On the Page
Christopher Moore
This absurdist comedy is narrated by pocket who is a court jester for King Lear. The story follows the main beats of Shakespeare's play King Lear, and Pocket is Christopher Moore's interpretation of Shakespeare's character of the Fool. The story also incorporates several of Shakespeare's other works, including Macbeth. Pocket, who is infatuated with King Lear's daughter Cordelia, causes chaos within the court to stop the king from marrying her off. Despite his efforts, this is not successful, and Pocket, in response, tries to set Cordelia’s other sisters against their father. The book follows the back and forth of power between King Lear and his three daughters, as tensions rise within the family, a civil war breaks out that leads to death and ruin for many. Despite the kingdom raging around him, Pocket remains within the kingdom and eventually joins forces with Cordelia. This is the first book in a series that follows Pocket, the other books go on to follow the stories of The Merchant of Venice, Othello, The Cask of Amontillado, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Moore, C. (2009). Fool. William Morrow.
Hannah Capin
Set amongst the rich and influential neighborhoods in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, this young adult thriller is a story of feminine range and a retelling of Macbeth. The narrative follows Jade as she seeks revenge on the boys who raped her on her 16th birthday. She and her friends, Jenny, Mads, and Summer, are at the top of the social food chain and incredibly supportive of each other. Learning that their friend was hurt in such a way, they joined together to retaliate against all the boys who hurt Jade; this could get bloody. Jade gets transferred to the elite prep school that the assulters attend. The girls work together to use their influence and wits to take full control of the prep school’s hierarchy and show the boys who took advantage of Jade the consequences of their actions. The book is graphic, violent, fast-paced, and geared toward older teens.
Capin, H. (2020). Foul is fair. Wednesday Books
Tracey Chevalier
Osei Kokote has attended four schools in six years. When he finds himself a new student for the forth time, he's understandably nervous. On top of being a new student, he's one of the only black students in school, making him feel alone and fearful for the way he will be treated by his new peers. Set in the 1970s in a suburb of Washington, D.C., the story focuses on casual racism from students and teachers. Osei makes a friend in Dee, one of the most popular girls in school, but Ian, another boy at their school, is not a fan of this friendship and sets his sights on undermining and belittling Osei. The book is a reinterpretation of Shakespeare's Othello, and touches on the same themes of racism and power. The book is both a work of historical fiction and a modernization of Shakespeare's work. Osei is this story’s Othello, Dee is Desdemona, and Ian and Mimi are Iago and Emilia.
Chevalier, T. & Shakespeare, W. (2017). New boy. Hogarth.
Ryan North
In this book, there is no prologue warning you of the tragic fate of Romeo and Juliet. Instead of following the script written by William Shakespeare, you are the author of your own destiny. Romeo, Juliet, and the Nurse are all playable characters that you get to embody as they encounter increasingly ridiculous choices. There is even another secret unlockable player character that shows up in some of the endings. If you are not interested in laser-shooting robots and epic space battles, you can follow William Shakespeare's original plot with marked choices for an abridged retelling of one of his most famous plays. Act one of Romeo and Juliet follows the same structure as most Shakespearean comedies; this book raises the question of what would happen if the comedy didn't end at intermission. This is a book that can be read over and over again, and it's never the same twice.
North, R. (2016). Romeo and/or Juliet : a chooseable-path adventure. Riverhead Books.
Richard Appignanesi
This series, published by self-made heroes, consists of 14 of Shakespeare's plays, reimagined in the style of contemporary manga with original abridged text. The books were designed with the intent to be used in educational settings as a way to get kids interested in the works of Shakespeare and combine sequential visual storytelling with Shakespeare's most popular stories. Plays are a visual medium, and by translating those works to graphic novel form, the key benefits of visual storytelling are kept intact. The series covers Shakespeare's tragedies and plays and features titles such as Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry VIII, Macbeth, and more. Manga is also a great tool for English second-language students.
Appiganesi, R., Shakespeare, W. (2007). Manga Shakespeare. Amulet Books.
On the Stage
Ann-Marie MacDonald
Constance Ledbelly is a professor of English literature at Queen's University who believes that Othello and Romeo and Juliet were originally written by Shakespeare as comedies. Structurally, these plays are very similar to many of his comedies, and if there was a wise fool archetype, they would fit perfectly. Her boss is not convinced of this theory, and Constance believes that if you can only find the Wise Fool that was lost in these plays, she could prove her theory and uncover the true comedy of these two plays. Constance is then sucked into the plays that she is studying and finds herself teaming up with Desdemona and Ophelia in order to find this full archetype setting both of the plays into disarray. The play is structured in three acts, the first being Constance in her University developing her theory and setting up the relationship with her supervisor. The second act is about constants in the world of Othello, and the third act follows Constance in Romeo and Juliet before finding herself back at Queen’s University.
MacDonald, A. (1988). Goodnight Desdemona (good morning Juliet). (First American edition). Grove Press.
Qui Nguyen
After the events of Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth wakes up in a bathtub, learning that the entire world around her has changed for the worse. Now she has to cope with the fact that she has lost her husband, and even more pressing, the world is filled with the undead. Teaming up with other meeting ladies of Shakespeare, Juliet and Ophelia, they train together to learn to take on these zombies that are a threat to not just their lives but the lives of all humans left on Earth. Still mourning her husband and desperate to find answers, she and her new friends look to find the king of the undead and defeat him once and for all. This play is a horror comedy focused on friendship and what it means to be human. Over the course of the play, the audience learns that the line between living and undead is not as clear-cut as it initially appears.
Nguyen, Q., Shakespeare, W. (2008). Living dead in Denmark. Broadway Play Publishing
This retelling of Romeo and Juliet follows two gangs in 1950s New York: the Jets, composed of white “All-Americans” and blue-collar 2nd- and 3rd-generation Irish, Polish, and Italian immigrants, and the Sharks, composed of Puerto Ricans. Maria fills the role of Juliet and is the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the sharks who falls in love with Tony, the best friend of Riff, the leader of the Sharks. This musical has music written by Leonard Bernstein that utilizes a full orchestra and blends the lines between Broadway and ballet. Originally contemporary, it has transitioned to be viewed as a historical piece reflecting race and class relations in 50s New York. It was first performed on Broadway in 1957, and its most recent 2020 Broadway revival was cut short due to covid. One of the most famous versions of West Side Story was the 1961 movie, but a more modern adaptation was made in 2021, directed by Steven Spielberg.
Bernstein, L. (Music), Sondheim, S. (Lyrics), Robbins, J. (Writer). (1957). West Side Story [Album]. Columbia Masterwork Records.
This jukebox musical features pop songs from Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and more to tell the reimagined story of what happens after Romeo and Juliet. In the show, William Shakespeare has just finished his first production of Romeo and Juliet. Anne Hathaway is in the audience, and she believes that the story would be better if, instead of killing herself, Juliet survived. Shakespeare believes that the ending he wrote is better, but allows Anne to explain how she would tell the story. What follows is a highly choreographed, high-energy exploration of self, where Juliette learns how to be a character on her own outside of the confines of the star-crossed lovers narrative. Shakespeare and Anne are constantly at creative odds throughout the course of this musical, both thinking they know what is right for the narrative. As the two argue over what should happen to Juliet, they learn more about each other and grow closer.
Martin, M. (Lyrics), Read, D.W. (Writer), Sherman, B. (Music). (2022). & Juliet [Album]. Atlantic.
Nick and Nigel Bottom are brothers who run a theater troop in Elizabethan London, and are very excited to create new original plays together. The brothers are contemporaries of Shakespeare, but they are not fans of his work. When they are excited to put on a production of their original play Richard II, they learned that Shakespeare is also producing a play called Richard II, despite already having written a play called Richard III. This inciting incident is only the first instance of Shakespeare creating works that are similar, bordering on copying the Bottom Brothers, and this is infuriating. This comedy musical is a humorous take on what it would be like to be working in the same field as someone so prolific and popular, and consistently failing to gain the same traction and prestige. The brothers try to steal some of Shakespeare's fame by taking one of his new ideas, his next play, Hamlet, but mistakenly start writing a play called Omelette, a musical about eggs.
Kirkpatrick, K. (Music), Kirkpatrick, W. (Music), O'Farrell, J. (Writter). (2015).Something rotten! [Album]. Ghostlight Records.
On the Screen
Based on the 2020 novel by Maggie O'Farrell, this 2025 period piece tells the story of Agnes, also known as Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare. The story is centered on Agnes as she starts a life with William, they meet when he is working as a tutor for her family, and they become deeply infatuated with each other, leading to Agnes being disowned, marrying Shakespeare, and having their first child. Agnes and Shakespeare build a life together while he is working for his father and on his writing, and she gives birth to twins, Judith and Hamnet. This is a story of love and loss, and the grief of motherhood and losing one of your children. There is a reflection on how grief can impact your relationships and what it means to keep living when you've lost a child. The movie juxtaposes the beauty of nature that Agnes has always called home and the city of London, where Shakespeare flees to, in his pursuit of playwriting.
Zhao, C. (Director). (2025).
Hamnet [Film]. Focus Features
Bianca Stratford is beautiful and popular, and everyone loves her, but just when she thinks she might score a date to the prom, her father establishes a new rule: she cannot date unless her sister Kat does. This would be fine if not for the fact that Kat could not be less interested. Formerly one of the popular girls, Kat is now argumentative, grunge, and a little scary. Bianca and Cameron, who has a crush on her, to help set up Kat, and who better than Patrick Verona, who has an accent and an air of mystery about him. Originally, Patrick is interested in getting paid to go on dates with Kat, but as he gets to know her, he feels guiltier and guiltier about the whole situation. This movie is inspired by Taming of the Shrew, and hits all of the beats of a '90s romantic comedy from a detention jailbreak to dramatic prom night confessions.
Junger, G. (Director). (1999). 10 things I hate about you [Film]. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
When Viola Hastings learns that her high School no longer has a girls' soccer team, she tries to join the boys' team. The coach doesn't allow her to join the team, and her boyfriend, who plays soccer, supports him. At the same time, Viola's twin brother has been expelled from school and is enrolled in a private boarding school. He wants to run away to London with his band and gets Viola to cover for him. Now dressing up as her brother Sebastian, she goes out for the boys soccer team at the boarding school and hopes to prove her worth by beating the boys team at her old school, convincing them to reinstate the girls' team. While pretending to be Sebastian, Viola is roommates with Duke, the captain of the boys’ soccer team, and Viola develops a crush on him. This movie is based on the Shakespeare comedy Twelfth Night and uses the tropes of early 2000’s teen romantic comedies to bring the play into a more modern setting.
Fickman, A. (Director). (2006). She's the man [Film]. DreamWorks
Anyone but you is one of the most recent Shakespeare to romcom adaptations, released in 2023, starring Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney as Ben and Bea, a finance bro and Boston University law student, respectively. This movie is a modern retelling of Much Ado About Nothing. After one successful date, Bea and Ben spend the night together, but in the morning, Bea runs away instantly regretting it, she turns back around to go back to Ben. Ben, hurt at being deserted after what he thought was a good date, says terrible things about Bea to his friend over the phone; little did he know that she overheard him. This miscommunication leads to immense tension between the two. 6 months later, they run into each other when the sister of Ben's friend and Bea's sister are getting married. While at the wedding, the two decide to start fake dating despite still hating each other, and in forced proximity, they start to rekindle the feelings they had when they first met.
Gluck, W. (Director). (2023). Anyone but you [Film]. Sony Pictures
The King is a 2019 historical drama based on William Shakespeare's Henriad a collection of four of Shakespeare's works about the English monarchy consisting of Richard II, Henry IV part 1 Henry IV part 2, and Henry V. Sometimes this also includes Henry VI part 1, 2, and 3, and Richard III. This movie covers Henry IV part 1 and 2 and Henry V and is focused on how Young Prince Henry, Hal, spends his time living a very frivolous lifestyle as his father Henry IV grows older and decide that he's going to give the throne to Hal's younger brother instead of him. How's brother dies before he can take the throne and he is coordinated as King Henry V. The movie then follows Henry V’s rule of England. Because it is based on the works of Shakespeare the play does not follow British history with much accuracy and takes many creative liberties.
Michôd, D. (Director). (2019). The king [Film]. Netflix
This historical action drama was based on King Lear and is the third Shakespeare adaptation directed by Akira Kurosawa. The movie takes place in 16th-century Japan and follows Emperor Ichimonji Hidetora, the story's version of King Lear, and his three sons, Taro, Jiro, and Saburo, who are foils to Lear's three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. The story is action-packed and heavily focused on the fighting that breaks out after Hidetora divides his land among his three sons. Taro, the eldest, gets the first castle in the empire, and his younger brothers get the second and third castles. Saburo, the youngest, is exiled, and Taro’s wife convinces her husband that he should take over the other two castles and the empire as a whole. What starts as a family squabble becomes all-out war, leading to extensive violence that serves as a metaphor for nuclear warfare post Hiroshima.
Kurosawa, A. (Director). (1985). Ran [Film]. Toho; Acteurs Auteurs Associés
