Thanksgiving Holiday Closings

All Rock Island Library buildings will close at 6pm Wednesday, Nov. 27, and remain closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 28 & 29, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Library2Go routes are also cancelled. 

Stay in touch with our digital services and PrairieCat app! All locations reopen on Saturday, Nov. 20 with normal 10am to 2 pm hours. 

Shakespeare's Life in His Works

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Age Group:

Teen, Adult, Family, Everyone
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Program Description

Event Details

This is a special presentation by the Genesius Theatre Guild of the Quad Cities in honor of the Rock Island Public Library's 150th Anniversary

Shakespeare's Life in His Works explores Shakespeare's life and his tremendous impact on the English language through the lens of his plays. He regularly had trouble finding the right words or phrases to convey his desired meaning; to compensate, he created his own words and phrases that have become part of our everyday vocabulary. The performance also explores our historical knowledge of Shakespeare's life, and how his experiences are referenced in his writing.

Shakespeare's Life in His Works highlights these literary parallels from his life, while featuring scenes from the plays where they first appear. The show includes bits from a wide variety of Shakespeare's works, including Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, and Merry Wives of Windsor (among many others).

The Genesius Guild is a community theatre organization located in Rock Island specializing in free classical drama. Founded in 1956, the group performs Greek drama, Greek comedy, and the works of Shakespeare every weekend throughout the summer.