A Question of Genius

What makes a genius? Three contemporary thinkers — joined by a cast of actors including Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love, Walk the Line, Mona Lisa’s Smile), Tony Award winner Richard Easton (Entertaining Mr. Sloane, The Rivals) and Linda Emond (Homebody/Kabul, Life (x) 3) — address the size, scope, and enduring mystery of Shakespeare’s accomplishments. A Question of Genius includes scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, and King Lear.

Headlining the discussion, Adam Gopnik (The New Yorker, Paris to the Moon) explores Shakespeare’s use of multiple tones and voices. Ron Rosenbaum (New York Observer, The Shakespeare Wars) addresses whether Shakespeare was the romantic “natural genius” who never blotted a line or a conscientious artist who revised his work in important ways. And Broadway Director Mark Lamos (Seascape, The Rivals) considers Shakespeare: A Man of the Theater.