Tabling: The Podcast

What time is it? Betrayal time! Off we go with Act 3 of Two Gentlemen of Verona.

In this pivotal act, we discuss the difference between male vs female ‘honor,’ the awkward circling between the Duke and Valentine, Silvia as a sacred being, Proteus discovering his skill as a manipulator and getting drunk off of the power and the necessary collective exhale of Lance and Speed parodying the catalogue of womanly virtues.

Our ensemble for Two Gentlemen of Verona includes Samantha Blinn, Miles Blitch, Sam Gilroy as Valentine, Larry Gleason, Ellyn Heald, Jane Henzerling, Isabel Karp, Mitchel Kawash, Colin Kohrs, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.

We move on to Act II of Two Gentlemen of Verona.

We discuss servants freely sassing their employers, Valentine’s metamorphosis, how the women drive the romantic plots forward, courtly versus romantic love, how the character Lance is always undercutting or parodying the previous scene, Proteus’s transformation and his character conflict centered around Valentine, not his sweetheart, Julia, and how Crab, the dog, is the best scene stealer in the canon!

Our ensemble for Two Gentlemen of Verona includes Samantha Blinn, Miles Blitch, Sam Gilroy as Valentine, Larry Gleason, Ellyn Heald, Jane Henzerling, Isabel Karp, Mitchel Kawash, Colin Kohrs, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.

We’re doing our first comedy! Welcome to our discussion of Act I of Shakespeare’s early and troubling comedy, Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Among many things, we discuss starting plays mid-conversation, the importance of establishing both the friendship and the status imbalance between Valentine and Proteus, parallels to the toxicity of incel culture, generational relationships, the precision of physical comedy in Julia’s letter speech, and the trope of the servant being five steps ahead of their employer.

Our ensemble for Two Gentlemen of Verona includes Samantha Blinn, Miles Blitch, Sam Gilroy as Valentine, Larry Gleason, Ellyn Heald, Jane Henzerling, Isabel Karp, Mitchel Kawash, Colin Kohrs, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.

And thus we conclude Henry V with our discussion of Act V!

Among many topics, we discussed how the act’s Chorus speech departs from hype man to interim narrator, the danger in Shakespeare’s contemporary references, the purpose of the final scene with Fluellen, Gower, and Pistol, Burgundy and smarmy metaphors, family becoming transactional in royal families, the existence of hope for a somewhat equal and productive partnership between Katherine and Henry, the deliberate destabilizing of the entire play with the final epilogue.

Our ensemble for Henry V includes Nazlah Black, Esther Boles, Zoe Burke, Andrew Codispoti, Xdzunúm Danae, Zoë Goslin, Isabel Karp, Colin Kohrs, Alexander Lane, Julia Larsen, Amy Meilander, Jesse Van Buren, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.

We work our way through the the second half of Act IV of Henry V - this episode covers scenes 4-8.

Among many things, we talk about how the boy grounds us with his moments alone with the audience, the difficulty of conveying how quickly the battle turns against the French, the startling moments where the language of violence is mingled with the language of eroticism and intimacy, Fluellen, WIlliams, and Henry: the honesty test, and how after the boys are killed, somehow the men revert to a childlike state.

Our ensemble for Henry V includes Nazlah Black, Esther Boles, Zoe Burke, Andrew Codispoti, Xdzunúm Danae, Zoë Goslin, Isabel Karp, Colin Kohrs, Alexander Lane, Julia Larsen, Amy Meilander, Jesse Van Buren, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.

Here is the link to the Orson Wells clip of getting into character as Falstaff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ6v7GHYDbM

We work our way through the beginning of Act IV of Henry V - this episode covers the Chorus speech through scene 3 (all of the pre-battle scenes).

Among many things, we discussed the complicated metaphorical transformation of Henry into the sun across three plays, how he is affected by the responsibility he feels for the army, how the ghosts of his past come back to haunt him on the eve of battle, the entanglement of the role of the king with personal identity, the English army feeling desires for dignity in the midst of fear, the different class experiences of warfare and Henry’s yearning for a smaller world.

Our ensemble for Henry V includes Nazlah Black, Esther Boles, Zoe Burke, Andrew Codispoti, Xdzunúm Danae, Zoë Goslin, Isabel Karp, Colin Kohrs, Alexander Lane, Julia Larsen, Amy Meilander, Jesse Van Buren, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.

We work our way through the end of Act III of Henry V - this episode covers scenes 4-7.

We puzzle over the singular scene almost entirely in French, how it amplifies the conflict of communication, and as a continuation of the consequences of war, we question if Shakespeare brings the Frenchmen onstage so they can make fun of themselves, or perhaps praise their wine? We take a moment to mourn Bardolph, talk about Fluellen’s knowledge of the ‘ancient wars,’ imagine the Dauphin in the camp as the rich kid at home without his parents for the first time, and, rather alarmed at the implied relationships of the soldiers and horses…we are left with the question: how many fools does it take to replace Falstaff?

Our ensemble for Henry V includes Nazlah Black, Esther Boles, Zoe Burke, Andrew Codispoti, Xdzunúm Danae, Zoë Goslin, Isabel Karp, Colin Kohrs, Alexander Lane, Julia Larsen, Amy Meilander, Jesse Van Buren, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.

We work our way through the beginning of Act III of Henry V - this episode covers the Chorus and scenes 1-3.

Among many things, we discuss the cinematic imagery of the Chorus, the hammering momentum of Henry’s “Once more unto the breach” speech, how it is immediately undercut comedically, puzzling through the significance of regional accents being written into the dialogue, and our realization that for the first two acts of the play we were talking about war, now we are steeped in it and all the myriad perspectives on war and violence.

Our ensemble for Henry V includes Nazlah Black, Esther Boles, Zoe Burke, Andrew Codispoti, Xdzunúm Danae, Zoë Goslin, Isabel Karp, Colin Kohrs, Alexander Lane, Julia Larsen, Amy Meilander, Jesse Van Buren, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.

Moving on to our discussion of Act II of Henry V!

We talk about the expositional nature of the Chorus in Act II, our feeling that Falstaff is missing from the play and the changing cast of comedic figures in the tavern gang trying to make up for his absence, the huge challenge of the prose scenes, the unabashedly pro-English lens of the play, Shakespeare as the myth maker of Henry V as the warrior king, and queering discourse and the othering of the French.

Our ensemble for Henry V includes Nazlah Black, Esther Boles, Zoe Burke, Andrew Codispoti, Xdzunúm Danae, Zoë Goslin, Isabel Karp, Colin Kohrs, Alexander Lane, Julia Larsen, Amy Meilander, Jesse Van Buren, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.

We’re heading to the finish line of the this history tetralogy…and we’re excited to share Henry V over the next 3 weeks with you, our dear audience! Here is our discussion of Act I.

Among many things, we discuss how the chorus activates the audience at the top of the play, the public and private personas of the clergy, we contrast how Henry V is talked about versus the experience of interacting with him, we note the lack of factionalism within the English court, and how the presentation of the “tun of treasure” (tennis balls) constitutes Henry V’s first public test as King.

Our ensemble for Henry V includes Nazlah Black, Esther Boles, Zoe Burke, Andrew Codispoti, Xdzunúm Danae, Zoë Goslin, Isabel Karp, Colin Kohrs, Alexander Lane, Julia Larsen, Amy Meilander, Jesse Van Buren, facilitated and directed by Ariana Karp.