Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast

Helen Joo Lee and Lucky Stiff are two of the nine solo performers guiding audiences through the Goodman Theatre production of David Byrne and Mala Gaonkar's Theatre of the Mind, a uniquely interactive and immersive theatrical experience now running in Chicago through July 12, 2026. Helen and Lucky share stories about the audition process and reveal the new skills they get to call upon; how so many wildly different actors become David Byrne; the value of controlled violence and being a not-so-secret potty mouth; the variety of special interactions they've had with different audience members; how the show is like the world’s loveliest, sweetest escape room; and the power of giving (and receiving) a gender-affirming haircut. (Length 21:03)

At Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, Pericles boldly goes where no Pericles has gone before. Artistic Director Brian Isaac Phillips discusses how his space-age setting for Shakespeare's underrated Romance is weirdly more relatable than the maritime travel in the original; how they've changed very little language (apart from some references of ‘sea’ to ‘sky’); how there's nothing new under the sun (from any galaxy); how he and his cast are playing it straight and not campy or spoofy; how companies don't program Pericles unless they have a passion for it, which always shows; how this bucket-list show gives both actors and audiences the opportunity to complete their personal canons; and the rewards of producing a less-well-known play that carries less baggage for audiences than, say, Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. (Length 21:33)

Professor Caroline Bicks holds the inaugural Stephen E. King Chair of Literature at the University of Maine, and is the first scholar to be granted extended access by King to his private archives. That research has led to Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King, her new book that digs deep into King's original manuscripts and discovers connections to William Shakespeare along the way. Bicks reveals how she was able to confront her fears sparked by King's books and meeting the man himself; how King initially conceived The Shining as a Shakespearean tragedy; how King's depictions of teenagers reaching "mental puberty" corresponded with her own investigation into Shakespeare's works; the importance of "public-facing scholarship;" and the incredible value of reading books for their literary value at the same time you're already reading for pleasure. (Length 30:35)

Playwright Jacques Lamarre returns to discuss his epic new work, Circus Fire, which commemorates one of the worst fire disasters in U.S. history, and which Hartford's Theaterworks is producing as part of its 40th anniversary season. Jacques reveals the origins of his own fascination with the topic; how this is the largest production Theaterworks has ever mounted; how it's already been extended twice, despite some public controversy; where Jacques got his start as a playwright (and who gets the credit and/or blame); the inspiration he takes from Tectonic Theater’s The Laramie Project; how this event changed live performance across the country; how even a story of tragedy needs – like the circus itself – moments of joy. (Length 31:27) 

Actor, author, director, and educator Ben Crystal returns to discuss his book Shakespeare on Toast, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary and is now available in short entertaining clips on Instagram. Ben shares how the book came to be and the origins of its terrific title; how he and his father wrote the definitive work for the 21st century Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companion, and how the books continues to be improved and an online resource; how bringing his scholarship to social media combines his academic and artistic skills; incredible insights into 17th-century language from 21st-century students; and the importance of providing a holistic way into Shakespeare's works. (Length 28:02)

Matthew Croke, former clown, RSC actor, and current podcast consigliere, returns to discuss where the RSC Podcast should go in its next 1000 episodes. Matt and Austin discuss the huge recent bump in German listeners; share tips and cautionary tales for our fellow content creators; compare podcast editing platforms Descript and Riverside; tease a possible new recurring segment; reveal the importance of breaking eggs when you're learning to make an omelette; engage in shameless product placement; and strategize how we can continue to build our community of RSC fans and theatre lovers. (Length 27:15)

After shocking upsets in last week's Rounds of 64 and 32, our Ides of March Madness tournament continues with a Sweet 16 consisting of Nick Bottom vs. Richard III, Beatrice vs. Sir John Falstaff, Juliet vs. Cassius, Marc Antony vs. Margaret, Aaron vs. Hamlet, Emilia vs. Prince Hal/Henry V, Lady Macbeth vs. Caliban, and Paulina vs. Viola. Judges DeeDee Batteast, Nate Cohen, Elizabeth Dennehy, Gregory Linington, and Austin Tichenor call it the way they see it and reveal how some unjustifiable seeding gets exposed when characters go head-to-head; how “the noblest Roman of them all” fares against a teenage girl from Verona; how Queen Margaret begins as Juliet; Aaron’s aristocratic origins; how the possibility of playing these characters with the Back Room Shakespeare Project became an important contributing factor; several come-from-behind victories when the outcome looked obvious; and how characters who appear across multiple plays have a decided(ly unfair?) advantage. Who will win the crown of Shakespeare's Best Character? Hear here! (Length 52:41)

It. Has. Come. Down. To. This. RSC co-artistic director Austin Tichenor is joined by actors, directors, coaches, and Shakespeareans DeeDee Batteast, Elizabeth Dennehy, Gregory Linington, and director/mathemagician Nate Cohen to decide Shakespeare's Best Character in our (mostly) annual Ides of March Madness tournament. The distinguished panel reveals unexpected seeding for some characters fans won't see coming; some heart-stopping upsets; how the depth of some characters compares to the breadth of others; the kind of Rosalind we’re all dying to see; how Nate gamed out the entire season to arrive at this field of 64; threading the needle of Best vs. Great vs. Favorite; how some lesser-known characters punch above their recognition level; which character gets (appropriately enough) voted off the island in the first round; a bold approach to Shylock; and a Sweet Sixteen of undeniable greatness that will compete resolutely when our tournament concludes next week. #EdmundWasRight (Length 1:28:58)

William Sutton has memorized all of Shakespeare’s sonnets so you don’t have to, and created ILoveShakespeare.com (above), an online collection and examination of all 154 of Shakespeare’s sonnets organized by themes of Love, Death, Nature, Pain, and Time. Will is an actor, educator, and alumnus of The Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, and reveals the possibly real reason Shakespeare wrote exactly 154 sonnets; how he mastered Elizabethan English by learning and speaking the sonnets; how you too can join the pantheon of actors who’ve come before us; how Shakespeare's words are only the beginning; that time he was invited to recite a sonnet at Shakespeare's gravesite; how he was able to pluck from memory Sonnet 138; and the way in which a self-described ‘bear of very little brain’ has come to understand not only Shakespeare’s sonnets, but his plays. (Length 22:19)

The Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation, one of the UK’s oldest cultural education charities, hosts the annual Shakespeare Schools Festival, which gives young people the confidence and skills to succeed in life by using the unique power of Shakespeare to transform lives. Mike Tucker, the head of the Foundation, discusses how they demystify Shakespeare (for teachers and students alike) by removing him from his pedestal; how the process of creating theater creates essential life skills; the importance of failing and learning you are more than your mistakes; the necessity of understanding that the value is in the process, not the product; and how the rehearsal room is not a luxury, it’s a training-ground for democracy. (Length 22:18)