Episodes - Shakesplaining

Episodes - Shakesplaining

By Cate HirschbielArts
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Episodes - Shakesplaining episodes

  • Episode 24 - NTL's Julius Caesar
    Here, finally is the episode covering the last two productions of Julius Caesar. Emma and I talk about the NTL production that we just saw and ASP's production from last Fall. Here's the NTL trailer which you should really watch: https://youtu.be/micAGOYfmJs.
    Press photos: https://www.standard.co.uk/go/london/theatre/julius-caesar-review-join-the-mob-for-this-absorbing-look-at-the-dangers-of-populism-a3753921.html
    Julius Caesar in text messages: http://community.sparknotes.com/2018/03/15/julius-caesar-as-told-in-a-series-of-texts/slide/5
    Upcoming shows:
    Theatre@First Midsummer: http://www.theatreatfirst.org/shows/midsummer_nights_dream/midsummer_nights_dream.shtml
    Commonwealth Shakespeare Richard III: http://commshakes.org/production/richard-iii/
    Praxis Stage Henry IV: https://www.facebook.com/praxis.stage
    Shakespeare slam: https://www.facebook.com/events/1128408060644841/
    24 min
  • Episode 23 - Winter's Tale in DC

    Photo of the stage at the Folger

    I went to Washington DC and visited the Folger Shakespeare Library on Shakespeare's birthday and while I was there caught a production of The Winter's Tale with my friend Ed. 

    In the episode we discuss if actual bears might have been used for the famous stage direction "Exit, pursued by a bear." There's a tumblr thread that covers the basics, but....it's a tumblr thread and I wanted to go a bit deeper. Turns out, the primary evidence for this is a 2001 article by a scholar named Teresa Grant (GRANT, TERESA. (2001). White bears in Mucedorus, the Winter's Tale, and Oberon, the Fairy Prince. Notes and Queries. 48. 10.1093/nq/48.3.311-b.). I wasn't able to get ahold of this article BUT Grant weighed in on a minor flame war in the London Review of Books which you can read online here: https://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n23/anne-barton/wholly-given-over-to-thee. Basically, another scholar wrote a book about Elizabethan Romances, got reviewed and was criticized fore her bear-skepticism. She responded with the anti-bear argument and then Teresa Grant added her two cents. Unfortunately, I'm not convinced the bears were used in this play, but it sounds like bears were a meme to 1610 Londoners and they were willing to accept them popping up wherever. 

    Here also is the Washington Post review I mention in the episode.

    40 min
  • Episode 21 - Romeo & Juliet and Bennie & the Jets
    Satire V: http://www.satirev.org/
    For a complete set list, see www.shakesplaining.com/episodes
    Upcoming shows:
    ASP Much Ado: https://www.actorsshakespeareproject.org/plays-events/much-ado-about-nothing/
    NTL Macbeth: http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/66375-macbeth
    Theatre at First Midsummer: http://www.theatreatfirst.org/index.shtml
    24 min
  • Episode 20 - ASP's Richard III
    Welcome back to Shakesplaining! This is the Actors' Shakespeare Project's first show of 2018, Richard III. A favorite play of mine. I mention two books in this episode: "The Sunne in Splendour" by Sharon Kay Penman and "The Bones of a King: Richard III Rediscovered" by the Grey Friars Research Team. Links on my website.
    24 min
  • Episode 16 - Delaware Shakespeare's Henry V
    A female Henry V took the stage in Wilmington, Delaware this summer. Read about the gender-blind casting here: http://www.delawareonline.com/story/entertainment/2017/07/14/gender-blind-casting-wine-bottles-henry-v/474953001/
    8 min

About Episodes - Shakesplaining

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A twice-monthly look at Shakespeare productions in the Boston area