Season 6
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...