Today’s episode is another part of our series on Shakespeare’s Language Framework, or how Shakespeare’s use of language can inform our understanding of his works. In today’s episode, we are going to explore a device Shakespeare uses throughout his plays (but very notably in the comedies and histories): malapropisms. 

We will start by defining the term malapropism, then we will explore a linguistic study on malapropisms to determine how Shakespeare's malapropisms are linguistically constructed. We will also discuss whether or not early modern audiences would have understood these malapropisms as intentional wordplay, and how scholars know that they are intentional, instead of a printing or editing error. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

This episode was written by Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone, sending us a virtual tip via our tipjar, or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod.

Works referenced:

“Acyrology, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/4304815537.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "malapropism". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Jul. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/malapropism. Accessed 20 August 2024.

"Dogberryism." Oxford Reference. . . Date of access 21 Aug. 2024, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095724827

Keller, M. (2017). “Saying Thus or to the Same Defect”: A Linguistic Analysis of Shakespeare’s Malapropisms. English Studies, 98(3), 244–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/0013838X.2017.1283119

Livingstone, David. (2024). "If We Offend, It Is With Our Good Will”: Malapropisms, Mispronunciation and Garbling of Language in Shakespeare's Plays. FOLIUM. 4. 160-166. 10.32782/folium/2024.4.23. 

 

In today's episode, we are investigating Shakespeare's comic constable in Much Ado About Nothing, Dogberry, and why this character is portrayed as a clown. We'll look at a survey of historical records from Shakespeare's time to determine if early modern constables were truly as ineffective as Dogberry appears to be and if there is a contextual reason that Shakespeare's audience would want to see them depicted as foolish on stage. 

We will also discuss what the job of the early modern constable entailed, how it developed, and who the "real-life Dogberry" would have been in their communites. Finally, we will discuss how this context can shift our understanding of the character Shakespeare wrote. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone, sending us a virtual tip via our tipjar, or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod.

Works referenced:

Kent, Joan. “The English Village Constable, 1580-1642: The Nature and Dilemmas of the Office.” Journal of British Studies, vol. 20, no. 2, 1981, pp. 26–49. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/175635. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.

Spinrad, Phoebe S. “Dogberry Hero: Shakespeare’s Comic Constables in Their Communal Context.” Studies in Philology, vol. 89, no. 2, 1992, pp. 161–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4174417. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.

In today's episode, we are exploring the life and works of one of Shakespeare's contemporaries: Ben Jonson. Often called "Shakespeare's rival," Ben Jonson was an early modern actor turned playwright who came from humble beginnings to achieve success on the London stages. We'll dive into the parallels between Shakespeare and Jonson's lives, and we'll discuss how Jonson may be the person who we should thank for Shakespeare's First Folio. 

 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

 Donaldson, Ian. "Jonson, Benjamin [Ben] (1572–1637), poet and playwright." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.  October 03, 2013. Oxford University Press. Date of access 9 Apr. 2024,

Editors of Poetry Foundation. “Ben Jonson.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2024, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ben-jonson.

Jonson, Ben. “To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr....” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2024, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44466/to-the-memory-of-my-beloved-the-author-mr-william-shakespeare.

Leech, Clifford. “Ben Jonson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 7 Apr. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Ben-Jonson-English-writer.

Mabillard, Amanda. “Preface to The First Folio (1623).” William Shakespeare’s First Folio: The Preface to the First Folio, 21 Jan. 2022, www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/firstfolio.html.

“Research Guides: Shakespeare Studies: Ben Jonson.” Ben Jonson - Shakespeare Studies - Research Guides at New York University, New York University, 2024, guides.nyu.edu/shakespeare-studies/ben-johnson.

“Shakespeare First Folio: Folger Shakespeare Library.” Edited by Folger Shakespeare Library, Shakespeare First Folio | Folger Shakespeare Library, Folger Shakespeare Library, 2024, www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeare-in-print/first-folio/.

Shoemaker, Robert. “Punishment Sentences at the Old Bailey.” The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, Digital Humanities Institute at the University of Sheffield, autumn 2023, www.oldbaileyonline.org/about/punishment.

Westminister Abbey. “Ben Jonson.” Westminster Abbey, Westminster Abbey, 2024, www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/ben-jonson.

 

 

In today's episode, we will be discussing what is was like to be a teenager in Shakespeare's time, and how we can see early modern teenagerdom represented in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. We will build on our previous explorations of the early modern understanding of age and youth from our episodes on girlhood and manhood, then dive into the lived experiences of early modern teens and young adults. Finally, we will discuss the early modern public health crisis of suicide among children and adolescents.

Content Warning: Suicide

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, you are not alone and help is available.

If you are in the United States, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org

You can find additional resources for your location at https://www.iasp.info/suicidalthoughts/

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

Murphy, Terence R. “‘Woful Childe of Parents Rage’: Suicide of Children and Adolescents in Early Modern England, 1507-1710.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, vol. 17, no. 3, 1986, pp. 259–70. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2540320. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

Prusko, Rachel. “Youth and Privacy in Romeo and Juliet.” Early Theatre, vol. 19, no. 1, 2016, pp. 113–36. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/90018273. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.

Sparey, Victoria. “Performing Puberty: Fertile Complexions in Shakespeare’s Plays.” Shakespeare Bulletin, vol. 33, no. 3, 2015, pp. 441–67. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26355127. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

In today's episode, we are joined by Dr. Danielle Rosvally and Sydney Schwindt to discuss how fight choreographers approach staging moments of violence in theatre, specifically in Shakespeare's plays. We will discuss how they collaborate with directors and actors to safely depict violence on stage, the state of the fight direction community, and how anyone can learn more about safe, consent-based practices for staging violence onstage. 

Our guests: 

Danielle Rosvally, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of theatre at the University at Buffalo where she serves as resident violence coordinator. She is a fight director, actor, dramaturge, and director. Danielle has been crafting and performing staged violence for over twenty years, and has written about fight direction for venues such as Theatre Topics, Fight Master Magazine, and various edited collections. As a researcher, Danielle specializes in Shakespeare; her book on  on Shakespeare as an economic value comes out with the State University of New York press in July.

Sydney Schwindt wears many hats in the theatre world; she is an actor, director, fight director, and educator. She is a resident artist with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and works frequently with SPARC Theatre. She is an advanced actor combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors and is on the advisory board for the Same Boat Theatre Collective. She has taught movement and stage combat at Indiana University and the American Conservatory Theatre’s Graduate program. 

Sydney directed “As You Like It” with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s Shakespeare on Tour. It is running from now until mid May 2024 all across California. Check the websites for a public performance near you! www.sfshakes.org

She will be directing “Twelfth Night” with the Starling Shakespeare Company this summer. The show runs in rep with “Henry IV, Part 1” from June until September, 2024. 

Learn more about Fight Direction:

Society of American Fight Directors

The British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat

British Academy of Dramatic Combat

Fight Directors Canada

Danielle's HowlRound Article

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

 

 

In today's episode, we will be diving into the culture of courtship and marriage in early modern England. We will take a look at how the cultural norms and concerns surrounding marriage were shifting and changing in Shakespeare's time and how we can see this represented in Romeo and Juliet. We will also discuss how, at least in some parts of England and for certain classes, young people were able to resist some of the societal structures around courtship and marriage. 

 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

Hubbard, Eleanor. “A Room of Their Own: Young Women, Courtship, and the Night in Early Modern England.” The Youth of Early Modern Women, edited by Elizabeth S. Cohen and Margaret Reeves, Amsterdam University Press, 2018, pp. 297–314. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv8pzd5z.17. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.   Peters, Christine. “Gender, Sacrament and Ritual: The Making and Meaning of Marriage in Late Medieval and Early Modern England.” Past & Present, no. 169, 2000, pp. 63–96. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/651264. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.   Waddington, Raymond B. “Marriage in Early Modern Europe.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, vol. 34, no. 2, 2003, pp. 315–18. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/20061411. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.

In today's episode, we will be continuing our series on Shakespeare's Language Framework and our Shakespeare's Sources by taking a closer look at Petrarch.

First, we will dive into the biography of Francesco Petrarca, more commonly known as Petrarch in English, the 14th century poet who had a huge influence on European humanism, the Renaissance, and poetry.

Then, we will explore Petrarch's influence and how it spread across Europe before covering how we can see his influence in the works of William Shakespeare. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

Paster, Gail Kern. “A Modern Perspective: Romeo and Juliet.” Folger Shakespeare Library, 2024, www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/romeo-and-juliet/romeo-and-juliet-a-modern-perspective/.

"Petrarchism." The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. Credo Reference. Web. 21 January 2015. 

Shakespeare, William, and Keir Elam. Twelfth Night. Arden Shakespeare, 2008.

Vuillemin, Rémi. “‘love with excess of heat’: The sonnet and Petrarchan excess in the late elizabethan and early jacobean periods.” XVII-XVIII, no. 71, 31 Dec. 2014, pp. 99–120, https://doi.org/10.4000/1718.395.

Whitfield, John Humphreys. “Petrarch.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 25 Jan. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Petrarch.

In today's episode, we're diving deep into the world of early modern masculinity, patriarchy, and honor as we dissect Shakespeare's iconic play, Romeo and Juliet.

Our discussion begins with the examination of the expectations placed upon men during the early modern period and how those pressures are reflected in Shakespeare's play – the embodiment of honor, the nuances of patriarchy, and the various faces of masculinity depicted in Shakespeare's characters.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

Appelbaum, Robert. “‘Standing to the Wall’: The Pressures of Masculinity in Romeo and Juliet.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 3, 1997, pp. 251–72. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2871016. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.   Capp, Bernard. “‘JESUS WEPT’ BUT DID THE ENGLISHMAN? MASCULINITY AND EMOTION IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND.” Past & Present, no. 224, 2014, pp. 75–108. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24545175. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.   Fisher, Will. “The Renaissance Beard: Masculinity in Early Modern England.” Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 54, no. 1, 2001, pp. 155–87. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1262223. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.   FLETCHER, ANTHONY. “Manhood, the Male Body, Courtship and the Household in Early Modern England.” History, vol. 84, no. 275, 1999, pp. 419–36. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24424587. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.    

To kick off our series on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, we are (as always) starting with an overview of basic facts about the play and an introduction to the major themes and motifs of the play. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

Shakespeare, William, and René Weis. Romeo and Juliet: Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2012.

SparkNotes Editors. “Romeo and Juliet.” SparkNotes.com, SparkNotes LLC, 2005, URL.

It's time for a new play, which means a new synopsis! We are diving into Romeo and Juliet today, and we will be breaking down this play scene by scene. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Special thanks to Nat Yonce for guest-editing this episode.

Episode written by Elyse Sharp and Kourtney Smith.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

Shakespeare, William, and René Weis. Romeo and Juliet: Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2012.

In today's special bonus episode, we are joined by a panel of Shakespeare social media content creators in our first-ever panel episode to discuss the intersection between Shakespeare and social media. We discuss each guests’ work; the different social media platforms; how and why we create Shakespeare content; the benefits of educating through memes; and what makes Shakespeare so dang memeable!

Emily Jackoway is an actor, writer, and lifelong Shakespeare nerd. She earned her BFA in drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied Shakespeare at the Classical Studio. She is a former contributing writer and social media manager for Shakespeare and literary education website NoSweatShakespeare, which strives to make Shakespeare accessible for audiences and students. She also hosted their podcast, “Scurvy Companions,” which discusses Shakespeare in all his facets with actors, writers, directors, scholars, stage combat professionals and more. Favorite past roles include Juliet, Puck, and Iago.

Carson Brakke is a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and is writing her dissertation on representations of hospitality in early modern English literature. In addition to hospitality, her research interests include domesticity, food studies, and women’s writing. To break up the solitary work of dissertating, Carson uses her TikTok platform to talk about early modern literature and the PhD experience. You can find her @glutenbergbible, where she’s always looking to chat with more people about research, academia, and the weird and surprising sides of early modern English literature!

Micaela Mannix considers herself a jack of all Shakespeare. She is the artistic director of Bowls with the Bard, Denver's stoned Shakespeare company, and she hosts their podcast. Micaela is also an actor and content creator. You can find her making memes and working toward 10,000 hours of Shakespeare practice @10kshakespeare on TikTok and Instagram. Project: Bowls with the Bard is producing Stoned Cymbeline in Denver at the Coffee Joint February 22 - 25, 2024.

Stephanie Crugnola has spent a very long time yelling about Shakespeare and how to start making it fun, accessible, responsible, and engaging for people who live in the 21st century. She has her MA in Early Modern English from King's College, London where she learned niche-ier words to yell with. Now, she hosts the Protest too Much podcast (@p2mpod): a Shakespeare showdown with a new guest each week and runs Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project (@wsshakes), a company focused on interactive educational performance opportunities and one-rehearsal pop-up productions. Her favorite Shakespeare play is Cymbeline because she thrives on chaos and being extra.

Mia Escott is an Assistant Professor of English, Rhetoric, and Writing at Berry College. She joined the faculty in 2022 after receiving her doctoral degree in English from Louisiana State University. An Alabama native, she graduated from Auburn University and the University of Montevallo. Her research and teaching interests include early modern British Literature, Renaissance Drama, Shakespeare, Early Modern Race Studies, Critical Race Theory, and Women’s and Gender Studies.

Trevor Boffone went viral in 2019 and hasn't looked back. His work using TikTok and Instagram with his students has been featured on Good Morning America, ABC News, Inside Edition, and Access Hollywood, among numerous national media platforms. His work as a social media expert has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Forbes, The Atlantic, and NPR. Trevor has published two books on social media and popular culture, and has two forthcoming books exploring theatre marketing on social media. Oh, and he does the Shakespeare thing, too. He is the co-editor of Shakespeare & Latinidad and is currently co-writing a book on Yassified Shakespeare.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone.

 

As we wrap up 2023, we are taking a look back at the plays we covered this year by re-reading them and discussing how our readings of the plays has changed after doing our research for our episodes.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Shakespeare, William, and Harold F. Brooks. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Bloomsbury, 1979.

Shakespeare, William, and Jonathan Bate. Titus Andronicus: Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018.

 

In today's episode, we are joined by friend-of-the-pod, Dr. Danielle Rosvally to discuss her new book, Theatres of Value: Buying and Selling Shakespeare in Nineteenth-Century New York City, and how Shakespeare had value for New Yorkers in the 1800s, and how Shakespeare came to be so prominent in American culture.

About Danielle Rosvally:

Danielle Rosvally is an assistant professor of theatre at the University at Buffalo. Her work examines Shakespeare as cultural capital, particularly iterations that intersect with performance and theatrical labor. Her book Theatres of Value: Buying and Selling Shakespeare in Nineteenth-Century New York City explores how nineteenth-century New York theatre makers bought and sold the commodity of Shakespeare, and how these performances of value intersect with American nation building and national identity. Her next project, Yassified Shakespeare, is a multimedia exploration of how iterations of Shakespearean performance and Shakespeare’s cultural capital critically intersect with drag and drag aesthetics. Danielle is a fight director, director, actor, and dramaturge. Her work has been published in Theatre Topics, Studies in Musical Theatre, Borrowers and Lenders, Early Modern Studies Journal, several edited collections, and Shakespeare Bulletin, as well as on TikTok: @YassifiedShax

About Theatres of Value:

Theatres of Value explores the idea that buying and selling are performative acts and offers a paradigm for deeper study of these acts—"the dramaturgy of value." Modeling this multifaceted approach, the book explores six case studies to show how and why Shakespeare had value for nineteenth-century New Yorkers. In considering William Brown's African Theater, P. T. Barnum's American Museum and Lecture Hall, Fanny Kemble's American reading career, the Booth family brand, the memorial statue of Shakespeare in Central Park, and an 1888 benefit performance of Hamlet to theatrical impresario Lester Wallack, Theatres of Value traces a history of audience engagement with Shakespearean cultural capital and the myriad ways this engagement was leveraged by theatrical businesspeople.

Want to read Theatres of Value?

• Request a copy at your library and DM Danielle a screenshot at @DRosvally on X (Twitter), and Danielle will send you some cool stickers
• For the month of July 2024, post a picture of you and a slice a pizza with hashtag #theatresofvalue and tag @DRosvally and @SUNY on X (Twitter), and Danielle will DM you a code for 30% off through SUNY Press. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone, sending us a virtual tip via our tipjar, or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod.

Each year, in recognition of the National Day of Mourning/Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, we examine how British colonialism is irrevocably intertwined with Shakespeare. This year, we are taking a look at how Shakespeare's works have been used to critique the legacy of colonialism.

We will look at how adaptations of Shakespeare's work from Martinique, Barbados, Cuba, and Kenya have utilized Shakespeare's stories and characters to represent and unpack the effects of colonialism. We also discuss a 2011 Palestinian production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that intentionally worked to create post-colonial version of Dream.

Because of current events at the time we are releasing this podcast, we also encourage our listeners to learn more about colonialism as it relates to Palestine and have included additional resources below. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Al-Saber, Samer. “Beyond Colonial Tropes: Two Productions of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in Palestine.” Critical Survey, vol. 28, no. 3, 2016, pp. 27–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26384116. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.   Singh, Jyotsna G. Shakespeare and Postcolonial Theory, The Arden Shakespeare, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2020.

Additional resources on Palestine: 

Non-fiction Books:

The Question of Palestine by Edward Said

The Hundreds’ Year War On Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 by Rashid Khalidi

The General’s Son: the Journey of an Israeli in Palestine by Miko Peled

Palestine, Israel and the U.S. Empire by Richard Becker

The Revolution of 1936-1939 in Palestine: Background, Details, Analysis by Ghassan Kanafani

Documentaries:

The Empire Files Presents: Gaza Fights for Freedom

The Empire Files Presents: The Untold History of Palestine & Israel

Al-Jazeera’s Ten Films to Watch About the History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict 

Journalists:

Motaz Azaiza @motaz_azaiza

Plestia Alaqad @byplestia

Rania Khalek @raniakhalek

Wizard Bisan @wizard_bisan1

Photographers:

Hamdan Dahdouh @hamdaneldahdouh

Hamza Wael @hamza_w_dahdooh

Mohamed Al Masri @mohamed.h.masri

Ali Jadallah @alijadallah66

Video Creator:

Ahmed Hijazi @ahmedhijazee

Documenting Palestine @documentingpalestine

Podcasts:

The Palestinian Pod

Citations Needed Podcast Episode 28: The Asymptotic ‘Two State Solution’ (Part 1) and Episode 29: The Asymptotic ‘Two State Solution’ (Part 2)

Writer:

Jenan Matari @jenanmatari

Organizations:

Palestinian Youth Movement

Jewish Voice for Peace

Answer Coalition

Breaking the Silence: Israel @breakingthesilenceisrael 

Aid:

Anera: helps refugees and vulnerable communities in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan @aneraorg

 

We are finishing up our series on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus by discussing two prominent adaptations and how they match up to what we've studied in our episodes. 

First, we will take a look at Julie Taymor's 1999 epic surrealist film adaptation, Titus, starring Antony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Then, we compare it to the 2017 Royal Shakespeare Company production directed by Matthew Woodward.

Join us as we explore these two very different productions of Shakespeare's bloody and brutal play!

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

Taymor, Julie, director. Titus. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2000.

"Titus Andronicus." , directed by Matthew Woodward, and William Shakespeare. , produced by Griselda Yorke. , Royal Shakespeare Company, 2017. Alexander Street, https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C3999879. 

This year, 2023, is the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway. Have you ever stopped to ask how much you actually know about Anne?

In today's episode, we will travel back through time to explore how Anne has been depicted in Shakespeare biographies and works of imaginative fiction since her death. We explore how her inclusion (or exclusion) from Shakespeare's narrative has changed and investigate what these depictions can tell us about society's perceptions of Shakespeare.

Finally, we will also dive into the historical record and share the facts of Anne Hathaway's life. And yes, we will talk about that second best bed line in William Shakespeare's will. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

AKA Group Limited, LLC, and Juliet Broadway LLC. “& Juliet: Official Broadway Website.” & Juliet | Official Broadway Website – Official Tickets for the New Broadway Musical & Juliet., Juliet Broadway LLC, 2022, andjulietbroadway.com/.

Gunderson, Lauren. The Book of Will. Dramatists Play Service Inc., 2018.

O’Farrell, Maggie. Hamnet. Alfred A. Knopf, 2020.

Scheil, Katherine West. Imagining Shakespeare’s Wife: The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

In today's episode we are joined by Carson Brakke to discuss how early modern concepts and anxieties about hospitality and cannibalism influenced early modern literature and drama, most explicitly in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. 

Carson breaks down the early modern concept of hospitality and shares the cultural debates and dilemmas that centered around it and its inherent dangers. Join us as she guides us through the cognitive dissonance surrounding cannibalism for early modern Europeans, who simultaneously used it to other non-Europeans while possibly participating in cannibalism themselves! 

We also explore how readers and theatre-makers today can use this knowledge to interpret scenes of hospitality and cannibalism in Shakespeare and other early modern works.

Content warning: cannibalism is discussed throughout this episode. Please listen with care. 

Our guest: Carson Brakke is a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and is writing her dissertation on representations of hospitality in early modern English literature. In addition to hospitality, her research interests include domesticity, food studies, and women’s writing. To break up the solitary work of dissertating, Carson uses her TikTok platform to talk about early modern literature and the PhD experience. You can find her @glutenbergbible, where she’s always looking to chat with more people about research, academia, and the weird and surprising sides of early modern English literature!

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Brakke, Carson. “The Dangers of Hospitality in Shakespeare: The Hostess in The Rape of Lucrece and The Winter’s Tale.” Journal of the Wooden O, vol. 21, 3 June 2022, pp. 1–12, https://omeka.li.suu.edu/ojs/index.php/woodeno/article/view/265.

Shahani, Gitanjali G. Tasting Difference: Food Race and Cultural Encounters in Early Modern Literature. Cornell University Press, 2021.

 

 

 

Join us on a literary journey through the transformative tales of Ovid's Metamorphoses and their profound impact on the works of William Shakespeare. 

Ovid's Metamorphoses, a collection of mythological stories of change and transformation, serves as a rich source of inspiration for many of Shakespeare's most iconic plays and characters. Before diving into the Shakespearean connections, Elyse and Kourtney provide an overview of key stories in Ovid's Metamorphoses, ensuring that both enthusiasts and newcomers can appreciate the context.

Join us as we discover the clear parallels between Ovidian stories like Pyramus and Thisbe  and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Explore how a specific translation of Ovid's stories impacted Shakespeare and other early modern writers. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Blake, Harriet Manning. “Golding’s Ovid in Elizabethan Times.” The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, vol. 14, no. 1, 1915, pp. 93–95. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27700642. Accessed 24 Sept. 2023.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Metamorphoses". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Sep. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Metamorphoses-poem-by-Ovid. Accessed 16 September 2023.

Ovid. The. Xv. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, Translated Oute of Latin into English Meeter, by Arthur Golding Gentleman, a Worke Very Pleasaunt and Delectable. 1567. . Translated by Arthur Golding. London: William Seres, 1567. Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership, http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A08649.0001.001. Accessed 24 Sept. 2023.

Ovid.  Ovid's Metamorphoses in fifteen books. Translated by the most eminent hands. Adorn'd with sculptures:. London: Jacob Tonson, 1717. Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership, http://name.umdl.umich.edu/A08649.0001.001. Accessed 24 Sept. 2023.

“Ovid’s Metamorphoses.” British Library: Collection Items, British Library, www.bl.uk/collection-items/ovids-metamorphoses. Accessed 24 Sept. 2023.

Tosh, Will. “Shakespeare and Ovid’s Metamorphoses.” Shakespeare’s Globe: Blogs & Features, Shakespeare’s Globe, 22 Sept. 2021, www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/blogs-and-features/2021/09/22/shakespeare-and-ovids-metamorphoses/#0.

 

 

In today's episode, we are joined by the brilliant Dr. Mia Escott to embark on a journey through the complex intersections of race, Shakespeare, and the early modern era.

Dr. Escott provides crucial context to help us understand how people of the early modern era were socially categorized based on nationality, religion, and social status. It's a crucial foundation for dissecting Shakespeare's approach to race.

Aaron, the enigmatic character from Titus Andronicus, takes center stage. Dr. Escott walks us through the complexities of this character, a Moor in a world where stereotypes and villainy are often intertwined. We explore key moments and lines that shed light on Aaron's character and the racial dynamics at play.

We also discuss Blackness and race within Shakespeare's broader canon, as Dr. Escott sheds light on how Shakespeare both humanized and socially othered his Black characters. Woven throughout our discussion are Dr. Escott's insights into how the worlds of academia and theatre can better approach race and discussions of race, especially when it comes to Shakespeare. 

Dr. Mia Escott  is an Assistant Professor of English, Rhetoric, and Writing at Berry College. She joined the faculty in 2022 after receiving her doctoral degree in English from Louisiana State University. An Alabama native, she has graduated from Auburn University and the University of Montevallo. Her research and teaching interests include early modern British Literature, Renaissance Drama, Shakespeare, Critical Race Theory, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Dr. Escott is the 2022 recipient of LSU’s HSS Diversity Committee— Excellence in Teaching Graduate Student Award, which highlights her commitment to making academia an inclusive and equitable learning space. Most recently she has been a guest speaker at various Berry College events, sharing her love for English and Shakespeare.

If you are not a Berry student then luckily you can find Dr. Escott on TikTok as @dr.shakesfeare, where she is making The Bard more accessible and comprehensible, in a humorous way.

Recommended Reading (may contain affiliate links): 

White People in Shakespeare: Essays on Race, Culture and the Elite by Arthur L Litttle Jr. 

The Great White Bard by Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

In today's episode, we're peeling back the layers of a genre that not only fascinated audiences of the Early Modern period but also left an enduring mark on the works of the Shakespeare himself: Revenge Tragedies.

Join us as we journey through time to an era of dramatic tension, dark desires, and vengeful spirits. Revenge tragedies, a genre that flourished in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, paved the way for some of Shakespeare's most iconic plays. In this episode, Kourtney and Elyse will shed light on the defining features, influential playwrights, and societal factors that contributed to the allure of these gripping tales of retribution.

Delve with us into a world of poisoned chalices, secret plots, and enigmatic ghosts as we dissect the very essence of a classic revenge tragedy. We'll explore the groundbreaking works of playwrights like Thomas Kyd, whose play The Spanish Tragedy not only set the stage for the genre's popularity but also influenced Shakespeare's own exploration of vengeance on the stage.

Step into the shoes of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatergoers, and discover why themes of political intrigue, power struggles, and personal vendettas struck a chord during those tumultuous times. We'll discuss the psychological complexities of characters seeking revenge, as well as the societal undercurrents that resonated with audiences then and continue to captivate audiences today.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Findlay, Alison. “Re-Marking Revenge in Early Modern Drama.” Revenge and Gender in Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Literature, edited by Lesel Dawson and Fiona McHardy, Edinburgh University Press, 2018, pp. 58–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv7h0vqp.7. Accessed 26 Aug. 2023.

“The Maid’s Revenge.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Aug. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maid%27s_Revenge.

“The Maid’s Tragedy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Aug. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maid%27s_Tragedy.

Preedy, Chloe Kathleen. “‘Women’s Weapons’: Education and Female Revenge on the Early Modern Stage.” Revenge and Gender in Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Literature, edited by Lesel Dawson and Fiona McHardy, Edinburgh University Press, 2018, pp. 181–200. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv7h0vqp.14. Accessed 26 Aug. 2023.

“Seneca His Ten Tragedies, 1581.” British Library Collection Items, British Library, 2023, www.bl.uk/collection-items/seneca-his-ten-tragedies-1581.

“The Spanish Tragedy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Mar. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spanish_Tragedy.

Tassi, Marguerite A. “The Avenging Daughter in King Lear.” Revenge and Gender in Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Literature, edited by Lesel Dawson and Fiona McHardy, Edinburgh University Press, 2018, pp. 111–21. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv7h0vqp.10. Accessed 26 Aug. 2023.

“’tis Pity She’s a Whore.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 May 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Tis_Pity_She%27s_a_Whore.

Willis, Deborah. “‘The Gnawing Vulture’: Revenge, Trauma Theory, and ‘Titus Andronicus.’” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 1, 2002, pp. 21–52. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3844038. Accessed 26 Aug. 2023.

Introducing Play On! Podcasts: Love's Labour's Lost! Play On Podcasts are epic audio adventures that reimagine Shakespeare’s timeless tales, featuring original music composition and the voices of award-winning actors. Each episode explores plays from Macbeth to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in a way that you can actually understand it and created specifically for the podcast form by some of America’s most exciting playwrights, directors and composers, and performed by stage and screen’s best.

Check out the first episode from their latest series: Love's Labour's Lost!

The King of Navarre gathers together with his best friends (Longaville, Dumaine and Berowne) in the library at Howard University where he gets them to agree that they will devote themselves entirely to their studies without dating or indulging in food, drink or sleep for three full years. Berowne protests and reminds the King that the Princess of France is going to arrive soon to plead a case on behalf of her ailing father. The King promises to handle the situation and Berowne agrees to stick with his vow despite his reservations. They decide they’ll amuse themselves during their downtime by laughing at the antics of Don Adriano de Armado, a visiting scholar from Spain who is hilariously full of himself. Almost as soon as the King’s proclamation is issued, Sir Anthony Dull delivers a letter from Armado accusing Costard, a groundskeeper at Howard, of having an affair with Jaquenetta, a young lady who lives nearby. The King punishes Costard with a week of fasting on bread and water. Meanwhile, Armado confesses privately to his young friend and confidante, a Custodial Assistant named Moth, that he is painfully in love with Jaquenetta and vows to win her affections.

The Play On Podcast series, “LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST”, was written by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE and translated into modern English verse by JOSH WILDER. Each episode was directed by NELSON T. EUSEBIO the THIRD. The cast is as follows: RUSSELL G. JONES as THE KING OF NAVARRE and THE FORESTER MATTHEW ELIJAH WEBB as BEROWNE ASHLEY BRYANT as THE PRINCESS and JAQUENETTA TIFFANY RACHELLE STEWART as ROSALINE TONYA PINKINS as MARIA, HOLOFERNES, and HIEMS SHAWN RANDALL as COSTARD and DUMAINE BRANDON JONES as DON ADRIANO DE ARMADO and LONGAVILLE WALTER COPPAGE as MOTH, BOYET, DULL and MARCADE SARITA COVINGTON as LADY NATHANIEL and KATHARINE Casting by THE TELSEY OFFICE: KARYN CASL, CSA, and ADA KARAMANYAN. Voice and Text Coach: JULIE FOH Episode scripts were adapted and produced by CATHERINE EATON Original Music and Sound Design by LINDSAY JONES.  Sound engineering by SADAHARU YAGI.  Mix Engineer and Dialogue Editor: LARRY WALSH.  Podcast Mastering by GREG CORTEZ at New Monkey Studio.  Coordinating Producer: TRANSCEND STREAMING (KYRA BOWIE and LEANNA KEYES). Executive Producer: MICHAEL GOODFRIEND. The Managing Director of Business Operations and Partnerships at Next Chapter Podcasts is SALLYCADE HOLMES. The Play On Podcast Series “THE TEMPEST” is produced by NEXT CHAPTER PODCASTS and is made possible by the generous support of THE HITZ FOUNDATION. Visit ncpodcasts.com for more about the Play On Podcast Series. Visit playonshakespeare.org for more about Play On Shakespeare. Hear more about the Play On Shakespeare Podcast series by subscribing to Play On Premium at ncpodcasts.com, where you’ll find interviews with the artists, producers and engineers who brought it all to life. And remember: “We are such stuff as Dreams are made on”. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, we will be discussing the portrayal of women in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus and how it reflects the evolving concept of girlhood in Early Modern England as well as popular conceptions of one specific woman involved in early modern European politics: Catherine de Medici. 

Step into the past and uncover how linguistic developments in the early modern era point to an evolving understading of womanhood and how these developments appear in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. 

Discover the enigmatic Catherine de Medici's profound influence on Shakespeare's iconic tragedy. Unveil the parallels between her powerful legacy and the depecition of Tamora, offering fresh perspectives on the play's timeless themes. Join us for a captivating episode that delves into history, literature, and their echoes in our world today on "Shakespeare Anyone!"

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Carney, Jo Eldridge. "“I’ll Find a Day to Massacre Them All”: Tamora in Titus Andronicus and Catherine de Médicis." Comparative Drama, vol. 48 no. 4, 2014, p. 415-435. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/cdr.2014.0034.

Higginbotham, Jennifer. “‘A Wentche, a Gyrle, a Damsell’: Defining Early Modern Girlhood.” The Girlhood of Shakespeare’s Sisters: Gender, Transgression, Adolescence, Edinburgh University Press, 2013, pp. 20–61. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt20q22dc.6. Accessed 1 Aug. 2023.

 

In today's episode, we are joined by New York Times bestselling author Evelyn Skye to discuss her debut adult novel THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET and her process for adapting one of Shakespeare's most famous stories into her own. THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET is available now, wherever you get your books! Join us on our Patreon later this month as we dive deeper into the book (with spoilers!) with Evelyn. 

THE HUNDRED LOVES OF JULIET is a modern reimagining of Romeo and Juliet, with a twist: Romeo has been cursed to live forever, Juliet to reincarnate and die soon after they meet. Sometimes they only have minutes together, sometimes they have years. But she always—no matter what they do to prevent it—perishes. Told in alternating dual perspectives, “this novel cleverly imagines the epilogue the lovers didn’t get to have, and how curses can be blessings in disguise.” (Jodi Picoult)

A STORY ORIGINATING FROM THE AUTHOR’S POIGNANT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: In 2018, just ten months after they were married, Evelyn’s husband Tom underwent an emergency double lung transplant—and since the moment he woke, they have lived with the knowledge that any day could be his last. In the years following Tom’s surgery, Evelyn turned to her own writing to grapple with the uncertainty and anxiety of their future. She was drawn to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet—but instead of immersing herself in the themes of desperation and senseless loss that mark Shakespeare’s best-known play, she was inspired to reimagine the eponymous characters as two regular people fighting against the heartbreaking fate that bound them together… and instead for the unshakeable, transcendent love that fate dealt them.

EVELYN SKYE is the New York Times best selling author of eight novels, including The Crown's Game. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, Skye lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughter. For more, follow her on Instagram at @evelyn_skye or visit evelynskye.com

 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Skye, Evelyn. The Hundred Loves of Juliet. Del Rey Books, 2023.

 

 

In our first deep dive episode into the world of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, we are examining early modern gender norms and how they influence the world of Messina and Leonato's household in Shakespeare's play.

Join us as we discuss the spectrum of womanhood represented by Hero and Beatrice and examine the early modern anxieties that fuelled representations of cuckoldry on stage (and where did the idea of horns come from?). We'll also explore the early modern ideal of the silent wife and the trope of women at windows before talking about how modern theatremakers can choose to address these themes.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone, sending us a virtual tip via our tipjar, or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod.

Works referenced:

Berger, Harry. “Against the Sink-a-Pace: Sexual and Family Politics In Much Ado About Nothing.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 3, 1982, pp. 302–13. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2869734. Accessed 9 July 2024.

Cohen, Stephen. “‘No Assembly but Horn-Beast’: The Politics of Cuckoldry in Shakespeare’s Romantic Comedies.” Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2004, pp. 5–34. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40339529. Accessed 16 July 2024.

Friedman, Michael D. “‘Hush’d on Purpose to Grace Harmony’: Wives and Silence in ‘Much Ado about Nothing.’” Theatre Journal, vol. 42, no. 3, 1990, pp. 350–363, https://doi.org/10.2307/3208080.

Lewis, Cynthia. “‘You Were an Actor with Your Handkerchief’: Women, Windows, and Moral Agency.” Comparative Drama, vol. 43, no. 4, 2009, pp. 473–96. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23038006. Accessed 9 July 2024.

McEachern, Claire. “Why Do Cuckolds Have Horns?” Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 71, no. 4, 2008, pp. 607–31. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.1525/hlq.2008.71.4.607. Accessed 16 July 2024.

THOMSON, LESLIE. “Window Scenes in Renaissance Plays: A Survey and Some Conclusions.” Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England, vol. 5, 1991, pp. 225–43. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24322098. Accessed 9 July 2024.

In today's episode, we are starting off our discussions on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus by discussing trauma and trauma theory and how trauma and trauma theory appear throughout the play.

We will discuss the cultural effect of Lavinia's trauma and the ethics involved in reproducing that trauma onstage in both Shakespeare's time and today.

Finally, we'll discuss how theatremakers and educators use trauma-informed practices to responsibly engage with early modern works that contain trauma. We reference The Pillars developed by Intimacy Directors International, which can be found here. 

Content Warning: Titus Andronicus contains depictions and descriptions of acts of mutilation, graphic discussions of sexual assault and rape, overt racism, non-consensual cannibalism, and torture. Please listen with care.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

BROCKMAN, SONYA L. “TRAUMA AND ABANDONED TESTIMONY IN ‘TITUS ANDRONICUS’ AND ‘RAPE OF LUCRECE.’” College Literature, vol. 44, no. 3, 2017, pp. 344–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44504139. Accessed 11 July 2023.

Mendoza, Kirsten N. “Sexual Violence, Trigger Warnings, and the Early Modern Classroom.” Teaching Social Justice Through Shakespeare: Why Renaissance Literature Matters Now, edited by Hillary Eklund and Wendy Beth Hyman, Edinburgh University Press, 2019, pp. 97–105. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctvrs912p.13. Accessed 11 July 2023.

Sina, Tonia, et al. “The Pillars - IDI.” The Pillars, 2020, docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/924101_2e8c624bcf394166bc0443c1f35efe1d.pdf. 

Smith, Charlene. “Staging Sexual Assault Responsibly.” HowlRound Theatre Commons, 10 July 2019, howlround.com/staging-sexual-assault-responsibly. 

Solga, Kim. “Rape’s Metatheatrical Return: Rehearsing Sexual Violence among the Early Moderns.” Theatre Journal, vol. 58, no. 1, 2006, pp. 53–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25069779. Accessed 19 July 2023.

Willis, Deborah. “‘The Gnawing Vulture’: Revenge, Trauma Theory, and ‘Titus Andronicus.’” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 1, 2002, pp. 21–52. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3844038. Accessed 11 July 2023.

When we decided to name the episodes where we cover major themes, the main sources, and key background information for Shakespeare’s plays, we definitely weren’t thinking of the implications it would have for this play in particular. 

But now we are here, and discussing stuff to chew on for Titus Andronicus!

Content warning: Titus Andronicus contains depictions and descriptions of acts of mutilation, graphic discussions of sexual assault and rape, overt racism, non-consensual cannibalism, and torture. Please listen with care.

 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

“Philomela.” Wikipedia, 23 May 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philomela.

Shakespeare, William, and Jonathan Bate. Titus Andronicus: Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018

 

 

 

It's time for a new play, which means a new synopsis! We are diving into Titus Andronicus today, and we will be breaking down this play scene by scene. 

Content Warning: Titus Andronicus contains depictions and descriptions of acts of mutilation, graphic discussions of sexual assault and rape, overt racism, non-consensual cannibalism, and torture. Please listen with care. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Special thanks to Nat Yonce for guest-editing this episode.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Shakespeare, William, and Jonathan Bate. Titus Andronicus: Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018.

 

 

In today's episode, we are joined by Dr. Trevor Boffone and Dr. Danielle Rosvally to chat about Yassified Shakespeare, their recent Shakespeare Bulletin article, "'Everyone in illyria is bi you absolute cowards': Shakespeare TikTok, Twelfth Night , and the Search for a Queer Utopia," and the intersection between Shakespeare, social media, and queer youth cultural aesthetics. We also sing some showtunes!

Trevor Boffone went viral in 2019 and hasn't looked back. His work using TikTok and Instagram with his students has been featured on Good Morning America, ABC News, Inside Edition, and Access Hollywood, among numerous national media platforms. His work as a social media expert has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Forbes, The Atlantic, and NPR. Trevor has published two books on social media and popular culture, and has two forthcoming books exploring theatre marketing on social media. Oh, and he does the Shakespeare thing, too. He is the co-editor of Shakespeare & Latinidad and is currently co-writing a book on Yassified Shakespeare.   Danielle Rosvally is less cool than Trevor, but hoping to someday attain his relative level of awesomeness. She is a fight director, actor, dramaturge, and direction and is an assistant professor of theatre at the University at Buffalo. Danielle is primarily a Shakespearean and has written one book on Shakespeare as an economic value, co-edited a collection about what “liveness” means in early modern theatre, and published articles about Shakespeare, labor, economies, and social media in journals such as Theatre Topics, the Early Modern Studies Journal, and Shakespeare Bulletin. She’s currently co-editing a journal devoted to exploring issues of Shakespeare and Contingency, and co-writing a book about Yassified Shakespeare.  

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Boffone, Trevor, and Danielle Rosvally. “‘Everyone in Illyria Is Bi You Absolute Cowards’: Shakespeare Tiktok, Twelfth Night, and the Search for a Queer Utopia.” Shakespeare Bulletin, vol. 40, no. 4, winter 2022, pp. 481–507, https://doi.org/10.1353/shb.2022.0048.  

 

It's our final episode of our series on A Midsummer Night's Dream! As always, we watch multiple productions of the play and share our thoughts. 

Join us as we discuss 1999's film version directed by Michael Hoffman which features a star-studded cast and incredible scenery alongside the National Theatre's 2019 production starring Gwendoline Christie as Titania which was notable for swapping Titania and Oberon's language for most of the play. 

You'll also learn why Elyse struggles to enjoy productions of this play and the pitfalls in which she believes most productions fall.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Hoffman, Michael, director. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Regency Enterprises/Fox Searchlight Pictures, 1999.

Hytner, Nicholas and Ross MacGibbon, directors. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. National Theatre, 2019, https://www.schooltube.com/media/Official+Midsummer+Night%27s+Dream+%7C+Bridge+Theatre+%7C+National+Theatre+at+Home/1_k78527j3. Accessed 21 May 2023.

 

 

In today's episode, we explore the fascinating history of trade and commerce in Britain, starting from prehistoric times and ending in Shakespeare's era. This episode topic was chosen by our by our Patreon patrons at the Gentry, Noble, and Royal Patron levels. Special thanks to Collective Action Comics Podcast, Claire Sharp, Elizabeth Sharman and Katie Smith!

Discover how the monetization of England's economy fueled the growth of trade and commerce, and how merchant guilds helped shape trade regulation and the urban landscape of England's bustling port towns. From the wool trade to the spice trade, Elyse and Kourtney examine the impact of commerce on everyday life, and how it challenged traditional notions of identity and community.

In addition, the episode will explain how joint-stock companies transformed the world of trade and investment, and how they contributed to the growth of England's global empire. Drawing on Shakespeare's plays and contemporary accounts, Elyse and Kourtney examine the legacy of early modern commerce on modern-day economies and societies.

Whether you're a Shakespeare enthusiast, a history buff, or just curious about the origins of global capitalism, this is an episode not to be missed!

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Anievas, Alexander, and Kerem Nişancioğlu. “Rethinking the Origins of Capitalism: The Theory of Uneven and Combined Development.” How the West Came to Rule: The Geopolitical Origins of Capitalism, Pluto Press, 2015, pp. 43–63. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt183pb6f.7. Accessed 21 Apr. 2023.

Brunton, Deborah. “6.3 Work and Trade.” Early Modern Europe: An Introduction, 2016, www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/early-modern-europe-introduction/content-section-6.3.

Grafe, Regina, and Oscar Gelderblom. “The Rise and Fall of the Merchant Guilds: Re-Thinking the Comparative Study of Commercial Institutions in Premodern Europe.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 40, no. 4, 2010, pp. 477–511. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20685545. Accessed 27 Apr. 2023.

Hair, Paul; Law, Robin (1998). "The English in western Africa to 1700". In Nicholas Canny (ed.). Oxford History of the British Empire volume 1: The Origins of Empire. British Overseas Enterprise to the Close of the Seventeenth century. Oxford: Oxford university press. pp. 241–263. ISBN 978-0-19-164734-5.

Janega, Eleanor. and Waters, Luke, “Historical Materialism 5: Feudalism, Finally”, We’re Not So Different Podcast, WNSD Podcast, 15 Nov. 2021. Accessed 24 Apr. 2023.

Janega, Eleanor and Waters, Luke, “Historical Materialism 11: Colonialism”, We’re Not So Different Podcast, WNSD Podcast, 19 Jan. 2022. Accessed 24 Apr. 2023.

Jarman, Cat. “Britain After Rome”, Gone Medieval, performance by Robin Fleming, History Hit, 29 Aug. 2022, Accessed 24 Apr. 2023.

Palma, N. (2018). Money and modernization in early modern England. Financial History Review, 25(3), 231–261. doi:10.1017/s0968565018000185

Picard, Liza. “Exploration and Trade in Elizabethan England.” British Library, 15 Mar. 2016, www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/exploration-and-trade-in-elizabethan-england.

“Prehistoric Britain: Visit Resource for Teachers”, British Museum, The British Museum, Background Information pp. 4-11, https://www.britishmuseum.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/visit-resource_prehistoric-britain-KS2.pdf, Accessed 21 Apr. 2023

Schmitthoff, M. “The Origin of the Joint-Stock Company.” The University of Toronto Law Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, 1939, pp. 74–96. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/824598. Accessed 29 Apr. 2023.

In today's episode, we take a closer look at how climate change affected early modern England--especially during the Little Ice Age, a period of global cooling that occurred from the 16th to the 19th century. We explore how this environmental phenomenon influenced the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and what it can teach us about our current global climate crisis.

To help us gain a deeper understanding of the issue, we are joined by Sydney Schwindt. Sydney Schwindt wears many hats in the theatre world; she is an actor, director, fight director, and educator. She is a resident artist and climate justice advocate on the engagement team with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. She is the program developer with the Society of American Fight Directors and is on the advisory board for the Same Boat Theatre Collective. She has taught movement and stage combat at the American Conservatory Theatre’s Graduate program and Indiana University.  

Sydney shares her expertise on the intersection of climate change and the arts, and how theatre can be used as a tool to raise awareness and promote action on climate issues. We discuss the role that theatre can play in shaping our attitudes towards the environment and how they can inspire us to take action.

Finally, we provide listeners with resources to get involved in the fight against climate change, from simple actions that can be taken in our daily lives to organizations that are making a difference.

Resources to learn more: 

• The EarthShakes Alliance
• Follow on Instagram: @earthlyeducation | @blackgirlenvironmentalist | @seedingsovereignty
• Cymbeline in the Anthropocene
• BBC's Planet Earth and Planet Earth II

 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced for this episode:

Landis, Tina. Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism. Liberation Media, 2020.

PARKER, GEOFFREY. “The Little Ice Age.” Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century, Yale University Press, 2013, pp. 3–25. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt32bksk.8. Accessed 26 Apr. 2023.  

Robinson, Mary, and Palmer Caitríona. Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019.

 

 

In today's episode, we'll be diving into the fascinating topic of changeling children in Shakespeare.

Changeling children were believed to be babies that were swapped by fairies with their own offspring, leaving behind an imposter. This myth was prevalent in Shakespeare's time and appears in many of his plays. 

We'll explore the historical and cultural context behind the changeling myth, including its origins in folklore and its significance in Shakespeare's time. We'll discuss how the myth reflects the anxieties and beliefs of Shakespeare's society.

Content warning: today's episode contains material related to ableism and child deaths that may not be appropriate for all listeners. Please listen with care. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Eberly, Susan Schoon. “Fairies and the Folklore of Disability: Changelings, Hybrids and the Solitary Fairy.” Folklore, vol. 99, no. 1, 1988, pp. 58–77. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1259568. Accessed 19 Mar. 2023.

Lamb, Mary Ellen. “Taken by the Fairies: Fairy Practices and the Production of Popular Culture in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 51, no. 3, 2000, pp. 277–312. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2902152. Accessed 19 Mar. 2023.

Leask, J. “Evidence for Autism in Folklore?” Archives of Disease in Childhood, vol. 90, no. 3, 2005, pp. 271–271., https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.2003.044958.

National PKU Alliance. “About PKU.” NPKUA, National PKU Alliance, 2023, https://www.npkua.org/What-is-PKU/About-PKU.

Progeria Research Foundation. “Quick Facts.” The Progeria Research Foundation, Progeria Research Foundation, 24 Jan. 2023, https://www.progeriaresearch.org/quick-facts/. 

 

In this episode, we explore Shakespeare's use of political satire within the pastoral comedy genre, focusing on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The pastoral genre, which originated in ancient Greek literature, involves stories set in a rustic, rural world that idealizes the simplicity and harmony of nature. During the Renaissance through Elizabethan and Stuart England, writers continued to use the pastoral setting to explore social and political issues of their time, and Shakespeare was no exception.

We'll examine how Shakespeare drew on the political tensions and intrigues of the Elizabethan court to shape the plot and characters of A Midsummer Night's Dream, revealing the complex politics of the time. Through characters such as Titania and Oberon, we'll explore how Shakespeare used the dynamics of power and authority to comment on the political struggles of the Elizabethan court. We'll also examine how the character of Bottom can be read as a charicature of several Elizabethan political figures.

Through our analysis of A Midsummer Night's Dream, we'll gain new insights into the political and cultural context that shaped one of Shakespeare's most beloved plays. So join us for a fascinating discussion of Shakespeare's use of political satire in the pastoral comedy genre, and some piping hot tea about the Elizabethan court. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Andrews, Richard. "A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Italian Pastoral." Transnational Exchange in Early Modern Theater. Routledge, 2016. 65-78. (if I have time)

Hunt, Maurice. "A Speculative Political Allegory in A Midsummer Night's Dream." Comparative Drama 34.4 (2000): 423-453.

Montrose, Louis Adrian. “Of Gentlemen and Shepherds: The Politics of Elizabethan Pastoral Form.” ELH, vol. 50, no. 3, 1983, pp. 415–59. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2872864. Accessed 4 Mar. 2023.

Rickert, Edith. “Political Propaganda and Satire in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ II.” Modern Philology, vol. 21, no. 2, 1923, pp. 133–54. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/433740. Accessed 29 Dec. 2022.

Swann, Marjorie. “The Politics of Fairylore in Early Modern English Literature.” Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 2, 2000, pp. 449–73. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2901875. Accessed 4 Mar. 2023.

 

In today's episode, we are joined by award-winning poet Elizabeth Sylvia to discuss her latest collection of poetry, None But Witches: Poems on Shakespeare's Women, the inspiration she took from Shakespeare's works, and the process behind this collection. 

Elizabeth Sylvia is the winner of the 5th annual Three Mile Harbor Poetry Prize. She lives in Mattapoisett, MA and teaches high school English in Bourne. Her poetry has been published in a wide range of literary journals, including Salamander, Pleiades, Slipstream and Crab Creek Review. None But Witches: Poems on Shakespeare's Women began as a project to read all of the bard's plays in one year. It is her first book.

None But Witches: Poems on Shakespeare's Women is a stunning debut collection by Elizabeth Sylvia, winner of the 5th annual Three Mile Harbor Poetry Prize. Although Sylvia started off accepting the truism that Shakespeare was remarkable for the depth of his female characters, she found herself surmising that the women had a lot more to say than they were given. Sometimes sympathetic, frequently enraged, Sylvia began writing to them, for them, as them, the poems ultimately going into this richly textured collection that looks at the plays themselves, at the poet's own life as a woman, and at women's continuing efforts to take the stage in the contemporary world.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Sylvia, Elizabeth. None but Witches: Poems on Shakespeare's Women. Three Mile Harbor Press, 2022.

 

 

To kick off our series on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, we are (as always) starting with an overview of basic facts about the play and an introduction to the major themes and motifs of the play. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

 

Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing: Revised Edition. Edited by Claire McEachern, 2nd ed., Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.

SparkNotes Editors. “Much Ado About Nothing.” SparkNotes.com, SparkNotes LLC, 2005, https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/muchado/section1/.

 

At the heart of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is a fantastical world of fairies, magic, and mythical creatures, and in this episode, we explore the different influences that helped to shape this world.

First up, we look at the rich tradition of English fairy folklore, which was still very much a part of the popular imagination during Shakespeare's time. We take a journey back in time to the early medieval period, when the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic cultures first began to develop their own unique traditions around fairies and other supernatural beings. As we progress through history, we discover how these beliefs evolved and became woven into the fabric of English culture during Shakespeare's time.

We also delve into the influence of Greco-Roman mythology on the play, which is perhaps most evident in the characters of Theseus and Hippolyta. We will also explore how Greco-Roman mythology influences Shakespeare's depicition of the fairies. The fairy queen Titania, for example, takes her name from a figure in ancient Greek mythology, and her depiction in the play draws on this tradition as well as on the English fairy folklore that was prevalent during Shakespeare's time.

We will also discuss how appreciating the impact and influence of these cultural traditions today can impact productions and modern readings of this play. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Calderwood, James L. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Anamorphism and Theseus’ Dream.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 4, 1991, pp. 409–30. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2870461. Accessed 6 Feb. 2023.  

HUTTON, RONALD. “THE MAKING OF THE EARLY MODERN BRITISH FAIRY TRADITION.” The Historical Journal, vol. 57, no. 4, 2014, pp. 1135–56. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24531978. Accessed 11 Feb. 2023.

Olson, Paul A. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Meaning of Court Marriage.” ELH, vol. 24, no. 2, 1957, pp. 95–119. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2871824. Accessed 11 Feb. 2023.

 

In today's episode, we will be exploring how the bubonic plague impacted society and culture in early modern England. We'll discuss governmental and individual responses as well has the effect quarantines had on the early modern theatre and the development of Shakespeare's plays. And we'll learn that, when compared to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic...well, not much has changed. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Folger Shakespeare. Living through the plague – excerpt: 'death by Shakespeare' by Kathryn Harkup. Shakespeare & Beyond, 5 May 2020, https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2020/05/05/plague-death-by-shakespeare-kathryn-harkup-excerpt. Accessed 24 Jan 2023.

Greenblatt, Stephen. What Shakespeare actually wrote about the plague. The New Yorker, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-shakespeare-actually-wrote-about-the-plague. Accessed 24 Jan, 2023.

Kobrak, Paul. Shakespeare’s Restless World, performance by Neil MacGregor, et al., episode 17, BBC, 8 May 2012. Accessed 24 Jan. 2023.

Newman, Kira L. S. “Shutt Up: Bubonic Plague and Quarantine in Early Modern England.” Journal of Social History, vol. 45, no. 3, 2012, pp. 809–34. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41678910. Accessed 24 Jan. 2023.

Shapiro, James. Ch. 14 Plague. In The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606. essay, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2016, pp. 549-596. 

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of topics that may not be suitable for all audiences. Please listen with care. 

In this episode, we explore the depictions of sex and sexuality in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. While this play (and many of Shakespeare's comedies) end with a hetero-normative marriage or three, we'll explore the depictions of queer sex in Early Modern literature and Shakespeare before diving into Early Modern England's fascination with bestiality and zoophilia. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

BOEHRER, BRUCE THOMAS. “Bestial Buggery in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The Production of English Renaissance Culture, edited by David Lee Miller et al., Cornell University Press, 1994, pp. 123–50. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctvr6970z.8. Accessed 29 Dec. 2022.

Olson, Paul A. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Meaning of Court Marriage.” ELH, vol. 24, no. 2, 1957, pp. 95–119. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2871824. Accessed 29 Dec. 2022.

SANCHEZ, MELISSA E. “‘Use Me But as Your Spaniel’: Feminism, Queer Theory, and Early Modern Sexualities.” PMLA, vol. 127, no. 3, 2012, pp. 493–511. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41616842. Accessed 29 Dec. 2022.

Vanhoutte, Jacqueline. Age in Love: Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Court. University of Nebraska Press, 2019.

Wyrick, Deborah Baker. “The Ass Motif in The Comedy of Errors and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 4, 1982, pp. 432–48. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2870124. Accessed 29 Dec. 2022.

It's time to talk about donkeys! Just kidding...a little. In this episode, we are going to unpack the major themes and tropes in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. We'll also discuss the challenges presented by some problematic plot points and what theatremakers are left to reckon with when they produce A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Korey Leigh Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Shakespeare, William, and Harold F. Brooks. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Bloomsbury, 1979.

SparkNotes Editors. “A Midsummer Night's Dream: Literary Devices: Themes.” Sparknotes, SparkNotes, 2005, https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/msnd/themes/.

 

Hello 2023! It is time for us to embark on our next play: A Midsummer Night's Dream! As always, we begin our series with a synopsis of the play in case it has been a while since you've read the play or if it is completely new to you. So, let's dive into a summary of a play about fairies, lovers, and a donkey!

 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Shakespeare, William, and Harold F. Brooks. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Bloomsbury, 1979.

 

As we wrap up 2022, we are taking a look back at the plays we covered this year by re-reading them and discussing how our readings of the plays has changed after doing our research for our episodes. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Korey Leigh Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor, Revised ed., Bloomsbury Arden, 2016.

Shakespeare, William, and R. A. Foakes. King Lear: Arden Third Series. Bloomsbury, 2018.

In today's episode, we are joined by Professor Arthur W. Frank to discuss his new work, King Lear: Shakespeare's Dark Consolations, part of Oxford University Press's My Reading series. We discuss Frank's work outside of the realm of Shakespeare, what drew him to Shakespeare and King Lear, and how the play can offer insight into our own lives. 

As part of the My Reading series, King Lear is a personal meditation on a great literary work. Arthur Frank brings a career of studying illness experience and suffering to consider how King Lear can aid people whose lives need help. Reading King Lear leads Frank to both an encounter with his own old age and a source of consolation-companionship—in his future. This book doesnot try to minimize vulnerabilities, but it shows what is fully human, and thus shared, in suffering. The book introduces readers to King Lear, and it invites those who know the play to a new consideration for its ability to affect people's lives.

Arthur Frank spent his career teaching at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He haslectured internationally, holding visiting professorships in England and Australia. His work has focused on the experience of serious illness, beginning with his memoir, At the Will of the Body and his most cited work, The Wounded Storyteller. He is an elected member of the Royal Society of Canada and recipient of the Career Achievement Award from the Canadian Bioethics Society.

ABOUT MY READING
What is it like to love a book or author? Who has most influenced or challenged your life or work? Whose standing would you most wish to enhance or rescue? What is like to have a thought or idea, doubt or memory, not cold and in abstract, but live in the very act of reading? What is it like to feel, long after, that this writer is a vital part of your life?

My Reading invites authors from across academia and the professions to focus their attentions upon the work of a single literary writer. They tell us what it’s like to care about an author, strive to recreate through specific examples imaginative versions of what those authors and works represent, and seek to share their effect upon the reader’s own thinking and development.

Other titles currently available in the My Reading series as below, with more to follow in 2023.
• Samuel Beckett – Rosemarie Bodenheimer
• Honoré de Balzac – Peter Brooks
• William James – Philip Davis
• Charles Dickens – Annette Federico

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Note: When this episode was recorded, Kourtney Smith was using the stage name "Korey Leigh Smith".

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Frank, Arthur W. King Lear: Shakespeare's Dark Consolations. Oxford University Press, 2022.

 

In recognition of the National Day of Mourning/Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, we are examining how British colonialism impacted the depiction of people of color  in Shakespeare's work. 

We also suggest listening to our episode on Shakespeare and the Colonial Imagination (Website | Apple Podcasts | Spotify) and the All My Relations podcast’s episode “ThanksTaking or ThanksGiving” (Website | Apple Podcasts | Spotify)

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Note: When this episode was recorded, Kourtney Smith was "Korey Leigh Smith".

Episode written and researched by Kourtney Smith.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Barin, Filiz. “Othello: Turks as ‘the Other’ in the Early Modern Period.” The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association, vol. 43, no. 2, 2010, pp. 37–45. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41960526. Accessed 7 Sep. 2022.

Singh, Jyotsna G. “Chapter Two: Historical Contexts 2: Shakespeare's World and Productions of Difference” Shakespeare and Postcolonial Theory, The Arden Shakespeare, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2020, pp. 57-78

We’re changing things up a bit today and bringing you a preview of a new podcast we’re enjoying and think you will, too. Where There’s a Will searches for the surprising places Shakespeare shows up outside the theater. Host Barry Edelstein, artistic director at one of the country’s leading Shakespeare theaters, and co-host writer and director Em Weinstein, ask what is it about Shakespeare that’s given him a continuous afterlife in all sorts of unexpected ways? You’ll hear Shakespeare doing rehabilitative work in a maximum security prison, helping autistic kids to communicate, shaping religious observances, in the mouths of U.S. presidents, and even at the center of a deadly riot in New York City. Join Barry and Em as they uncover the ways Shakespeare endures in our modern society, and what that says about us. In this preview,

Barry and Em explore one of The Bard’s most popular works: Hamlet. Hamlet is everywhere right now. But this isn't the same play you read in high school English. We meet the minds behind a singing Hamlet, The Northman's Amleth, and Pulitzer prizewinner Fat Ham's Juicy – and ponder what makes this Shakespearean tragedy speak directly to our time. Hear the full episode, and more from Where There’s a Will, at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/wtaw?sid=anyone.

We've reached the end of our Hamlet series! As always, to wrap up our study of a play, we are looking at a handful of noteworthy adaptations and critiquing them. With Hamlet, there were so many great ones to choose from (ahem, The Lion King), but to keep this episode from being as long as the play we stuck to the following: 

• Grigori Kozinstev's 1964 Russian film adaptation
• Kenneth Branagh's 1996 Hamlet film adaptation
• Royal Shakespeare Company's 2016 production starring Paapa Essiedu

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Note: When this episode was recorded, Kourtney Smith was "Korey Leigh Smith".

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Branagh, Kenneth, and David Barron. Hamlet: A Kenneth Branagh Film. Sony Pictures Releasing, 1996.

Kozint︠s︡ev Grigoriĭ, et al. Hamlet. Kozinstev's Hamlet (1964), Sovexportfilm, 1963, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McKuFBAp_i8. Accessed 4 Nov. 2022.

Shakespeare, William. Royal Shakespeare Company: Hamlet. Hamlet, Royal Shakespeare Company, 2016, https://video.broadwayhd.com/movies/hamlet?display=portrait. Accessed 4 Nov. 2022.

 

It's time for our next play, and we are so excited to dive into the world of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. As always, we will start off with a detailed plot summary, breaking down the action of the play scene by scene. Let's dive in!

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod

Works referenced:

Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing: Revised Edition. Edited by Claire McEachern, 2nd ed., Bloomsbury Publishing, 2016.

 

 

In our latest installment of our Shakespeare's Language Framework series, we are discussing the opposite of a discussion: soliloquies and asides!  In this episode, we look at Marcus Nordland's work with the Shakespearean Inside Database and what trends we can find in the solo speeches of Shakespeare when we look at them across the Complete Works. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Note: When this episode was recorded, Kourtney Smith was "Korey Leigh Smith".

Episode written and researched by Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Nordlund, Marcus. The Shakespearean inside: A Study of the Complete Soliloquies and Solo Asides. Edinburgh University Press, 2017. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1g0519z.5. Accessed 25 Oct. 2022.

 

Have you ever wondered why Claudius becomes king over Hamlet? In today's episode, we are exploring the laws of succession that Shakespeare's audience would have understood and diving into how modern productions have highlighted the geopolitical themes within the play. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Note: When this episode was recorded, Kourtney Smith was "Korey Leigh Smith".

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Assay, Michelle. “'Hamlet' in the Stalin Era and Beyond: Stage and Score.” Universite Paris-Sorbonne and University of Sheffield, Universite Paris-Sorbonne and University of Sheffield, 2017.

LAKE, PETER. “Hamlet.” How Shakespeare Put Politics on the Stage: Power and Succession in the History Plays, Yale University Press, 2016, pp. 511–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1gxxpsd.28. Accessed 6 Sep. 2022.

Stabler, A. P. “Elective Monarchy in the Sources of ‘Hamlet.’” Studies in Philology, vol. 62, no. 5, 1965, pp. 654–61. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4173509. Accessed 6 Sep. 2022.

In today's mini-episode, we'll be talking about the touring theatre companies of Shakespeare's time. Did companies like the Players in Hamlet actually exist (and is Shakespeare's depiction of them accurate)? What do we know about them?

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Note: When this episode was recorded, Kourtney Smith was "Korey Leigh Smith".

Episode written and researched by Kourtney Smith.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Cash, Cassidy, host. “Ep 25: Sally Beth MacLean & 16th Century English Travelling Playing Companies.” That Shakespeare Life, episode 25, Publisher, 8 October 2018, https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/7137029/height/90/theme/custom/autoplay/no/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/backward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/cc0014/.

The Medievalists. (2020). Medieval Drama. YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved September 7, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HExBbaIJWfw. 

In today's episode, we are expanding our research on Early Modern beliefs about ghosts. We'll looking be at how folk tales and ghost stories influenced the writing of Hamlet and the depiction of King Hamlet's ghost as much as (or possibly more than) Early Modern religious beliefs about the afterlife. We'll also discuss the details of how a ghost would appear onstage in Shakespeare's time and how early theatrical traditions influenced Shakespeare and his company. 

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Note: When this episode was recorded, Kourtney Smith was using the stage name "Korey Leigh Smith".

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone

Works referenced:

Belsey , Catherine. “Beyond Reason: Hamlet and Early Modern Stage Ghosts.” Gothic Renaissance - a Reassessment, edited by Beate Neumeier and Elisabeth Bronfen , Manchester University Press, Manchester, UK, 2017.

Gordon, Bruce, and Peter Marshall, editors. The Place of the Dead: Death and Remembrance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Cambridge University Press, 2000.

McKeever, Amanda Jane (2011) The ghost in early modern Protestant culture: shifting perceptions of the afterlife, 1450-1700. Doctoral thesis (DPhil), University of Sussex.

Phillippy, Patricia. Women, Death and Literature in Post-Reformation England. Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Schreyer, Kurt A. “‘Then Is Doomsday Near’: Hamlet, the Last Judgment, and the Place of Purgatory Book.” Shakespeare's Medieval Craft Remnants of the Mysteries on the London Stage, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 2014, pp. 104–134.