Shakespeare's Shadows

In “Henry V,” King Henry gets a new foil: the French Dauphin, the heir apparent in France, England’s rival. In the conflict that culminates in the Battle of Agincourt, Shakespeare depicts the English with layers and complexity and ultimately with a great deal of nobility. Meanwhile, the French (in the text and sometimes even more so in performance) come off as arrogant, foppish, and often quite silly. This episode delves into discussion of the Dauphin’s relationship with his father the king, where Shakespeare diverges from real history, and how — even in a history play set at wartime — this character can be mined for a lot of comedy.

Guests on this episode are Stephen Michael Spencer, who played the Dauphin at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in 2023, and Dr. Elizabeth Pentland, a professor at York University in Toronto who specializes in Renaissance literature, including research on literary exchanges between England and France during the period of the French civil wars.

featuring interviews with actor Michael Blake, Pilobolus choreographers Matt Kent and Renée Jaworski, and SUNY New Paltz professor Matthieu Chapman

A Shakespeare play that can be at turns heartwarming and troubling, “The Tempest” features two major characters who don’t look like the humans around them: Caliban and Ariel. Caliban, repeatedly described as “monstrous” by other characters, is enslaved by Prospero, the play’s protagonist. This episode delves into discussion about post-colonial interpretations of this play written in the early 17th century, about the significance of Caliban’s mother being a witch from Algiers, and about varying approaches to “The Tempest” theme of choosing forgiveness over revenge and the question of whether Caliban’s ending is one with reconciliation.

Guests on this episode are:

• Matt Kent (he/him) and Renée Jaworski (she/her), artistic directors of the acclaimed modern dance company Pilobolus. They crafted the choreography for “The Tempest” directed by Aaron Posner and Teller (of Penn and Teller), a stage production that depicts Caliban as a two-headed creature played by two performers

• Michael Blake (he/him), who played Caliban for the Stratford Festival in 2018, among his nine seasons at the Stratford, Ontario festival. Michael is currently portraying the Player in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” opposite Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan.

• Dr. Matthieu Chapman (he/him), a theatre studies professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz whose publications include the books “Anti-Black Racism in Early Modern English Drama” and “Shattered: Fragments of a Black Life.”

This episode contains discussion of slavery, racial violence, involuntary intoxication, and an accusation of rape.

To view photos and video footage of the performances crafted by Pilobolus and by Michael Blake, visit shakespearesshadows.com/caliban-video

One half of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers is in the spotlight in this episode, which explores how this character goes from bad poet to good poet, what it takes to deliver an authentic and naturalistic Romeo, and how the introduction of the rapier to England shortly before Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet was a deadly game-changer in street brawls.

Guests on this episode are Dr. Courtney Lehmann, professor of English and Film Studies at the University of the Pacific and writer of the book Screen Adaptations: Romeo and Juliet: A close study of the relationship between text and film, and Bally Gill, who played Romeo at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2018, winning the prestigious Ian Charleston Award for the role. He has just made his return to the RSC, currently playing Oberon and Theseus in their Midsummer Night’s Dream.

featuring interviews with actors Patrice Jean-Baptiste and Simon Paisley Day and Gonzaga University professor Heather Easterling

One of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays, “The Taming of the Shrew,” gets put under the microscope in this episode as we examine the character Petruchio, the man who supposedly tames the play’s titular shrew. Discussed in this episode is what impact the play’s induction scene has on our perception of the play’s characters, Petruchio’s “taming” methods, and the ongoing debate about whether “Taming of the Shrew” should be retired from performance.

Guests on this episode are Patrice Jean-Baptiste (she/her), who spoke with Shakespeare’s Shadows in the midst of playing Petruchio in September 2023 in Boston with the Actors’ Shakespeare Project; Simon Paisley Day (he/him), who reflected back on taking on the role at Shakespeare’s Globe in London in 2012, and Dr. Heather Easterling (she/her), professor of English and of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Gonzaga University.

This episode contains explicit language and discussion of domestic abuse and domestic violence.

A spirit of mischief, transformation, and imagination, Puck aka Robin Goodfellow darts around A Midsummer Night’s Dream provoking chaos and confusion when a couple groups of humans wander into a forest populated by magical beings. Discussed in this episode is Puck’s relationship to Oberon, looking at Midsummer with an ecological lens, how Puck’s meter sets him apart, and why this play is such a popular choice for young audiences and young performers.

This episode is a special one for a couple reasons — among them: Ray Porter played Puck in the first professional production of Shakespeare that podcast creator Emily Rome ever saw, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 1998 Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. He reflects back on that production, as Katie Brokaw lends her expertise as both a professor and practitioner of Shakespeare at UC Merced and in Yosemite National Park.

One of Shakespeare’s most notorious and chilling villains, Othello antagonist Iago, is in the spotlight in the second episode of season 2. This character has inspired debate for centuries, and this episode’s guests — who, at times, have totally different takes on Iago — suggest that the debate will continue. Discussed in this episode is whether “motiveless malignity” is a helpful phrase for understanding Iago, whether or not Iago is a psychopath, and why villain characters continue to captivate.

Guests on this episode are Tony Award-nominated actor Patrick Page (Hadestown), who played Iago at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. in 2005 and is in the midst of performing his solo show All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain Off-Broadway; Conor Andrew Hall, who played Iago for New Place Players in Manhattan earlier this year; and Dr. Miles Grier, professor at Queens College CUNY and writer of new book Inkface: Othello and White Authority in the Era of Atlantic Slavery.

This episode contains explicit language.

The podcast relaunches with an episode all about Shakespeare’s first tragic heroine. In the season 2 premiere, we explore what makes Juliet extraordinary: she’s brave, confident, and resourceful — all at age 13. Also discussed: Romeo and Juliet’s popularity among Latinx theater-makers, Juliet’s relationship with her parents and the Nurse, whether Juliet is really a character who exhibits agency, and the Taylor Swift song “Love Story.”

Guests on this episode are Naire Poole (she/they), who played Juliet for Shakespeare & Company’s Northeast Regional Tour earlier this year; Alejandra Escalante (she/her), who starred in an 1840s Alta California-set Romeo and Juliet at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2012; and Dr. Sophie Duncan (she/her), Research Fellow and Dean for Welfare at Magdalen College, University of Oxford and author of 2023 book Searching for Juliet: The Lives and Deaths of Shakespeare’s First Tragic Heroine.

This episode contains explicit language.

In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio becomes the tipping point that turns this tale of two star-crossed lovers from a romantic comedy to a tragedy. Episode 11 delves into what kind of friend Mercutio is to Romeo, various approaches to his famed Queen Mab speech, imaginings of Mercutio’s own romantic history, and why Mercutio — after speaking in only four scenes — remains one of the most memorable and beloved parts of this iconic play. Guests on this episode are André Martin, who played Mercutio with the Independent Shakespeare Company in Los Angeles in 2014; Brian Grey, who plays the role in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s current production; and Martine Kei Green-Rogers, Theater Arts assistant professor at SUNY New Paltz and President-Elect of Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.

Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or in the audio player above.

This episode contains explicit language.

Episode 10 delves into the first non-human character featured on the podcast: Ariel, the sprite who serves Prospero in one of Shakespeare’s final plays, his swan song, The Tempest. Dr. Brinda Charry — an English professor at Keene State College — and Mark Quartley — currently playing Ariel for the Royal Shakespeare Company — discuss Ariel’s complicated relationship with his master, varying interpretations of the moment he is set free, how an actor crafts the physicality of a spirit made of air, and how Ariel discovers what it is to be human. Quartley also talks about his unique experience playing Ariel via real-time motion-capture technology in this stage production running at the Barbican Theatre in London through August 18th. The RSC's Tempest is produced in collaboration with Intel and in association with The Imaginarium Studios. Quartley co-stars opposite Simon Russell Beale, returning to the RSC as Prospero after having taken on the role of Ariel in 1993.

Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or in the audio player above.

For a character who doesn’t appear onstage for much of the play, there is a lot to unpack with Cordelia, and she has a major impact on the journey of her father, the title character of King Lear. In this episode, UCSB professor Jim Kearney returns to the podcast, and Erika Soto shares her experience playing Cordelia earlier this year at A Noise Within in Pasadena, California. Discussed here are the changes Shakespeare made to his source material for King Lear, how an actress can bide her time while staying in the zone through her long stretch backstage waiting for her return in Act 4, and why it’s essential to remember that Cordelia leads an army into battle.

Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, or in the audio player above.