Talk:Folger Shakespeare Library

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I have been told that the Folger Shakespeare Library somehow holds performance rights to the plays of William Shakespeare, and you are required to get their written permission if performing a Shakespeare play that is in any way altered or changed from the original. Is this true? -Toptomcat 14:50, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Someone's pulling your leg. He's been dead over 400 years, that so falls in the copyright-free range. Molière plays are copyright-free, and he died more than 50 years after Shakespeare. If it were true, than the library's owed like a bajillion dollars. But unless there's been some radical shift in copyright law that I've not heard about, you can perform straight off or altered versions of da Bard's plays to your heart's content. --Ebyabe 16:07, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I knew all that and said it to 'em, but they were very insistant, and had been working in theater longer than I have.

[80s cartoon show]Wikipedia: combating cluelessness one person at a time. Thanks, Ebyabe! [/80s cartoon show] -Toptomcat 13:51, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

You're quite welcome. Back in the day, some friends and I were going to start a community theater. I figured the best way to start would be the royalty-free route (Shakespeare, Molière, etc.) until we could afford to pay copyrights. Also did enough mangled versions of the Bard, as knowing others who've done them. Like a kiddie musical version of Midsummer Night's Dream, or a Western version of one of the Henry plays (I get them confused, but think it was IV) with Falstaff and Pistol in a bar. Get it? Pistol? :) I actually think I got quite good at Bardic text condensation. Good luck with your troupe, and break a leg. And twist an arm or two if you have to, but nicely. :) --Ebyabe 14:36, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Theatre arm

Does anyone else think it's odd that the theatre part of the library isn't given more discussion in the article? It seems to me that the plays produced there get by far the most attention from the general public, but maybe my impression is skewed because I see one or two plays a year there. I'll probably try to add some more information about the theatre in the near future, unless there's some objection or someone else wants to do it. Propaniac 00:33, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 15:29, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Some edits under the conflict of interest guidelines

Following the wikipedia conflict of interest (COI) guidelines, I wanted to note that I am a freelance writer, editor, and consultant who often works for the Folger Shakespeare Library. They have asked me to take a look at this article, which has been flagged by wikipedia users as needing cleanup and attention to tone.

I have described this in more detail on my User:Fabfacts user page but wanted to note it here as well.

I have just made two initial edits directly to the article which I hope are noncontroversial: correcting the year and details of when the land for the library was identified and purchased, and adding the name of Henry Clay Folger's wife. She was previously mentioned but with no name given.

I will make a separate note here for each additional edit or requested edit going forward.

--EFerington 16:38, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Please see my statement on my conflict of interest at the beginning of this section.

I have now deleted or edited some non-neutral passages from the article. I have also revised the opening section to more closely resemble similar text in the "Morgan Library" and "Huntington Library" articles.

Here are some examples of the language I deleted or edited (all true, but none neutral in tone). These are from throughout the article.

The revisions to the intro section, in addition to the above cuts, now include a brief mention of the founding and opening of the library (similar to the Morgan Library article), based on information mentioned later in the article, and also move up statements about the endowment, trustees, and historic registry of buildings that were previously listed later in the article.

--EFerington 18:44, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Please see my statement on my conflict of interest (COI) at the beginning of this section.

I have deleted the clean-up and tone flags at the opening of the article, as I hope I have now addressed both points.

I added short sections on Architecture and Collection to match similar sections in the Morgan Library article. I think it's important for any major library entry to include those sections, but I tried to give only basic info on each topic. There is much more I could add about each, but given my conflict of interest I thought it was best to hope that other wikipedians will take it from there.

I also added a little more info on the founding of the library and expanded Activities (which I had previously shortened by cutting non-neutral language) by adding publications and Folger Institute (academic) activities. Finally, I have added a number of links (cross-references within the article) to other wikipedia articles and have also included references for the added information.

I think this wraps up my main work on the article, although I hope to add some additional references and will no doubt think of a few tweaks or spot some typos -- in which case I will note that (more briefly!) here.

--EFerington 15:02, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

Edits generally look good to me. Though, the "activities" section has no citations. I think it needs one in at least one spot, as noted in the article. Something else the article really needs is more pictures. That's all I can think of now. --Aude (talk) 15:46, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks so much. I have added a citation for the Helen Hayes Awards as you requested. The images sound like a good idea and I will check on that. Thanks again --EFerington (talk) 17:50, 20 November 2007 (UTC)