Barry Edelstein, the Artistic Director of The Old Globe, knows his Shakespeare. In addition to directing several productions of the playwright’s works for The Public Theater and The Old Globe, he is the author of two books about Shakespeare. Thinking Shakespeare which had a second edition published in 2018 (and also serves as the name for the series) and Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions.

Edelstein serves as the host and guide for these online presentations.

Reciting Shakespeare’s sonnets tonight will be Opal Alladin, Michelle Beck, Kate Burton, Angel Desai, Monique Gaffney, Michael Genet, Bill Irwin (whose participation alone is reason enough to watch this), Lizan Mitchell, Aaron Clifton Moten, Jennifer Paredes, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Herbert Siguenza, Keith Randolph Smith and Blair Underwood.

The sonnets scheduled to be performed include Sonnet 18 (Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?), Sonnet 138 (When my love swears that she is made of truth, I do believe her, though I know she lies,) and Sonnet 29 (When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state).

There is a downloadable PDF of all the sonnets being performed tonight.

Watching Thinking Shakespeare Live is possible on The Old Globe’s website, their YouTube channel and their Facebook page.

The Old Globe has been doing this series since mid-March. If you have the time before or after tonight’s performance, you can watch most of the previous shows on The Old Globe’s website and all of them on their YouTube channel. Which means if you can’t watch Thinking Shakespeare Live tonight, you should be able to see them later.

Photo: First edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets from 1609

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