Today we're tackling the movement toward Realism in the theater with a discussion of Henrik Ibsen's 1891 stage play, Hedda Gabler. This one caused a stir among the CenterForLit crew members, which instigated a big, juicy conversation about Ibsen's purpose in portraying such an unlikable character in Hedda.

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This week Ian and Emily are talking about what happened to the theater after Shakespeare. They follow the trends of comedy and tragedy, Renaissance and Reformation, Enlightenment and Puritanism. Then, as an illustration of the period's offerings, they look at Joseph Addison's influential tragedy, Cato.

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In our last episode, we discussed the concerns about theatre raised by the Reformation. Today we're looking at The Tempest as Shakespeare's answer to the question about the good of performance art. We talk about why Shakespeare has had such a lasting influence, not only on theatre, but on the English language as a whole, and we examine the "metatheater" of The Tempest for clues about what the Bard hoped he was accomplishing with his own work.

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The CenterForLit crew attempts a huge historical leap in this episode as we try to bridge the gap between Greek drama and the Reformation. We talk about the sacred and ritual aspects of theatre before its secularization, and then use that context to make sense of why the Reformers had such a violet response to the art form.

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In a Jason-like heroic struggle, Ian wrestles his wife and his mother in a conversation about Euripides' Medea. We talk about the function of this play in its historical context, argue about how much sympathy the main characters deserve, and marvel at the playwright's avant-garde perspective on Athenian society.

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Welcome to a new season of BiblioFiles! In this first episode, the CenterForLit crew introduces our theatrical theme and discusses the similarities and differences between reading a work of prose and reading a play. We talk about the challenge of interpreting such a dialogue-heavy art form, as well as the competing interpretations involved in staging a play. We also reveal our own histories with the theater and lament missed opportunities to live in the limelight.

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In the final episode of our season on Juvenile and YA Fiction, the entire CenterForLit crew gathers to reminisce about how they got hooked on reading as children. We also discuss how to go about guiding young readers through the current environment of juvenile and YA literature.

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Emily joins Ian in this episode to talk about our first author who writes solely in the YA genre: John Green. They discuss what makes his work so different from others we’ve covered this season and what that means for parents and readers who want to benefit from his rich, literary voice.

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You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs!

Please ⁠join the Facebook group⁠ and ⁠subscribe to our Substack Newsletter⁠!

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.

In this episode, Megan joins Ian to talk about the magic of Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwicks series. They discuss what it is about this series that appeals so well to audiences of all ages and what that can teach us about good writing for young readers.

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You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs!

Please ⁠join the Facebook group⁠ and ⁠subscribe to our Substack Newsletter⁠!

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.

What can CenterForLit’s favorite children’s author teach us about the difference between juvenile and YA fiction? Adam and Missy sit down with Ian in this episode to talk about what makes the work of Gary D. Schmidt so special.

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You can support the CenterForLit Podcast Network by making a purchase through our affiliate programs!

Please ⁠join the Facebook group⁠ and ⁠subscribe to our Substack Newsletter⁠!

We love hearing your questions and comments! You can contact us by emailing [email protected], or visit our website www.centerforlit.com to find even more ways to participate in the Great Conversation.