Shakespeare in Transition
Whether you are a Shakespeare enthusiast, a student of theater, or a lover of revolutionary storytelling, come explore how we can use 400-year-old texts to build a more holistic, inclusive, and joyful future.
Janelle Lawrence
5/10/20261 min read
In New York's vibrant theater scene, the movement to "queer" or rewrite Shakespeare is a powerful way for women, trans, and non-binary artists to reclaim a literary canon that has historically excluded them.
Date: May 27th, 2026
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Hudson Area Library / Virtual via Zoom
While Shakespeare’s plays were originally performed by all-male casts (with "boy players" in female roles), modern adaptations go much further than simple cross-dressing.
What happens when we stop looking at Shakespeare as a closed book and start treating it as a map for liberation?
Join us for a dynamic panel discussion hosted by multi-disciplinary artist and playwright Janelle Lawrence, creator of the new prequel play Rosalind & Juliet. This conversation gathers a powerhouse collective of artists and thinkers to explore the "multiverse" of the classics - shattering traditional structures to center the voices of Black, Queer, and Non-Binary characters who have lived in the shadows of the canon for too long.
Inspired by the dramaturgical provocations of Nissy Aya and the radical potential of the "Moor" in Elizabethan text, this panel will dive into:
The Queer Lens: How modern trans and non-binary identities breathe new life into Shakespeare’s history of gender fluidity.
The Black Lens: Reclaiming the Moorish presence and centering Global Majority experiences in classical spaces.
The Underdog Story: Moving beyond the central lovers to find depth, background, and agency in the characters the original plays left behind.
Whether you are a Shakespeare enthusiast, a student of theater, or a lover of revolutionary storytelling, come explore how we can use 400-year-old texts to build a more holistic, inclusive, and joyful future.
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CREATE Council on the Arts.
