TEENS MAKING SCENES!

It’s Semester 13!

the theme of the 2026-2027 season of our Shakespeare Book Club focuses on the Younger Generation in Shakespeare's Plays.

we’ll discuss the ways the Younger Generation acts, talks, feels, and especially, treats each other.

join us in person or zoom!

We're celebrating the 13th anniversary of our “Shakespeare Book Club” with the West Hartford Public Library!

This season, we will examine eight of Shakespeare’s plays — and one bonus discussion in June that will focus on the two TBD plays of our 2027 Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival!

Join us in person at the Noah Webster Branch of the West Hartford Public Library or on Zoom from your own home!

Whether it’s your first Shakespeare play or you’ve been a fan your whole life, all are welcome to join this lively Book Club. Participants have been joining these discussions in person and online from as far away as Arizona and Canada. Discussions are free of charge and open to fans of all ages and experience levels. The Shakespeare Book Club is moderated by Geoffrey Sheehan, Capital Classics artistic associate and theatre professor at Housatonic Community College.

All are welcome for this free, 9-month discussion series. These events are held in person and on Zoom on the first Monday of each month from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., through our partnership with the Noah Webster Library in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Be sure to email info@capitalclassics.org or bard@westhartfordlibrary.org to be added to the Book Club invite list. That way, you can get the monthly event details and/or Zoom login information.


2026 – 2027 DATES & TOPICS FOR DISCUSSIONS:

All evenings begin at 6:30 PM and end at 7:45 PM at the West Hartford Library and via Zoom.

  • Monday, October 5: As You Like It — "Family Dynamics!"

  • Monday, November 2: Henry IV, Part 1 — "Hal & Hotspur - Fun & Fire"

  • Monday, December 7: The Taming of the Shrew — "Sister Acts!"

  • Monday, January 4: Cymbeline — "The Children Shall Lead"

  • Monday, February 1: Love’s Labour’s Lost — "Boys! Boys! Boys! & Girls! Girls! Girls!"

  • Monday, March 1: Hamlet — "O, Those Poor Kids!"

  • Monday, April 5: The Two Gentlemen of Verona — "Friends for Life?"

  • Monday, May 3: The Tempest — "Love Island!"

  • Monday, June 7: TBD Plays for the 2027 Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival


The Noah Webster Library in West Hartford center.

The Noah Webster Library in West Hartford center.

Details for In Person Participants

Your Isham Garage parking will be validated in the Library Meeting Room before the discussion. Please go directly from the parking garage (bypass the garage kiosks) to the library meeting room to validate your parking using your license plate number. Parking must be validated at the library within 15 minutes of leaving your car.

Sessions are held in the Library Meeting Room of the Noah Webster Library, 20 South Main Street in West Hartford, at 6:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month. No registration is needed to attend. You may bring your own covered beverage or quiet snack to the meeting room. Find more information by clicking here. Read Shakespeare's plays online by clicking here.

Geoffrey Sheehan is currently a professor of Theatre Arts at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport where he also serves as the Theatre Arts Program Coordinator. Prior to his work at HCC, Geoffrey taught theatre in many Connecticut schools and youth programs. Geoffrey is also the co-founder and Artistic Associate with Capital Classics Theatre Company, home of the Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival produced every summer on the campus of the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, CT. Geoffrey received his B.FA. in Drama from UCONN and his M.A.L.S. in Theatre from Wesleyan University.