Shakespeare at the Library: Worlds of Imagination
Sessions
About
The Boston Public Library and Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) presents S hakespeare at the Library: Worlds of Imagination , a series of site-specific performances throughout the historic McKim building. The program celebrates both the brilliance of Shakespeare’s works and the beauty of the library itself, featuring scenes and monologues chosen for their themes of imagination, storytelling, and transformation. Performed “pop-up” style, the production unfolds across four iconic spaces within the library, with each staging inspired by the art, architecture, and atmosphere of its setting, highlighting the library as a place where history, creativity, and imagination converge. Peter DiMaggio, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. Audiences will move through four distinctive settings across the McKim building of the Central Library in Copley Square, each selected to complement the scenes performed within it: Dartmouth Street Entrance (Front Plaza) : The performance begins on the library's grand exterior steps with the high-energy Prologue from Henry V, inviting the gathering audience to use their collective imagination to transform the historic stone facade into a gateway for storytelling. Sargent Gallery : Suspended beneath John Singer Sargent's epic murals, this stop plunges into the striking existential depth of Hamlet, utilizing the hall’s towering architecture to amplify the Prince's witty battle of wits with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and his iconic "To be or not to be"
