If people describe you as “the Spielberg of” anything, chances are you’re doing something right. Or at least you know what you’re doing. In the world of Shakespeare, that guy is Barry Edelstein.
On May 15, Edelstein will headline the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s 25th Anniversary Gala at The Sheldon with “Thinking Shakespeare Live!” —a masterclass-meets-performance event that breaks down how Shakespeare’s language works, why it still matters and how anyone (yes, even you) can find meaning in it.
His visit carries another layer of meaning too. Edelstein’s Jewish background was part of why festival organizers reached out to him for this milestone celebration. As one of America’s most respected interpreters of the Bard—and someone whose worldview has been shaped by Jewish tradition—Edelstein brings both craft and identity to the stage.
Ahead of the event, Edelstein answered a few questions about Shakespeare, Judaism and why storytelling—and empathy—matter now more than ever.
Many of Shakespeare’s plays wrestle with themes that resonate deeply in Jewish life—exile, justice, memory, identity. Have you found that your Jewish background gives you a unique lens when approaching his work?
“My Jewish background is inseparable from my work, always. It informs my perspective on life itself—my sense of humor, my emotional temperature, my political leanings. If you saw one of my Shakespeare productions, I don’t know that you’d say, ‘That’s Jewish,’ but you would say, ‘That’s Barry.’ Which may be saying the same thing!”
You’ve made a career of making Shakespeare accessible. Do you see any connection between that mission and Jewish traditions of teaching, storytelling or text study?
“Something that’s always interested me is how many major Shakespeareans in America are Jews. Harold Bloom, James Shapiro, Stephen Greenblatt and Marjorie Garber. Sounds like the firm that does my taxes! In the theater too: Joe Papp, Michael Kahn. Some of these individuals grew up Orthodox.
“What’s the connection? Judaism is a culture of books, of close reading, of textual analysis, of exegesis. There are sages of generational impact. Shakespeare is similar: an old book that encodes moral and ethical dilemmas and that needs to be interpreted anew by wise people for successive generations and in different times and cultures.
“There’s a similarity of mindset, a set of common tools used by the Talmudist and the Shakespearean. It’s one reason I find this work so fulfilling. It’s my secular Gemara.”
You’ve helped actors like Jeffrey Wright, Gwyneth Paltrow and John Turturro find their voice in Shakespeare. What’s your approach when guiding someone through the complexity—and musicality—of the Bard’s language?
“Whether an actor is a celebrity or a student just starting out, the basic idea is the same. People have thoughts in their minds that they want to put into the world, and they do that by speaking those thoughts through language. They choose a certain set of words in a certain order so that the world can grasp what they mean.
“Rehearsal starts by understanding the thought that a given character is trying to express and then asking a simple question: ‘Why am I using these words now?’ We study the words carefully, looking at all the various techniques Shakespeare deploys as he shapes and sculpts the language.
“Our work leads us to an understanding of how to align the actor’s brain with the brain of the character so that the thoughts in the text are rendered transparent to the audience onstage. That’s basically it. Think first, then speak.”
This performance at The Sheldon is part of a celebration of legacy and future. In Jewish tradition, l’dor v’dor—generation to generation—is a core idea. Does that concept show up in your work as a director or educator?
“I’m so happy to be at The Sheldon, especially to support the work of my good friend and colleague Tom Ridgley. The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival is so fortunate to have him, as is the entire region. He and I have a relationship that’s generational in the way you mean—though not, I should add, in a chronological sense.
“He’s been someone I’ve had the honor to mentor over the years and that goes to my sense of how Shakespeare can be a ‘l’dor va-dor’ phenomenon. There’s a craft involved, and crafts are passed down from craftsman to apprentice, from teacher to student. I’ve taught at great conservatories like Juilliard, NYU, Yale and our own program at the University of San Diego and I love and enjoy the work of passing skills and ideas to the next group coming up.”
What does it mean to you, personally, to be performing this show as part of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s 25th season?
“It’s a complicated moment in America, with lots of mistrust, skepticism and even hurt. We’ve seen a national political figure pronounce that, ‘The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.’ That idea shocks and dismays me. An absence of empathy is a catastrophe.
“That’s where the theatre in general and Shakespeare in particular have a lot to offer. They help us glimpse the subjective experiences of others. They help us understand the ways in which we are like humans from other cultures, times, places.
“When you watch a Shakespeare play, you sit in the dark for two hours and observe the human triumphs and tragedies of the people in the light on stage and you feel for them. The theatre is in fact an engine of empathy. That may be a Jewish value or a universal one or both. But it’s an indispensable one.”
If you go: ‘Thinking Shakespeare Live!’
Barry Edelstein’s “Thinking Shakespeare Live!” headlines the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s 25th Anniversary Gala on May 15 at The Sheldon Concert Hall.
The evening includes a private gala dinner for sponsors and donors, followed by the public performance featuring Edelstein and actors Mark Nelson, Vaughn Pole and Jennifer Ikeda (who starred as Juliet in the Festival’s first-ever production in 2001 and returns this year as Gertrude in “Hamlet”).
General admission tickets for “Thinking Shakespeare Live!” are available now at stlshakes.org/2025-gala.
