Season 6
Sept. 16, 2024
Titus Andronicus: 'Vengeance Is In My Heart, Death In My Hand'
Episode 135: Is Shakespeare’s early tragedy more than just a gore-fest? The first performance of the play, maybe The three playing troupes involved with the play Is the play a collaboration with George Peele? The popularity o...
Sept. 9, 2024
Shakespeare, the Bible and Dorothy L Sayers: A Conversation with Jem Bloomfield
Episode 134: Author Jem Bloomfield joins us to talk about his recently published book, ‘Allusion in Detective Fiction’, which looks at how and why allusion to Shakespeare and the Bible was used by the masters, or I should say...
Sept. 2, 2024
The Taming of the Shrew: ‘No Profit Grows Where No Pleasure Is taken’
Episode 133: The complications with dating the play and it’s relationship with a similar Elizabethan play The sources for the play A short summary of the play The Christopher Sly framing device Switching of roles in the play ...
Aug. 26, 2024
Richard 3rd at Shakespeare's Globe
Episode 132 My thoughts on seeing a recent production of Richard 3rd at Shakespeare's Globe, starring Michelle Terry in the titular role. The production and the controversy that surrounded it raises questions about gender flu...
Aug. 19, 2024
Richard 3rd: 'And Thus I Clothe My Naked Villainy'
Episode 131: Richard 3rd: ‘And Thus I Clothe My Naked Villainy.’ Shakespeare dramatises the life of the last Plantagenet king and create one of theatre's most spectacular villains. The dating of the play The quarto editions o...
Aug. 12, 2024
The search for Richard 3rd: A Conversation with Mathew Morris
Episode 130: Mathew Morris talk to me about the archaeological dig that resulted in the discovery of the final remains of Richard 3rd, which serves as a prelude to the next episode which will be all about Shakespeare’s take o...
Aug. 5, 2024
Henry 6th part 3: ‘How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown.’
Episode 129: A brief recap on the dating and sources of the play A brief synopsis of the play The problem of multiple battlefield scenes and the depiction of violence How language in the play is used to underline the changing...
July 29, 2024
John Hall of Stratford-Upon-Avon: A Conversation with John Taplin
Episode 128: Author John Taplin discusses researching the Stratford families of Shakespeare's time and particularly the ancestry of John Hall, Shakespeare's son-in-law. John Taplin spent the majority of his career in manageme...
July 22, 2024
Henry 6th part 2: ‘The Fox Barks Not When He Would Steal the Lamb’
Episode 127: A recap of Henry VI part one and the potential involvement of Christopher Marlowe A word on methods of authorship attribution in the context of Shakespeare and Marlowe The dating and sources of the play A synopsi...
July 15, 2024
Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers: A Conversation with Dr. Darren Freebury-Jones
Episode 126: A conversation with Dr. Darren Freebury-Jones, author of 'Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers' about the influence of early modern playwrights on Shakespeare where we talk about Marlowe, Kyd, Greene and others and th...
July 8, 2024
Henry 6th part 1: ‘My Thoughts Are Whirled Like a Potter's Wheel’
Episode 125: A detailed look at the first Shakespearean history play 'Henry 6th part 1' The problems with dating 1 Henry VI How much of the play did Shakespeare write? The relationship of the play to parts 2 and 3 The sources...
July 1, 2024
'To Gender or Not to Gender': A Conversation With Margaret Oakes
Episode 124: A conversation with Margaret Oakes about the book 'To Gender or Not to Gender: Casting and Characters for 21st Century Shakespeare’ which explores ways in which gender is being reinterpreted by British and North ...
June 17, 2024
William of Stratford, a Coda: The History of New Place
Episode 123: The Origins of New Place The Clopton’s of Stratford-Upon-Avon The first house at New Place Hugh Clopton and his support for Stratford William Clopton William Bott and murder at New Place (maybe) William Underhill...
June 10, 2024
William of Stratford part 4: ‘With Mirth and Laughter Let Old Wrinkles Come.’
Episode 122: The fourth and final part of the biography of Shakespeare. The rise of Shakespeare as actor and playwright for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. ‘The Comedy of Errors’ performed at Grey’s Inn, ‘the night of errors.’ Th...
June 3, 2024
The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway: A Conversation with Prof Katherine Scheil
Episode 121: For this episode I’m very pleased to welcome Katherine Sheil, Professor of English at the University of Minnesota for the second part of our conversation about Anne Hathaway, based around her book ‘Imagining Shak...
May 27, 2024
William of Stratford Part 3: ‘Would I Were in an Alehouse in London’
The lost years of Shakespeare’s early life have given space for some myths and legends to grow over the centuries, before we can trace a few facts of his early life in London. The myth of Shakespeare and the Crab-tree. The my...
May 20, 2024
Imagining Shakespeare’s Wife: A Conversation with Katherine Scheil
Episode 119: For this episode I’m very pleased to welcome Katherine Sheil, Professor of English at the University of Minnesota. Katherine is Author of several books about Shakespeare, but today we particularly talk about her...
May 13, 2024
William of Stratford Part 2: 'He Wears The Rose of Youth Upon Him'
Episode 118: Shakespeare's youth, his school days, religious life and marriage. A couple of corrections to the last episode on John Shakespeare The Shakespeare family's domestic set up. Religion and the life of a child in the...
April 29, 2024
William of Stratford Part 1: 'To You Your Father Should Be As a God’
Episode 117: ‘To you your father should be as a God’. - A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Act 1 Scene 1 The first of a series of episodes covering the biography of William of Stratford. Richard Shakespeare – William’s ...
April 15, 2024
Shakespeare In His Time
Episode 116: As an introduction to the season on Shakespeare this episode gives a timeline of events in Shakespeare's life. The focus is on the best estimates for the dates of all his plays and the reasons for those estimates...
April 8, 2024
Dionysus and Xanthias: The First Double Act
Episode 115: A dive back into Ancient Greek theatre with a look at 'The Frogs' by Aristophanes. A recap on the life and plays of Aristophanes. A summary of the plot of the play. Analysis of the main points raised by the play....
April 1, 2024
From the English Renaissance to Shakespeare and Jonson
Episode 114: As an introduction to season six of the podcast in the first part of this episode I lay out the aims for the next season and the approach I will be taking to the monoliths of early English theatre tha tare Shakes...