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Shakespeare on Stage
American Shakespeare Center, The Merchant of Venice. To Nov. 23, 2012.
American Shakespeare Center, A Midsummer Night's Dream. To Jun. 14, 2012.
Atlanta Shakespeare Company, As You Like It. To Jun. 24, 2012.
American Shakespeare Center, The Winter's Tale. To Jun. 16, 2012.
Folger Shakespeare Library, The Taming of the Shrew. To Jun. 10, 2012.
More Performances…
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Works Shakespeare used as sources for his plays

Shakespeare was an omnivorous reader, and what he read deeply informs his plays. In some cases he created plays by adapting earlier narratives -- much as modern films are often based on novels -- and in other instances his plays were written using several sources, as he chose the most dramatic moments of each.

The Internet Shakespeare Editions provides two early works that Shakespeare used in his later plays:

  • The True Chronicle History of King Leir (author unknown), one of the sources for Shakespeare's very different play* on King Lear
  • Pandosto: The Triumph of Time, by Robert Greene, the source of the plot of The Winter's Tale.

* Or plays: the Quarto and Folio versions of King Lear are so different that modern editions sometimes print them as separate plays.