Critics like Harold Bloom like to suggest that Lear is better read than performed. Setting aside the problem with his thesis - Shakespeare was meant to be performed, not read - it's easy to sympathize with Bloom's assertion that he has never seen a production of Lear that he liked. As long as producers insist on pretending Lear is the main character, they will be performing the wrong play. It's Kent, along with Edgar and Edmund, who deserve our attention. In Episode 28, Joel gives his unique perspective to one of Shakespeare's best plays.

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

• Arkangel Recordings. King Lear. 2014.

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

Films discussed:

• Goddard, Jean-Luc. King Lear. Cannon Films, 1987.

• Nunn, Trevor. King Lear. PBS, 2008.

Other films to check out:

• Miller, Joanathan. King Lear. BBC, 1982.
• Moorhouse, Jocelyn. A Thousand Acres. Touchstone, 1997.

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Interpreters of All's Well That End Well often play it as a romantic comedy, but this is an impossible task. The main character blackmails a man into marrying her, pursues him across Europe, commits sexual assault on him, fakes her death, humiliates him, and then blackmails him again into accepting her. In Episode 27, Joel looks at this complicated and often charmless play. 

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

• Arkangel Recordings. All's Well That Ends Well. 2014.

• Shakespeare, William. All's Well That Ends Well. The Riverside Shakespeare, Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Moshinsky, Elijah. All's Well That Ends Well. BBC, 1981.

• Dove, John. All's Well That Ends Well. Globe Theatre, 2012.

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Twitter: @unbardpodcast  

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

Robust and endlessly versatile, Othello has rightly remained one of Shakespeare's most popular tragedies. We spend the entire play knowing more than the Moor of Venice and are forced to watch him slowly come undone. Watching Othello is like watching a car wreck: we see it coming and can do nothing but sit and wait for the crash to occur. In this episode of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel discusses one of Shakespeare's strongest plays.

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

• Arkangel Recordings. Othello. 2014.

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

Films discussed:

• Miller, Jonathan. Othello. BBC, 1981.

• Olivier, Laurence. Othello. Eagle-Lions U.K., 1965.

• Nelson, Tim Blake. O. Lionsgate, 2001.

• Parker, Oliver. Othello. Columbia Pictures, 1995.

• Welles, Orson. Othello. Marceau Films, 1951.

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Twitter: @unbardpodcast  

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

Shakespeare entered his dark period with this unique and often troubling play, one which just barely earns its reputation as a comedy. In this episode you'll hear excerpts and clips from:

• Arkangel Recordings. Measure for Measure. 2014.

• Shakespeare, William. Measure for Measure. The Riverside Shakespeare, Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Davis, Desmond. Measure for Measure. BBC Films, 1981.

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Twitter: @unbardpodcast  

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

It's hard not to applaud Shakespeare for the audacity of Troilus and Cressida, whose cynical and unhappy story seems to mark Shakespeare's turn towards the darker themes that would mark the rest of his career. In this episode you'll hear excerpts and clips from:

• Arkangel Recordings. Troilus and Cressida. 2014.

• Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Troilus and Crsssida. Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Miller, Jonathan. Troilus and Cressida. BBC Films, 1981.

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Twitter: @unbardpodcast  

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

One of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, Twelfth Night - otherwise known as What You Will - has a largely festive atmosphere, but it's not without its serious themes. Joel Fishbane discusses what is Shakespeare's last romantic comedy. In this episode you'll hear excerpts and clips from:

• Naxos Audiobooks. Twelfth Night. 1999.

• Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night or What You Will. (The Riverside Shakespeare). Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Nunn, Trevor. Twelfth Night. BBC Films, 1996.

Other films:

• Branagh, Kenneth. Twelfth Night. Thames Television.
• Fickman, Andy. She's the Man. Dreamworks Pictures. 2006.

Subscribe, rate and review in the iTunes store, Stitcher, or elsewhere in the wilds of the Internet.     

Twitter: @unbardpodcast  

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

Hamlet is an extraordinary play but we would being doing Shakespeare a service if we stopped talking about it all the time. In Episode 22 of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel does Shakespeare a disservice and talks about the Bard's most famous work. In this episode you'll hear excerpts and clips from:

• Brill, Clive. Hamlet. Arkangel, 2008.

• Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Cinecom Pictures, 1990.

• Shakespeare, William.  Hamlet (The Riverside Shakespeare). Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Almereyda, Michael. Hamlet. Buena Vista Pictures, 2000.
• Bennett, Rodney. Hamlet. BBC, 1980.
• Branagh, Kenneth. Hamlet. Columbia Pictures, 1996.
• Olivier, Laurence. Hamlet. Universal-International, 1948.
• Zeffirelli, Franco. Hamlet. Warner Brothers, 1990.

Still craving more Hamlet? Listen to this amazing episode of "This American Life" in which a group of convicts explore the play.

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Twitter: @unbardpodcast  

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

Women are wooed in Shakespeare, but until As you Like It, he never showed us the process by which they are won. In this episode of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane explores Shakespeare's finest romantic comedy. In this episode you'll hear clips and excerpts from:

• Coleman, Basil. dir. As You Like It. BBC. 1978.

• As You Like It, Librivox. 2009.

• Shakespeare, William.  As You Like It (The Riverside Shakespeare). Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Branagh, Kenneth. As You Like It. HBO Films. 2006.
• Czinner, Paul. As You Like It. 20th Century Fox,         1936.
• Shearock, Thea. As You Like It. Globe Theatre, 2009.

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Twitter: @unbardpodcast  

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

The central relationship of Julius Caesar is a masculine one: it is the dissolution of the friendship between Brutus and Cassius which is Shakespeare's primary concern. In focusing on something so personal, Shakespeare is able to demonstrate the manner in which large events have a personal cost.  In Episode 20 of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane explores one of Shakespeare's greatest and most enduring works.

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

• Brill, Clive. dir. Julius Caesar. Arkangel Shakespeare.

• Shakespeare, William.  Julius Caesar (The Riverside Shakespeare). Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Films discussed:

• Bradley, David. Julius Caesar. Brandon Films Inc. 1950.
• Burge, Stuart. Julius Caesar. Commonwealth United Entertainment. 1970.
• Mankiewicz, Joseph L. Julius Caesar. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 1953.

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Twitter: @unbardpodcast  

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

The critic Norman Rabkin called Henry V “the capstone to an edifice of plays tightly mortared to one another”[i], and yet, the majority of productions attempt to present the play as a standalone story that represents the producers' own political vision. These distortions have created a new play entirely and the most popular versions of Henry V have not revealed Shakespeare’s Henry, but rather one which served its creator’s particular purpose. In Episode 19 of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane explores this powerful but uneven play.

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

• Branagh, Kenneth, dir. Henry V. Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1989.

• Brill, Clive. dir. Henry V. Arkangel Shakespeare.

• Olivier, Laurence, dir. Henry V. Eagle Lion Films, 1944.

• Shakespeare, William.  Henry V (The Riverside Shakespeare). Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

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Twitter: @unbardpodcast  

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

[i]   Rabkin, Norman. Shakespeare and the Problem of Meaning. U of Chicago Press. Chicago. 1981. 36.