Virtual Program | Free Shakespeare Read-Aloud Group: The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

The Shakespeare Read-Aloud is continuing online! This summer, we will meet once per month on Zoom to read plays as a group, round-robin style, just like we did when we met in person at The Rosenbach. Be sure to register to receive email instructions ahead of the meeting time.

All readers are responsible for their own internet connection and we request that all readers be video-enabled to participate.

Reading plays aloud offers not only a communal way to enjoy these great works but also promotes a deeper understanding of their poetry and wordplay. No acting experience is required to participate—just bring your voice and a copy of the play!

“Whether we fall by ambition, blood or lust, Like diamonds we are cut with our own dust.”

We continue our summer break from Shakespeare and read a play by one of his contemporaries. The play we’ll read at this meeting is The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster. Webster’s Jacobean revenge tragedy, first performed by Shakespeare’s company, The King’s Men, is bloody, violent, darkly humorous, and one of the great plays of the age. You can find the play online at Project Gutenberg. A complete text with notes is available here.

This event is completely free with advance registration. If you would like to read aloud, please select the “I’d like to be a reader!” ticket; there are fifteen spots available. If reader spots are sold out you are welcome to join the waitlist by selecting the “reader waitlist.”