Taking as its core the Folger Shakespeare Library’s exhibition, “America’s Shakespeare,” this show will give additional insight into the playwright’s absorption into California’s history and culture. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a First Folio (1623) from the Folger’s Shakespeare collection – the largest of its kind in the world – in addition to documents and artifacts showing Shakespeare’s emigration from England to the colonies; his absorption into our political rhetoric during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars; his subsequent literary and theatrical travels west; and his continuing influence on our language, literature, and media today. The Bard Goes West will also draw on the collections of state and local resources to show Shakespeare’s presence in the grand 19th century theaters of San Francisco and Sacramento, the saloons and hotels of the mining camp towns, and the early film industry in Los Angeles.
