Also this issue:

Cloaking Devices
Susan Fenton and Anne Seidman create revealing work that plays hard to get.
-Robin Rice

Paradise Redefined
-Susan Hagen

First Friday Focus

Politics Unusual
-A.D. Amorosi

The Outside In
-Sam Adams

Anatomy Lessons
-Meredith Broussard

The (Un)Beat(en) Generation
-Paul Burress

All-Ages Art
-Sam Adams

October 3- 9, 2002

artpicks

Becoming: Shakespeare

by Debra Auspitz

Though these days we all seem fascinated with the idea of instantly transforming nobodies into icons (take American Idol's Kelly Clarkson, or any number of washed-up stars reliving their 15 minutes on E! True Hollywood Story), the ultimate literary icon, William Shakespeare, had no such furious rise to immortality. In fact, Shakespeare needs to be split into two separate entities to truly understand his work: Shakespeare the man, about whom we know remarkably little and who was only moderately known in his day, and "Shakespeare" the legend, the untouchable genius. An exhibit opening this week at the Rosenbach Museum and Library examines the transformation, tapping an extensive collection that should prove valuable for both scholars and neophytes. The exhibit will be accompanied by several programs, including "Shakespeare on Film --The Teen Years" (Oct. 16, Nov. 6, Nov. 20 and Dec. 11), a series of films like Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, Ten Things I Hate About You (a pretty delightful update of The Taming of the Shrew) and O (a pretty ghastly update of Othello). The Rosenbach's poet-in-residence, Nathalie Anderson, will host an evening of poetic parodies (Nov. 13), and, as part of the upcoming McSweeney's Festival, there will be a program called "Fakespeare," led by the Rosenbach's Michael Barsanti, that examines history's most infamous literary forgeries and frauds (Oct. 18-19). The Rosenbach is worth the trip based on their Ulysses manuscript alone, so get over there and learn something new about Shakespeare, the man and the myth.

“Making Shakespeare,” Oct. 9-Jan. 5, Rosenbach Museum and Library, 2008 Delancey Place, 215-732-1600. For full schedule of events, check www.rosenbach.org.