The Lewes Public Library Shakespeare Festival welcomes Delaware Shakespeare.

Delaware Shakespeare will present readings from the book Lucy Negro, Redux by contemporary poet Caroline Randall Williams and corresponding sonnets from Shakespeare. The book of poetry was inspired by the Shakespearean sonnets dedicated to a Black woman (sonnets 127 – 152). Nashville Ballet commissioned Ms. Randall Williams and composer Rhiannon Giddens to create a full-length work which they toured and recorded for national broadcast over PBS. Delaware Shakespeare is the pride of Delaware professional theatre dedicated to the work of Shakespeare.

Afterwards there will be question and answer session with the performers and discussion moderated by Dr. Adenike Marie Davidson and Dr. Lynnette Young Overby.

Adenike Marie Davidson, Ph.D., is a professor of Literature and Gender Studies at Delaware State University. She is also the Director of the Women’s and Gender StudiesProgram. Dr. Davidson is the author of the book, The Black Nation Novel: Imaging Homplaces in Early African American Literature. She also serves on the board of Delaware Humanities.

Lynnette Young Overby, Ph.D., is Professor of Theatre at the University of Delaware. She has served as Equity Administrator for the University of Maryland College of Health and Human Development where she spearheaded efforts to recruit and retain minority students and faculty. Before coming to UD, she served as the College of Arts and Letters Associate Dean of Outreach, Engagement and Inclusivity at Michigan State University. Currently, she serves as Faculty Director of Undergraduate Research and Experiential Learning and a Professor of Theatre and Dance.

Registration is required.

The Shakespeare Festival, a program of the Lewes Public Library since 2015, seeks to provide the community with experiences that foster the understanding of Shakespeare and the world in which he lived and wrote. In addition the Festival fosters the development of new works celebrating the spoken word and hosting performances of classical texts.

The Festival is partially funded by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on DelawareScene.com. The Festival also is supported in part by Browseabout Books and the John and Sarah Freeman Foundation. This program is partially funded in honor of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and Operation Frederick Douglass on the Hill.