What we’re about
Twin Cities Shakespeare Readers meets once a month to discuss the plays of William Shakespeare, the greatest writer who ever lived. Our goal is to approach the wisdom, beauty and cognitive power of his poetry.
We meet at 6 PM on the last Monday of every month at Minneapolis Central Library in the Doty Board Room, room N-280.
The Doty Board Room, room N-280, is located on the second floor of the Minneapolis Central Library. Take the elevator or escalator up from the lobby to the second floor and go down the hallway to the left.
Audio performances of 2023 plays
Spotify: https://spotify.link/BxDcBu4hFCb
YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6f0Fq3KbiVLF3TceUXVClCn9YjlxjKqa&si=4AZzbvIrVhEP6gmv
Donate
PayPal: paypal.me/robblarson
Venmo: @Robb-Larson
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Theatre In The Round Players: "Endometriosis: The Musical" ($5)Theatre in the Round, Minneapolis, MN
Thursday, June 19, 2025, 7:00 pm.
Theatre in the Round Players (TRP)
245 Cedar Ave S
Minneapolis MN 55454"Endometriosis: The Musical" by Kristin Stowell & Maria Bartholdi
Join us for the final dress rehearsal of "Endometriosis: The Musical". The cost is $5.00 at the door. Cash preferred. NO LATE SEATING.
A shorter version of this play was a smash hit at the Minnesota Fringe Festival and it is likely to sell out here. The starting time is actually 7:30 pm but we are listing it as 7:00 pm so we can get there early enough to get seats. We suggest getting there no later than 6:45 pm.
Play Description:
The 2022 Minnesota Fringe hit is back! This new full-length production takes a humorous and playful look at the deeply flawed world of healthcare. Smart and ambitious, Jane is passionate about Business™ and is ready to take the next step in her career. When an important business presentation is derailed by chronic pain, she begins a journey for a diagnosis, discovering the complex, and oftentimes infuriating, realities of navigating a system built for anyone but you. With a catchy and moving score, be prepared to laugh until you cry (and maybe both at the same time) at this world premiere event!Run time: t/b/a
Content Warning: Strong Language
PARKING:
1. Parking is NOT free at parking meters in the evening.
2. There is a surface parking lot directly across the street from Theatre in the Round, behind The Corner Bar, where the cost is $5.00.
3. You can also park nearby in the ramp of the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, 1500 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454. Remember your license plate and when you are leaving the theater there is a QR code you can scan with your smart phone and only pay $5.50. (Four hour limit at this discounted price.)There is always a small chance that a performance might be cancelled at the last minute, so call TRP that afternoon to check 612-333-3010, and also check Meetup messages for this event.
- The Winter's TaleMinneapolis Central Library, room N-202, Minneapolis, MN
“THE WINTER’S TALE”
MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2025, 6-8 pm
Minneapolis Central Library
(downtown Minneapolis)
300 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55401Room N-202.
There is underground parking beneath the library, off 4th St. S., for about $5. Go in to the Library lobby and then in to the book stacks area. Take the elevator or stairs up to the 2nd floor, then go all the way to the left.
This is a discussion about the play, not a reading or showing of it.
SYNOPSIS (from the Folger Library)
• The Winter’s Tale, one of Shakespeare’s very late plays, is filled with improbabilities. Before the conclusion, one character comments that what we are about to see, “Were it but told you, should be hooted at / Like an old tale.”
• It includes murderous passions, man-eating bears, princes and princesses in disguise, death by drowning and by grief, oracles, betrayal, and unexpected joy. Yet the play, which draws much of its power from Greek myth, is grounded in the everyday.
• A “winter’s tale” is one told or read on a long winter’s night. Paradoxically, this winter’s tale is ideally seen rather than read – though the imagination can transform words into vivid action. Its shift from tragedy to comedy, disguises, and startling exits and transformations seem addressed to theater audiences.
• The “tale” of The Winter’s Tale unfolds in scenes set sixteen years apart. In the first part of the play, Leontes, king of Sicilia, plays host to his friend Polixenes, king of Bohemia. Suddenly, Leontes becomes unreasonably jealous of Polixenes and Leontes’s pregnant wife, Hermione. Leontes calls for Polixenes to be killed, but he escapes.
• Hermione, under arrest, gives birth to a daughter; Leontes orders the baby to be taken overseas and abandoned. The death of the couple’s young son, Mamillius, brings Leontes to his senses, too late. Word arrives that Hermione, too, has died. In Bohemia, a shepherd finds and adopts the baby girl, Perdita.
• Sixteen years later, the story resumes. Polixenes’s son, Florizell, loves Perdita. When Polixenes forbids the unequal match, the couple flees to Sicilia, where the tale reaches its conclusion. Perdita’s identity as a princess is revealed, allowing her and Florizell to marry; Leontes and Polixenes reconcile; and Hermione returns in the form of a statue, steps down from its pedestal, and reunites with her family.FREE VIDEO PERFORMANCES (YOUTUBE)
• 3-Minute Shakespeare: Animated Shakespeare Summaries
• New Swan Shakespeare Festival (2018)
• Shakespeare’s Globe (2018)
• ActorsNET (2019)LOCAL LIVE PERFORMANCES
• Shakespeare Youth Theatre
July 18 - Aug. 3, 2025
The Crane Theater, 2303 Kennedy St. NE, Minneapolis, MN
• “Musical Settings for Shakespeare”KANOPY APP
Download the free app. Then link your library account to it. This will allow you free access to many Shakespeare plays. You can also watch the series “Upstart Crow” for free.VIDEO ARTICLES
• Tim Nance (NanceNotes and Narwhals): The Winter’s Tale, Acts I-III
• Folger Shakespeare Library Director Michael Witmore shares his thoughts on why “The Winter’s Tale” is his favorite of Shakespeare’s plays.ARTICLES
• Wikipedia: “The Winter’s Tale”
• About Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale by Barbara Mowat and Paul Werstine
• A Modern Perspective: The Winter’s Tale by Stephen Orgel
• SparkNotes: Full Book Summary
• SparkNotes: Full Book Analysis
• SparkNotes: William Shakespeare Biography & Background on The Winter’s Tale
• Further Reading: The Winter’s TaleGENERAL RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
• The Folger Shakespeare Library has free and paid (includes notes) downloadable texts of all of Shakespeare’s plays.
• The Folger Library: Shakespeare Documented [Images of original documents from Shakespeare’s time.]
• PlayShakespeare: The Ultimate Free Shakespeare Research
• Podcast: “Approaching Shakespeare”
• Podcast: “Shakespeare Unlimited”
• SparkNotes 101: Shakespeare [Excellent synopses of all the plays.]
• Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber [Excellent analysis of all the plays.]FACEBOOK PAGES
• The Official William Shakespeare Page
• Shakespeare Study Group
• William Shakespeare: His Works and His WorldAPP
• Shakespeare App
