Three trousers parts, unorthodox legal documents and a whole lot of bigotry---what could it be but The Merchant of Venice? We're doing our best with this one, y'all.

TW: Antisemitism, racism

It's now year two with the Bard, and we're kicking it off with a play that it's very possible you have never heard of. Who the heck is King John, and what does he have to do with the 1960s???

One year of Shakespeare come and gone, and to celebrate we're giving ourselves and you a little treat: we're talking Hamlet. It's not just any matchup, either. Today it's Branagh vs. Olivier, no holds barred. Who's the real prince of Denmark, and who is a quintessence of dust?

Heads up... the audio is real rough on this one. Sorry. We're comparing two versions of the play that makes people say, "wait, there was a Richard II?"

Romeo and Juliet is great--who'da thunk! But there's a lot to unpack in the two most famous film adaptations, and in the play itself.

Zeffirelli article on Vulture: https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.vulture.com/article/romeo-juliet-olivia-hussey-leonard-whiting-paramount-lawsuit.html#google_vignette

Historical hose: https://rowantreeworkshop.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/02/Mens-medieval-hose-1.jpg

We may have gone a bit overboard on this one. In our defense, come on. It's A Midsummer Night's Dream! Content warning: excessive ranting about Mickey Rooney.

We didn't know anything about it either, but hey! It's a comedy! This is also the entrance of our man Kenny B to the podcast, and you really have to see it to believe it.

If it has so many errors, why didn't he just get an editor (I apologize immediately)? This is a wacky one, and each version has its own interesting celebrity cast member with differing degrees of likelihood. It's time for double trouble in Ephesus!

We're getting into the real stuff, folks. Come enjoy the antics of the man who was so evil everyone decided to chuck the whole royal family and start over from scratch.

The tragedy has landed! And oh buddy, what a tragedy it is. Luckily, there are a couple of actually good filmed versions of it. Trigger warning for basically everything.