shakespeare unbard: examining shakespeare one play at a time

There's a pleasing symmetry to the fact that the Bard opened his career with "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" and closed it , so far as we know, with "The Two Noble Kinsmen".  In this last episode of "Shakespeare Unbard", Joel discusses Shakespeare's last known work and leaves you with some parting thoughts. 

Just as King Lear isn't about King Lear and Julius Caesar isn't about Julius Caesar, Henry VIII isn't about Henry VIII. Its central figures are Wolsey and Katharine, each of whom emerge as the protagonists in what amounts to an uneven historical epic.

Beloved among Shakespeare fans, The Tempest holds a regal place in the canon, mostly  because of the popular belief that Prospero is a stand-in for the Bard himself. In Episode 36, Joel discusses the last play Shakespeare wrote by himself.

Mixing history, comedy, and tragedy, Cymbeline is a grab-bag, the equivalent of a Shakespearian mix-tape. There's no way around it: Cymbeline is Shakespeare's craziest play, a wild theatrical experiment that mashes so many different genres, plots, and styles that it's astonishing the thing makes any sense.

"A sad tale's best for winter" asserts Mamillius, the doomed prince of Bohemia, and rarely has a Shakespearian character summarized his own story so well. His words are proved true as we watch The Winter's Tale, a bittersweet bit of theatre that is one of the most unique Shakespeare ever devised.

There's no record of Coriolanus being performed before 1682, and even after that, the play remained unpopular. It's only recently that the play has finally appeared to be achieving some of the recognition it deserves. In this episode, Joel discusses this complex play that should be more popular than it is.

In this episode, you'll hear excerpts and clips from:

• Coriolanus. Arkangel. 2006

• Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Coriolanus. The Riverside Shakespeare, Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Moshinsky, Elijah. Coriolanus. BBC, 1984.

• Fiennes, Ralph. Coriolanus. Icon Entertainment, 2011.

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Most likely written with a collaborator, Pericles: Prince of Tyre is a dramatic hodegepodge, a mash-up of myth and fairy tales that has the distinction of being one of the few complete dramatic failures in the canon. In this episode, Joel examines the dramatic question of whether Pericles can - or should - ever be staged.

Endlessly bewildering, Antony and Cleopatra is, much like Cleopatra herself, a thing of "infinite variety". It leaps around in genre, as if Shakespeare couldn't quite make up his mind. In this episode of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel takes a look at this complex play.

In this episode, you'll hear excerpts and clips from:

• BBC Cymru Wales. Antony and Cleopatra. 2014.

• Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Riverside Shakespeare, Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Heston, Charlston. Antony and Cleopatra. Rank Organisation, 1972.

• Nunn, Trevor. Antony and Cleopatra. ITV, 1974.

• Griffin, Gary. Antony and Cleopatra. Stratford      Festival of Canada. 2015.

Other films to check out:

• Miller, Jonathan. Antony and Cleopatra. BBC, 1981.

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Growing up in the theatre, you learn pretty quickly that it's bad luck to say the name of The Scottish Play, a superstition even agnostics take seriously. None of this has affected the success of this play, which remains one of Shakespeare's most famed, most popular, and most often performed. It's not hard to guess why. There are witches, ghosts, murder, a prophecy, famous speeches, and lots and lots of blood. In Episode 30, Joel discusses this complex and fascinating play.

In this episode, you'll hear excerpts and clips from:

• Arkangel Recordings. Macbeth. 2014.

• Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Riverside Shakespeare, Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Casson, Philip. Macbeth. ITV, 1979.

• Kurzel, Justin. Macbeth, StudioCanal, 2015.

Other films to check out:

• Polanski, Roman. Macbeth. Columbia Pictures, 1971.

• Welles, Orson. Macbeth. Republic Pictures, 1948.

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Any discussion of Timon of Athens has to come with a pair of caveats: first, it was most likely written by someone else, and second, the earliest known production happened more than fifty years after Shakespeare's death. Both facts seem equally important when considering this a play that wants to be either a tragedy or a satire and ends up being neither. In Episode 29, Joel examines this timely, yet problematic play.

In this episode, you'll hear excerpts and clips from:

• Arkangel Recordings. Timon of Athens. 2014.

• Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of King Lear. The Riverside Shakespeare, Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Miller, Jonathan. Timon of Athens. BBC 1981.

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