NEW HAVEN, CT.- The Yale Center for British Art presents Searching for Shakespeare at the Yale Center for British Art, on view through September 17, 2006. In 1856, the first painting presented to the newly founded National Portrait Gallery in London was a work believed to portray William Shakespeare (1564–1616). What England’s most famous poet and playwright actually looked like has been a matter of interest for more than two hundred years. Whether this picture, known as the Chandos portrait, accurately represents Shakespeare’s appearance is still a matter of debate, since no portrait of him is known to have been created during his lifetime. This summer, the Yale Center for British Art will be the only North American venue to present Searching for Shakespeare, an exhibition that brings together in this country for the first time six key painted portraits purporting to depict the playwright. It also includes two images that most likely do reflect his likeness, as they were commissioned by Shakespeare’s colleagues and family: a ca. 1620 tomb effigy, erected only four years after his death; and a 1623 engraving that was praised by playwright Ben Jonson and fellow actors as being “a good likeness” of the Bard. On view June 23–September 17, 2006, Searching for Shakespeare also includes portraits of Shakespeare’s contemporaries and patrons, original documents relating to his life, first editions of his plays and poetry, rare Elizabethan theatrical costumes, and a model of the Globe theater.

Organized by the National Portrait Gallery, London, in association with the Yale Center for British Art, Searching for Shakespeare features nearly 150 objects that reveal Shakespeare as his contemporaries knew him. The display includes an extraordinary body of material dating from Shakespeare’s lifetime, including his last will and testament. The exhibition allows visitors a unique opportunity to see virtually all the extant material relating to Shakespeare’s life and work. A number of objects included in the exhibition have never before been displayed outside the United Kingdom, including Shakespeare’s will and the Chandos portrait.

Searching for Shakespeare also places the playwright in the broader context of the Elizabethan stage. The exhibition includes manuscript and printed materials related to Elizabethan performance and stagecraft. Early editions of Shakespeare’s plays and poetry will be on view, along with portraits of actors such as Richard Burbage; patrons,

Shakespeare’s fi nal fortnight at the Yale Center for British Art will be celebrated with concerts, lectures, fi lms, and dramatic readings by award-winning actors of stage and screen. The much-acclaimed exhibition, Searching for Shakespeare, which has been on view at the Yale Center for British Art since June, will close on September 17. The conclusion of the exhibition will include a lecture on Shakespeare by Renaissance scholar Stephen Greenblatt and a conversation about the Bard between actor Liev Schreiber and James Bundy, Dean of Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of Yale Repertory Theatre.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
Lecture 5:30 pm
“I Never Saw That You Did Painting Need”:
The Longing for Shakespeare’s Portrait
Stephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities,
Harvard University, and author of Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became
Shakespeare. Yale University Art Gallery Lecture Hall, entrance on High Street.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
Liev Schreiber and James Bundy in Conversation with Reading
A conversation with award-winning actor Liev Schreiber (MFA, Yale School of Drama,
1992) and James Bundy, Dean of Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of
Yale Repertory Theatre, with Shakespeare readings by Liev Schreiber. Co-sponsored by
Yale School of Drama. Tickets: $35; student tickets: $10; Box offi ce: 203 432 1234.
University Theatre, 222 York Street . Tickets available at http://www.yalerep.org.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
Lecture 5:30 pm
I’m a Stranger Here Myself: The Dramaturgy of Love’s Landscape in “Twelfth Night”
Catherine Sheehy, Resident Dramaturg, Yale Repertory Theatre

Other Searching for Shakespeare-Related Events August 26-September 17
SATURDAY, AUGUST 26
Film, 2 pm
Merchant of Venice (2004, rated R; 138 minutes). When a merchant must default on a
large loan, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment.
Starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons.

SUNDAY, AUGUST, 27
Concert 2 pm
When Musicke & Sweete Poetry Agree: Shakespeare and His Elizabethan Musical
Contemporaries. Obie Award-winning actor Paul Hecht will perform dramatic readings
of John Donne and Shakespeare’s poetry, and mezzo-soprano Jaqueline Horner will
sing Elizabethan music while accompanied by the group Parthenia, performing on
reproductions of early viols.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
Art in Context, 12:30
Lawrence Manley, Professor of English, Yale University.