EVENT DETAILS
Throughout his adult life, Abraham Lincoln read and committed to memory the plays of William Shakespeare. As President, he saw all the great Shakespearian actors of the day on stage—James Hackett, Edwin Forrest, Edwin Booth, and even that great tragedian’s younger brother, future assassin John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln often rated their performances, transfixing visitors with recitations of the words as he believed they should be dramatized. Combining history and drama, renowned actor Stephen Lang will perform the soliloquies Lincoln loved best and recited most often while narrator Harold Holzer sheds light on the 16th President’s long and sometimes fraught relationship with The Bard.
Presented in conjunction with the exhibition First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare.
Stephen Lang is an award-winning stage, film, and television actor. His extensive work on the New York stage includes Hamlet, A Few Good Men, and Death of a Salesman. On the big-screen, he is currently preparing to reprise and expand on his role as Colonel Miles Quaritch in the sequels to James Cameron's Avatar. Harold Holzer (narrator), the author, co-author, or editor of 51 books on Lincoln and the Civil War era, is Jonathan F. Fanton Director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Fritz Weaver is no longer able to participate in this program.
LOCATION
The Robert H. Smith Auditorium at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
PURCHASING TICKETS
By phone: Please contact New-York Historical’s in-house call center at (212) 485-9268. Call center is open 9 am–5 pm daily.
Online: Click on the orange “Buy Tickets” button at the top of this page.
In person: Advance tickets may be purchased on site at New-York Historical’s Admissions desk during museum hours.
Advance purchase is required to guarantee seating. All sales are final and payments cannot be refunded. No exchanges are permitted. Programs and dates may be subject to change. Management reserves the right to refuse admission to latecomers.
