Love's Labour's Lost is a play with no plot, no villains, and no happy ending - and yet the play has such a charming premise that Joel Fishbane is enchanted everytime the play crosses his path. Also: a one minute summary and both the 2000 film and 2013 musical are discussed.

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

Branagh, Kenneth, dir. Love's Labours Lost. Buena Vista Pictures, 2000.

Friedman, Michael (music and lyrics) and Alex Timbers (book). Love's Labours Lost. Ghostlight Records, 2014.

O'Hare, Jake and Jennifer Sturley, dir. Love's Labours Lost. Independent, 2016.

Shakespeare, William. "Loves Labours Lost"  Arkangel Shakespeare.

Shakespeare, William. Love's Labours Lost.  (The Riverside Shakespeare) Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

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Horror is not a popular genre for theatre or for Shakespeare, but he tackled it in Titus Andronicus and, if taken from that perspective, it becomes a show far more unique than its detractors might think. In this episode of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane discusses this bloody and brutal play. 

Word of warning: this episode of Shakespeare Unbard discuses Titus Andronicus, a play that deals in adult themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

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

Shakespeare, William. "Titus Andronicus"  Librivox Recording.

Shakespeare, William. The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus . (The Riverside Shakespeare) Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Taymor, Julie. Titus. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 1999.

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After nearly half a dozen plays of dubious merit, Shakespeare finally found his legs in this story of the hunchbacked man who would be king. In Episode 06 of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane discusses why he - and the rest of the world - has never truly tired of Richard III.

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

Shakespeare, William. "King Richard III." Naxos Audio Books.

Shakespeare, William. The Life and Death of King Richard III. (The Riverside Shakespeare) Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Dominic Cooke, dir. The Hollow Crown: Episode Three, BBC, 2016.

Loncraine, Richard, dir. Richard III. United Artists, 1995.

Olivier, Laurence, dir. Richard III. London Films, 1955.

Pacino, Al, dir. Looking for Richard. Fox Searchlight, 1996.

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Henry VI Part III might have had a better fate if Shakespeare had called it Richard III, Part One. Although Richard III has become one of the more popular plays in the canon, it is a far more rewarding work when one studies it in relation to Henry VI Part Three. Joel Fishbane discusses the play and why it's better than you think. Also: the play is summarized in one minute, and he reviews the BBC's Hollow Crown.

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

Shakespeare, William. "Henry VI Part Three." Arkangel Shakespeare.

Shakespeare, William. The Second Part of the Life of King Henry the Sixth. (The Riverside Shakespeare) Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Cooke, Dominic, dir. The Hollow Crown: King Henry VI Part Two. BBC, 2016.

An Age of Kings. BBC, 1960.

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While Henry VI Part II is an improvement on its predecessor, Shakespeare still wasn't able to conquer the problem he encountered in Henry VI Part 1. In the latest episode of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane examines the second part of Shakespeare's ill-favored Henry the Sixth trilogy. Also: the show is summarized and a review of Age of Kings and the Hollow Crown.

On this episode, you'll hear quotes and clips from:

Howell, Jane. dir. The Second Part of the Life of King Henry the Sixth.  BBC, 1983.

Shakespeare, William. The Second Part of the Life of King Henry the Sixth. (The Riverside Shakespeare) Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Cooke, Dominic, dir. The Hollow Crown: King Henry VI Part Two. BBC, 2016.

Shakespeare, William. Henry VI Part Two. Arkangel Shakespeare.

An Age of Kings. BBC, 1960.

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Often maligned, not just in this century, but in all of them, Henry VI Part One is considered to be such a bad play that scholars are desperate to prove that Shakespeare didn't write it. Joel Fishbane suspects the theory was developed more to spare the scholar than out of concern for Shakespeare's ego. Also: the show is summarized in one minute, and the adaptations An Age of Kings and The Hollow Crown are discussed.

On this episode, you'll hear quotes and clips from:

Shakespeare, William. The First Part of the Life of King Henry the Sixth. (The Riverside Shakespeare) Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Librivox Recording

Shakespeare, William. The First Part of the Life of King Henry the Sixth. Librivox Recording. 

Cooke, Dominic, dir. The Hollow Crown: King Henry VI Part One. BBC, 2012.

An Age of Kings. BBC, 1960.

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Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

Bernard Shaw, whose opinions are too much fun not to quote, called The Taming of the Shrew "one vile insult to womanhood and manhood from the first word to the last." The common critique against Shrew is that it is misogynistic, but Shaw's remark is an arrow that hits closer to the mark: The Taming of the Shrew is a play that hates men and women alike.

In the second episode of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane examines this question. Also: the show is summarized in one minute and adaptations of Taming of the Shrew are discussed, including Kiss Me Kate and 10 Things I Hate About You.

On this episode, you'll hear quotes and clips from:

Junger, Gil. dir. 10 Things I Hate About You. Touchstone Pictures, 1999.

Porter, Cole. Kiss Me Kate. Original Broadway Cast Recording. Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Shakespeare, William. The Taming of the Shrew. (The Riverside Shakespeare) Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Shakespeare, WIlliam. The Taming of the Shrew. Arkangel Shakespeare. Blackstone Audio.

Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Librivox Recording

Wilson, Edmund. ed. Shaw on Shakespeare. Penguin, 1961. 

Zeffirelli, Franco, dir. The Taming of the Shrew. Columbia Pictures, 1967.

Frow, Toby. The Taming of the Shrew. Shakespeare Globe, 2012

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Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

There's no denying that The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a deeply flawed play, but does it deserve its status as the dullest sword in Shakespeare's armory? The Merchant of Venice is messy, Henry VI is dull, and there's little that's funny in the so-called comedy of Troilus and Cressida. Yet Two Gentlemen remains the butt of Shakespearean jokes. Is this warranted?

In the debut episode of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane examines this question. Also: the show is summarized in one minute, and the 1983 BBC production of Two Gentlemen of Verona is reviewed.

On this episode, you'll hear quotes and clips from:

Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. Riverhead Books, 1999.

MacDermot, Galt with John Guare and Mel Shapiro. Two Gentlemen of Verona (Musical), 1971.

Madden, John, dir. Shakespeare in Love. Miramax, 1998.

Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona. (The Riverside Shakespeare) Houghton and Mifflin, 1974.

Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Librivox Recording

Wilson, Edmund. ed. Shaw on Shakespeare. Penguin, 1961. 

Taylor, Don, dir. The Two Gentlemen of Verona. BBC, 1983.

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Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shakespeareunbard

What's Shakespeare Unbard all about?