With powerful prose and relatable literary themes, William Shakespeare paved the way for individuals to better understand and express their humanity through literature. Although he lived 407 years ago, his work continues to inspire today. On campus, we see the motto of “to be or not to be” embraced by Shakesqueer, a student-led organization affiliated with UO’s English department that intertwines queer themes with Shakespeare’s most famous plays. This year, the Shakesqueer crew will be putting on a performance of the beloved “Romeo and Juliet.” Sure, you might’ve come across the theatrical piece many times, but the students of Shakesqueer promise an interpretation of the play you probably haven’t seen before.
In 2015, a group of students established Shakesqueer to build the queer community at UO through the arts. Ever since, queer productions of Shakespeare have allowed students an outlet to play with themes of gender and sexuality.
“The process of creating art and getting to engage in queerness is really liberating,” former director and current producer of Shakesqueer Rachel Peri said. “Especially in college if you’re away from where you’ve grown up for the first time. This is a new context for creating art in collaboration with queer people.”
What’s so contemporary about Shakespeare? Well, everything. According to The University of Melbourne, “his characters and the situations they find themselves in are complex; complex enough to warrant continued investigation four centuries later.” Part of the reason his legacy lives on is because his work reflects the overall human condition and thus, students today are able to mold their intersectional identities into a play that was written generations ago.
“One of the things that I love so much about Romeo and Juliet is that there are plenty of interpretations of it. To me, it’s this incredible story about two people who fall in love under really difficult circumstances and who are ultimately punished through no fault of their own by a society that doesn’t recognize them,” Peri said. “I think that has really powerful resonances with the queer experience. The play also has moments of real joy and levity even though it is a tragedy.”
Shakesqueer aims to create an environment where queer individuals and allies feel represented, accepted and liberated, Peri said. This looks like exploring queer themes through Shakespeare’s plays. For example, Shakesqueer centers queer romances with actors that identify as queer and gives them the opportunity to choose and switch their pronouns throughout the play. Students are able to make Shakespeare characters their own without having to conform to heteronormative social standards.
This freedom is especially important when considering the lack of LGBTQIA+ representation in entertainment.
“A lot of queer and trans individuals don’t feel as if they can be cast in leading roles. I know that was my experience in high school theater departments. I was very visibly queer and I continue to be and a lot of theater doesn’t necessarily support that. Or at least doesn’t have space for that queerness to be centered and celebrated,” Peri said. “Here that is a goal. We are trying to showcase diverse queer narratives which means that students have opportunities that they wouldn’t have otherwise.”
GLAAD’s latest research shows a slight increase in LGBTQIA+ representation in Hollywood. Out of the 350 films released in 2022, 100 of them contain an LGBTQIA+ character, which is the highest number recorded in 11 years. The number of films with transgender representation is even smaller, peaking at just 12 out of the 350 films. Clearly, LGTBQIA+ representation in entertainment is a work in progress that Shakesqueer is aiming towards.
Shakesqueer encourages students interested in getting involved with any aspects of theater to reach out to them at [email protected] or on Facebook at “EUO’s Shakesqueer.”
“This is a place where people are always sort of discovering themselves and going through the journey of putting on this play, but also connecting with the LGBTQIA+ community around them,” Peri said. “I feel like one of the biggest things that people can get out of it is having a really supportive community filled with people who are dedicated to respecting one another.”
Rachel Peri is currently a producer for EUO Shakesqueer, a student-led organization that puts on Queer adaptations of Shakespeare plays. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)
