In an unprecedented second episode on a play, Sheldrake examines the linguistic DNA of Hamlet and finds three rhetorical techniques that perform what Shakespeare is also doing with the big ideas in this play: Hendiadys, Metonymy and Synecdoche. Podcasting on Shakespeare is a profound pleasure but, if you would like to buy me a coffee, click here: DONATE iTunes Amazon...
In an episode dedicated to a great Shakespearean, Mr John Branston, Sheldrake drifts slightly from the one-play-one-idea tagline to focus on one character in this play: Queen Margaret. After her long march through the Henry VI plays, how does she wrest some control of the audience’s perspective from Richard and, in the end, does it make any difference? Podcasting on Shakespeare is a profound pleasure but, if you would like to buy me a coffee, click here: DONATE iTunes Amazon...
Few people in the world will have spent as many hours working on the delivery and performance of Shakespeare as Robert Price. After a career as an actor, he was the Senior Voice Tutor at RADA 2007-15 and a voice tutor at LAMDA for many years. He therefore has huge experience with and a rare perspective on how to ‘speak the speech’. A few weeks ago I managed to convince him that what he really wanted to be doing with a chunk of his busy schedule was talking to me about Shakespeare and the voice. ...
In the first of two episodes on this mightiest of plays, Sheldrake compares the plot of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with its sources, uncovering a tremendous amount of ‘literary upcycling’ but also a profound and imaginative tribute to the power of theatre at the play’s core. First preview of Sheldrake on Shakespeare: Live! THIS FRIDAY 2nd June, 7pm at the Etcetera Theatre, Camden . Oxford preview on Thursday 8th June, 7.30pm at the Old Fire Station, Oxford . All previews and the Edinburgh run listed h...
In his return to the airwaves, Sheldrake considers the extraordinary popularity of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and concludes that it is the dark matter in the middle of this festive comedy sandwich that makes the play such a satisfying experience overall. iTunes Amazon Sheldrake on Shakespeare Live! London previews: Etcetera Theatre 2nd June Rosemary Branch Theatre 14th July Barons Court Theatre 23rd July Link to FringeMakers crowdfunder Facebook Further reading for this episode: Anatomy of Critic...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/henry-v-the-play-the-myth-the-legend.mp3 Henry V: one of the most patriotic characters and plays in all of literature, surely? Not so, says Sheldrake. Henry V and his world are thoroughly morally ambiguous. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/henry-iv-part-2-learning-to-play.mp3 How did people learn to act in the Renaissance? Did the texts themselves co-operate in teaching newish actors how to do certain things? Sheldrake thinks so.
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/henry-iv-part-1-history-and-personality.mp3 What to say about Henry IV Part 1 ? In the first of three main episodes, each of which will tackle one play in this Henriad, Sheldrake explores a play about history and personality, focussing on Prince Henry and his rival for glory Harry Hotspur. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/short-sos-teaching-shakespeare.mp3 He claims no monopoly on wisdom in this area, but as an academic year draws to a close and the long vacation heaves into view, Sheldrake reflects on his experiences of teaching Shakespeare. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/troilus-and-cressida-shakespeares-ugliest-play.mp3 We associate Shakespeare with humanity, warmth, generosity and kindness when he writes about people who have made a wrong decision. Even Richard III at the beginning of his play tells us what a dreadful life he’s had until now. Troilus and Cressida is different. Shakespeare is merciless with his characters and shows the Trojan War as a perverse catastrophe for everyone unlucky enough ...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/short-sos-shakespeare-and-evil.mp3 Thanks to a couple of nearby anniversaries, we are hearing more than ever not only what great theatre Shakespeare is, but also what a positive influence he is. By and large, this is true. But the commemorative coin has another side, which is Shakespeare’s repeated mobilisation by fascists, racists and regimes we despise. Firstly, this is a story worth telling. Secondly, what does it mean for the play...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/the-tempest-infinite-variety.mp3 The Tempest is a difficult play to nail down. It is also the most reinterpreted and adapted of Shakespeare’s plays. In this episode, Sheldrake pursues three themes – Love, Power and Art – and examines how they have been reinterpreted over the centuries. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/short-sos-sheldrake-on-jonson.mp3 Ben Jonson. Rival or friend of Shakespeare? Grumpy old bore or stout moralist? In a typical cop-out, Sheldrake thinks both caricatures are true. Jonson is an awkward playwright at the best of times, but his plays are well worth the seeing. Sheldrake gives you his personal top three. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/the-merchant-of-venice-is-it-worth-it.mp3 We seem to spend much of our lives asking whether things are worth it. Are they worth the money, the time, the effort? Are we getting value for money? Is something worth it? And everybody in The Merchant of Venice seems to be asking that kind of question too. Venice itself seems to be all about cost and Belmont seems to be all about value. But is it that simple? Also available on iTunes: http:...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/short-sos-second-thoughts-about-measure-for-measure-rada.mp3 A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be leading a seminar at RADA on Measure for Measure . In preparing for that seminar I found myself disagreeing with much of what I said in my own podcast episode on the play. So here I rebut and refute many of my earlier claims. One of the great pleasures of working on Shakespeare is that one’s opinions are seldom allowed to stand still....
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/othello-perspective.mp3 It’s difficult to know what, and particularly who, to talk about in Othello . Iago is a distraction, Othello likes to inflate his own sense of himself, whilst Desdemona can seem even less than she is. Which is odd, because the characters too find themselves not quite knowing how to interpret what they see in front of them. Or they misunderstand completely and interpret too easily. Their perspective is awry. And...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/short-sos-falstaff-again.mp3 Falstaff will exceed the bounds of whatever box you try to put him in, a truth I found out for myself in the last Short Sheldrake on Shakespeare. I return to complete some unfinished business on this occasion, finishing off some remarks about why Falstaff is so popular in the Henry IV plays and giving some thought to his influence after his off-stage death early in Henry V . Also available on iTunes: http:...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/twelfth-night-play-on.mp3 Twelfth Night seems to be everyone’s favourite Shakespeare play. Why is this the case? Could it be something to do with the fact that it is a play about playing? This play is a hymn to the pleasure and virtue of playing and play wins over anti-play, though of course the real motto is that it’s the taking part that counts. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/short-sos-why-is-falstaff-so-popular.mp3 Sir John Falstaff is a river who has burst his banks. He has taken on a life beyond Shakespeare’s plays and become a myth in his own right. Anybody who has a thirst for life is described as Falstaffian, he has had operas written for him, actors at the mature height of their comic powers have repeatedly enjoyed success as this embodiment of festivity and he remains an unassailable favourite with...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/sheldrake-on-shakespeare-king-lear-and-service.mp3 King Lear is a work of obvious genius, so what to say about it in fifteen minutes that can illuminate it? Using the historical idea of service, and the relationship between service and – believe it or not – love, we can get a handle on all sorts of relationships in the play. And Sheldrake thinks these handles can help us whether we are in a classroom, sitting room or rehearsal. Also a...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/sheldrake-on-shakespeare-special-amity-with-globe-education.mp3 Globe Education is launching its new season, a rich array of theatrical and academic events culminating in a two-day conference next April. Sheldrake went along to the Globe to interview Dr Will Tosh to talk about the theme of the season, namely Amity, and some of the upcoming events, including performances at the Inns of Court. Amity is the Renaissance ideal of friendshi...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/short-sos-performance-history.mp3 We all have an image in our mind’s eye of Shakespearean performance during Shakespeare’s lifetime, but what happened between then and now? Why didn’t the Restoration court like Shakespeare? Who is David Garrick? For answers to all these questions and more, seek no further. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/short-sos-genre.mp3 This is not the first time genre has been used as a critical tool for understanding Shakespeare’s process and plays, but Sheldrake – never one to dismiss an idea merely because it has been heard before – draws together some big ideas about comedy and tragedy and shows the way that Shakespeare messes about with them. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/the-two-gentlemen-of-verona-reading-across-plays.mp3 The Two Gentlemen of Verona is not a play many people have read. Though were they to read it, they might think they have, because it reads like an anthology of Shakespeare in the 1590s. Sheldrake takes the opportunity to hold the mirror up to comedy by reading in parallel with Romeo and Juliet , Love’s Labour’s Lost and As You Like It , along the way outlining some rules of the Shak...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/short-sos-shakespeare-the-magpie.mp3 Shakespeare nicked stuff from everywhere; prose narratives, history books, other plays. Sheldrake rattles through a few of the old chestnuts and a few of the lesser-known borrowings, showing Shakespeare as a great adapter of stories. Subscribe on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/measure-for-measure-a-society-play.mp3 In a resumption of normal service that is perhaps not quite the triumphant return he would like, Sheldrake confesses himself drawn more to the ideas of Measure for Measure than its drama. The discussions of Virtue and Justice in the play are strikingly front and centre, and the social aspects of these philosophical ideas form the matter of this episode. Dodging the comedy/dark comedy/tragicomedy/...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/short-sos-shakespeare-al-fresco.mp3 A very great number of Shakespeare performances in Britain are conducted by amateur companies. People gathering together to do Shakespeare for fun. The open-air festival is a particularly popular brand of this. Sheldrake has been involved with the Pendley Shakespeare Festival for some time, and from this year’s Festival he uncovers the meanings of Shakespeare that emerge in these kinds of events. Al...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/short-sos-sheldrake-on-marston.mp3 Testing the patience of listeners once again by talking about someone who isn’t Shakespeare, Sheldrake investigates the peculiar career of John Marston; satirist, dramatist, tragicomedian. He had some great successes, then there was a bit of a lean patch, then he appears to have thrown in the towel. Why? In one word – tragicomedy. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/short-sos-sheldrake-on-marlowe.mp3 Sheldrake decides to put his money where his mouth is regarding Shakespeare’s contemporaries. Why should we care about Marlowe, both on his own terms and in relation to Shakespeare? Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
https://sheldrakeonshakespeare.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/julius-caesar-and-the-soliloquy1.mp3 The soliloquy is one of Shakespeare’s most recognisable and distinctive theatrical devices. It is in no small part responsible for his fame as a dramatist of human psychology. Was Julius Caesar the gateway in Shakespeare’s soliloquising art between the 1590s and the 1600s? Sheldrake takes a close look at a few speeches from the play. Subscribe on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm...
