Infinite Variety: The many lives of Shakespeare’s texts

William Shakespeare’s plays transcended their origins almost immediately. Even during his lifetime, his unforgettable characters and indelible lines were already escaping the stage – taken up by others and repurposed and circulated in diverse ways. While his plays have been performed continuously for over four hundred years, they have also left the stage behind to live on elsewhere. 

Printers and publishers have reproduced Shakespeare’s words in every possible textual format and in numerous languages. Literary and visual artists working have continuously adapted and reinterpreted them in various artforms. Musicians and choreographers have refashioned his stories into opera, ballet, pop songs. and modern dance. Meanwhile, filmmakers, television writers, and videogame creators have transformed them for modern screens. This exhibition explores the many forms and many afterlives of Shakespeare’s art – from a single scrap of his crabbed handwritten text to the digital media of the twenty-first century.   

Infinite Variety was co-curated by David Gartrell, the Library’s Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, and Professor James Kearney, Chair of the Department of English. The exhibition is co-sponsored by UCSB Library and the Department of English.