Midlands town, where she...

Shakespeare's Sister Wrote Text Found Hidden in Home

The 'J. Shakespeare' it referenced had long been thought to be the playwright's father

(Newser) - The writings of another Shakespeare are entering the limelight, at least momentarily, thanks to a study by a University of Bristol academic. A document found between the rafters and roof tile of the Shakespeare House in Stratford-upon-Avon around 1760 has been attributed to the playwright's younger sister, Joan. As...

Shakespeare Now Caught Up in Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Laws

Excerpts, rather than full text, now read in class

(Newser) - Students in a Florida school district will be reading only excerpts from William Shakespeare's plays for class rather than the full texts under redesigned curriculum guides developed, in part, to take into consideration the state's new law that restricts classroom materials whose content can be deemed sexual, the...

'Woke' Spears Musical Gets Shakespearean Start

DC's Shakespeare Theatre Company to debut 'Once Upon a One More Time' in November

(Newser) - Britney Shakespears is in the house, or will be soon, according to Broadway World's latest news. The Shakespeare Theatre Company has announced its 2021-22 season, officially kicking off later this year in DC's Sidney Harman Hall, and the opening piece is a notable one. Once Upon a One ...

Feeling Pandemic Angst? Shakespeare May Have, Too

And his woe may have influenced his later works, including 'King Lear,' one expert says

(Newser) - By now, we all understand all too well the feelings of fear, sadness, anger, and despair that the coronavirus has brought, with tens of millions of cases and 1.6 million deaths worldwide so far. Those emotions have triggered a revelation of sorts in Shakespeare expert Greg Doran, who now...

This Vaccine Patient Is Making Headlines, and Spurring Puns

William Shakespeare was 2nd person in line for COVID inoculation at UK hospital

(Newser) - Maggie Keenan may have been the first person to get inoculated in the UK as the nation rolled out its mass vaccination initiative on Tuesday, but it's the second person in line who's now making more headlines than the 90-year-old grandmother. Reuters reports that William Shakespeare, an 81-year-old...

Goodbye to the Filmmaker Who Brought Us Romeo and Juliet

Franco Zeffirelli was 96

(Newser) - Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, who delighted audiences around the world with his romantic vision and often extravagant productions, most famously captured in his cinematic Romeo and Juliet, has died in Rome at 96. Zeffirelli's son Luciano said his father died at home on Saturday, per the AP . "He...

Shakespeare's London Home Was in a Power Center

Historian pinpoints playwright's address in his 'Romeo and Juliet' era

(Newser) - A theater historian has followed official records to locate, for the first time, the spot in London where William Shakespeare was living when he wrote Romeo and Juliet. It was a wealthy section of central London, CNN reports—just the place for a successful Elizabethan bard recently moved from Stratford....

After Caesar Is Knifed to Death, Protesters Emerge

New York’s Public Theater reimagining of the play is interrupted Friday night

(Newser) - "This is violence against Donald Trump." It's not a line written by William Shakespeare, but it's one that was uttered during Friday night's production of Julius Caesar in New York's Central Park. The Public Theater's reimagining of the play has been the subject...

Item on Antiques Roadshow Leaves Expert 'Trembling'
Item on Antiques Roadshow
Leaves Expert 'Trembling'
in case you missed it
Apr 8, 2017 5:29 PM CDT

Item on Antiques Roadshow Leaves Expert 'Trembling'

It's a minuscule Shakespearean notebook

(Newser) - You never know what you're going to see on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow—the things people find buried in their attics are sometimes complete junk and other times breathtakingly valuable. A tiny notebook apparently falls toward the latter category, and the appraiser's reaction to it is garnering...

Shakespeare's Rival Now Listed as His Co-Author

Christopher Marlowe gets partial credit for Henry VI plays

(Newser) - "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers," wrote William Shakespeare in Henry VI, Part II—or was it Christopher Marlowe? After more than 400 years, Marlowe has been given joint credit for all three of the Henry VI plays long thought to have been...

Shakespeare May Not Have Looked Like This

Portrait cleaning could alter the Bard's look in a big way

(Newser) - When you picture William Shakespeare, the image that likely comes to mind is the Chandos Portrait—the most famous portrait of the Bard and the only one known to have been painted during his lifetime, reports Smithsonian . But that doesn't mean it looks exactly like him, at least in...

Snowden Gets an Acting Gig Alongside Daniel Radcliffe

Well, kind of

(Newser) - Edward Snowden: whistleblower, fugitive ... thespian? He can add that last descriptor to his résumé after Saturday, when the documentary-style play Privacy is set to kick off at NYC's Public Theater, the New York Times reports. Snowden will have a one-minute-long cameo appearance (a pre-recorded tape transmitted from Moscow),...

Dig at Shakespeare Theater Reveals a Surprise

It was rectangular, not circular; and toys for sound effects were found

(Newser) - The Bard was truly ahead of his time—and not only because of his way with words. Archaeologists digging at one of London's oldest playhouses , where Shakespeare's company performed from 1597 to 1599, have found a ceramic bird whistle they believe was used for sound effects—perhaps during...

UK Marks 400 Years Since Shakespeare's Death

President Obama joined London celebrations

(Newser) - If all the world's a stage, William Shakespeare is its architect. The playwright died 400 years ago Saturday, but remains the world's most famous writer, living on through endlessly reinterpreted plays and globally known characters, including the tormented prince Hamlet and the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. The...

What Day Job? Supreme Court's RBG Tries Acting

Ginsburg will have a cameo in 'The Merchant of Venice'

(Newser) - Art often imitates life, and that will ring true for none other than Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg this summer as she throws off her court garb and dons stage attire for her role in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Vox reports. The 83-year-old justice's cameo appearance...

Shakespeare's Skull Really Is Missing

Researchers have completed their analysis

(Newser) - It looks like Shakespeare's skull really is missing from his grave. That's what an archaeologist has concluded after researchers were allowed to use ground-penetrating radar to scan the Bard's final resting place, Reuters reports. "We have Shakespeare's burial with an odd disturbance at the head...

Shakespeare Begs for Refugees' Mercy in Own Hand

Handwritten script by the Bard about to go online, thanks to British Library

(Newser) - A script reworked by none other than William Shakespeare and believed to be the only surviving handwritten play script penned by the Bard will soon be online via the British Library, and it speaks to a quite contemporary crisis, the Guardian reports. A scene by Shakespeare added to The Book ...

Filmmakers Ignore Curse, Scan Grave of Shakespeare

Findings to be revealed in Channel 4 documentary

(Newser) - Visitors to the grave of William Shakespeare can't help but notice this to-the-point inscription: "Blessed be the man that spares these stones, and cursed be he that moves my bones," it reads (with the spelling cleaned up). Curse or not, a group of documentary filmmakers has begun...

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