An academic walked into a bar and sat down at the counter.  "Barkeep," he said "Pour me a stiff one. I've had a hard day." "What's the matter, friend?" said the barkeep. "Well," said the academic, "this morning's class was all about the life of Shakespeare himself. This afternoon's class will be all about his poetry. Things are going from Bard to Verse!!!"

(Ba dum dum.)

Okay, maybe that's not as good a pun as most of Will's, although there are some that groan worthy, but we can't help it - we're paronomasiacs.  

(You'll learn what that is in this episode.)

Make sure you join us for our FREE benefit live stream of Macbeth on Friday February 19, 2021 at 7:30 pm and Saturday February 20, 2021 at 3:00 pm.  It won't cost you a cent but if you like it, please consider donating to The Actors Fund or Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids. You can find the YouTube livestream link on our website at: 

www.thebardcastyoudick.com 

Or, on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter pages!!

To send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: [email protected] 

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To visit our website, go here:
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Episode Sources:

Shakespeare, Wikipedia, and the rest of the interwebs  :)

The well known American author Susan Vreeland was correct - art begets art!!!

On the heels of our Film Shakespeare series - here is our longest episode so far, comprising even MORE stuff that is based on, or inspired by, the works of our friend Will!!!

His plays have given birth to SOOOOO MUCH ART!!!!!

We can tell you this.... 

Shakespeare AIN'T GOING NOWHERE, folks, and this episode proves that indisputably.  



To send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: [email protected] 

To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here:  
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To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com

To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief

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Episode Sources:

Wikipedia and the rest of the interwebs  :)

"Have at thee, coward!!!"

As we've discussed before, there are SOOOOO many instances of violence of one kind or another in the Shakespeare canon.  So... how does that get translated onto the stage or in a film in a believable way?

We talk to Randy Kovitz, master fight choreographer, who helps us understand how we can stab, strangle, smother, or otherwise subdue a character and make it look real - while being safe... cuz we're only ACTING, people!!!



To send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: [email protected] 

To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here:  
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To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com

To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief

Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!

Merrie Christmas, dear listeners!!! 

In this episode we discuss how those Elizabethans celebrated Christmas - for twelve days, those filthy animals!!!

ALSO.....

At the end of the episode is a special gift from us to you... Merry Merry!!!!

So now is come our joyful'st feast, 
   Let every man be jolly. 
Each room with ivy leaves is drest, 
   And every post with holly.
Though some churls at our mirth repine,
   Round your foreheads garlands twine, 
Drown sorrow in a cup of wine, 
   And let us all be merry.

(George Wither—16th c. poet)



To send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: [email protected] 

To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here:  
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To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com

To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief

Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!

Was Shakespeare racist?  Was he anti-Semitic?  Or was he just writing as a product of his times?

And what about modern day productions of Shakespeare - how  do they deal with these  issues?  Is there such a thing as truly colorblind casting?

We are proud to  welcome our first guest (YAY!!!!), the wonderful and talented Alvin Keith, to discuss this very timely, important, and frankly, often inflammatory topic.



To send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: [email protected]

To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here: 
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true

To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com

To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief

Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!




Episode Sources:

Little, Arthur L. Jr.:  Shakespeare Jungle Fever, Stanford University Press, 2000

Alexander, Catherine M.S. and Wells, Stanley, editors: Shakespeare and Race, Cambridge University Press, 2000

Shapiro, James: Shakespeare and the Jews,  Columbia University Press, 1996

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roderigo_Lopez

We're back at it!  The bard's youngest lovers on the big screen!!

For this episode, we stuffed ourselves full of Romeo and Juliet in preparation for stuffing ourselves full of turkey!! Although frankly, some of the Romeo and Juliet was far less palatable...

But we digress.

We give thanks for YOU this year, dear listener!!!  

So dive in with us to the world of love, passion, weapons, family feuding, and fatal mistakes!!

And hopefully, no plague on any of your houses, especially this year - 2020 has given us some shit, you know???



To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here:  
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true

To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com

To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief

Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!

Winners and losers... losers and winners....

What kind of behaviour does a winner or loser display?  Are they gracious?  Do they experience a moment of clarity in loss?  Do they ascend with humility or do they try to burn the freaking house down??

On the heels of the recent United States Presidential election of Joe Biden (and yes, he DID win, contrary to what SOME people would like to believe), we return once more to the plays of the Bard to understand the etiquette - or lack thereof - within the scope of political power.


To support us (by giving us money) on Patreon, go here:  
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true

To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com

To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief

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Episode Sources:

IT'S SHAKESPEARE, YOU DICK!!!!

Double, double, toil, and trouble....
Fire burn and podcast bubble....

What??  Never mind. 

It's Halloween!!! Samhaim!!! All Hallows Eve!!!  And our boy Will has magic and witches and ghosts and demons and  premonitions and precognitions and dreams and all kinds of freaky shit literally sprinkled throughout his plays.  In this episode, we discuss some of the history that influenced Shakespeare's writing as well as some conjecture about which witch is which in many of his plays.


To support us (by giving us money) on Patreon, go here: 
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true

To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com

To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief

Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!



Episode Sources:

Rogers, L.W., The Occultism in the Shakespeare Plays - A study of the Occult, First Edition 1907

Brigg, K.M., Pale Hecate's Team, Humanities Press, 1962

Kahan, Jeffrey, Shakespiritualism: Shakespeare and the Occult, 1850 - 1950, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

Titland, Freia M., Magic and Shakespeare: A Representation of the Times, Presented to the Faculty of Regent University for Master of Fine Arts

Mebane, John S., Renaissance Magic & the Return of the Golden Age,  University of Nebraska Press, 1992

Long, Tom, The Book of Traditional Magickal Plants and Herbs,  Archan Publishing, 2019

It's almost November, people!!!

There are certain ELECTIONS in certain countries that are very much on our minds, as well as the minds of the rest of the planet. 

So... how  we do deal with it?  We talk about the political atmosphere that surrounded our boy Will!!  Was there a separation of church and state for Shakespeare?  Hell, no!  Shakespeare had a devil of a time maneuvering around the politics of his time, but managed to stay under the radar of those who would chop off his head for treason.

"Tyranny attempts to poison not merely the present but generations to come, to extend itself forever.  Tyrannies are enemies of the future."

Just sayin'.....



To support (and give us money) on Patreon, go here: 
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true

To visit our website go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com

To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief

Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!



Episode Sources:

Greenblatt, Stephen: Tyrant, W. W. Norton, 2019

Bloom, Allan and Jaffa, Henry V.: Shakespeare's Politics, The University of Chicago Press, 1964

Altschuler, Bruce E. and Genovese, Michael A.: Shakespeare and Politics, Paradigm, 2014

Shapiro, James: Shakespeare in a Divided America, Penguin Press, 2020

Asquith, Claire: Shadowplay, Public Affairs, 2005

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes....." (and in some cases, it's the way the text of Macbeth is bastardized - feh!!)

One of the greatest dramatic plays ever written about the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake, we deep dive into the many versions of the Scottish Play available on film.

Can you smell the blood still???

You will, rabbit, you will.........


Like us?!? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!

To give us money on Patreon, go here!!
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true

To visit our website go here!!
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com

To donate to an awesome charity, go here!!
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief


Episode Sources:

Shakespeare: Script, Stage, Screen: David Bevington, Anne Marie Welsh, Michael L. Greenwald

A History of Shakespeare on Screen - A Century of Film and Television: Kenneth S. Rothwell

The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film: Russell Jackson

www.IMDB.com

www.Wikipedia.com