Women who made William Shakespeare in multi-year project 

A project exploring the impact women have had on creating and maintaining the legacy of William Shakespeare will take place.

It will start next year by looking at the experiences of women in the playwright's lifetime, including his mother, sister, daughters and friends.

In 2025 the initiative will include women characters, with actresses and artists in focus the following year.

Stories will be shared in Shakespeare family homes in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT), the independent charity responsible for caring and maintaining the homes, documents and artefacts relating to the playwright and Stratford, announced the approach.

SBT director of knowledge Prof Charlotte Scott said prompted by the 400th anniversary of the death of Anne Shakespeare, nee Hathaway, it was embarking on the project that would explore "sometimes hidden, often ignored, erased or forgotten stories".

Details about experiences of women in his lifetime would be shared in various ways, the trust stated.

These included "events, learning and interpretation in each of the Shakespeare family homes" open to the public in the town and at a special exhibition at Shakespeare's New Place in the spring next year.

There would be a focus on women "who made and continue to make" him famous as part of the scheme in 2026.

It would explore "the powerhouse performances of actresses (and actors) as well artists, writers, readers and creatives who have brought his characters, male and female, to life". 

The SBT has also announced its commitment that all activity would be devised and led by women and female-presenting identifying people. 

The trust said it saw the project as "adding to the Shakespeare stories that are told, not replacing them with new narratives". 

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