In today's episode, we are exploring how Shakespeare was influenced by The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione as he was writing Much Ado About Nothing . We'll discuss how close reading of both Shakespeare's play and Castiglione's Renaissance etiquette book uncovers layers of intertextuality and references to The Courtier in Shakespeare's writing. First, we'll discuss some parallels between The Courtier and Much Ado About Nothing. Then we will dig deeper into Book 3 of The Courtier an...
Sep 11, 2024•55 min
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...
Aug 28, 2024•20 min
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 e...
Aug 14, 2024•45 min
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...
Jul 31, 2024•37 min
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 ...
Jul 17, 2024•53 min
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 patreo...
Jul 03, 2024•26 min
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...
Jun 19, 2024•1 hr 27 min
In today's episode, we are joined by Ricky Dukes, Artistic Director of the Lazarus Theatre Company, to discuss the work of the Lazarus Theatre Company, why classical plays, including Shakespeare, are still relevant for audiences today, and the upcoming (and timely) Lazarus Theatre Company production of Julius Caesar. About Ricky Dukes Ricky is a working-class, award-winning Director, Practitioner and Teacher based in the West Midlands and London. In 2007 he founded Lazarus Theatre Company and is...
Jun 05, 2024•1 hr 6 min
It's hard to believe it is finally here, but we are wrapping up our Romeo and Juliet series this week by watching and discussing two productions. First, we will discuss Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet , starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the title roles. Then, we will move into the National Theatre at Home production of Romeo and Juliet directed by Simon Godwin and starring Jessie Buckley and Josh O'Connor. Not enough Romeo and Juliet ? Paid Patreon memb...
May 22, 2024•58 min
In today's episode, we are joined in discussion with Kelly Hunter, MBE, to discuss her work producting Shakespeare for autistic audiences. We will discuss Kelly's professional journey that led her from working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and on the West End to founding The Flute Theatre and developing the Hunter Heartbeat Method in collaboration with autistic individuals. Kelly Hunter, MBE began working in theatre aged 17 playing The Mistress in Evita in the West En...
May 08, 2024•49 min
In today's episode, we are exploring the historical context for the family feud and violence between the Capulets and Montagues in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . We'll briefly revisit the history of medieval bloodfeuds that we examined in our episodes on Macbeth , then we will dive into the pratices of vendettas and dueling in the Italian renaissance and how this form of violence was imported into England, Scotland, and Wales in the late 1500s and early 1600s. We will examine the rise ...
Apr 24, 2024•42 min
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 Smit...
Apr 10, 2024•26 min
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 a...
Mar 27, 2024•49 min
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 profes...
Mar 13, 2024•37 min
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 crea...
Feb 28, 2024•44 min
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 Will...
Feb 14, 2024•20 min
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 pro...
Jan 31, 2024•51 min
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/...
Jan 17, 2024•29 min
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...
Jan 03, 2024•1 hr 28 min
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 N...
Dec 20, 2023•52 min
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 Wo...
Dec 06, 2023•21 min
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 als...
Nov 22, 2023•22 min
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! S...
Nov 08, 2023•50 min
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 Shake...
Oct 25, 2023•35 min
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...
Oct 11, 2023•51 min
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 ...
Sep 27, 2023•24 min
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 ...
Sep 13, 2023•51 min
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 wil...
Aug 30, 2023•20 min
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...
Aug 16, 2023•26 min
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. Discove...
Aug 16, 2023•1 hr
