House of Desires 101

For our final 101 episode, we take you back to the Spanish Golden Age with House of Desires and its proto-Mexican, female playwright Sor Juana (a nun!). We tell you a little about this Metal AF nun in Meet the Contemporary, and we summarize the play and read a very silly cross-dressing scene from the second act for A Taste of Text. We compare translations of the scene a little bit, and then gossip a lot about yet another Oxfraudian, anti-Stratfordian overture made by the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition (aka SAC - which, like, LOL at your dumb acronym, bros). Listener beware: if the authorship “debate” fills you with white-hot rage, you may just want to skip the last 15 minutes of the episode. That aside, someone please produce House of Desires so we can go see it. We think it’s a delight and we hope you agree.

Here’s what we featured in our Happy Hour segment:

• Aubrey’s rec: Himalayan yak cheese dog chews for the adorable extreme chewers in your life

• Jess’s rec: this is so dumb, but changing your highlight color on your computer/phone :)

Here’s what we talked about in our ShakesBubble Gossip segment:

• That dumb survey Jess and a bunch of other Shakespeare scholars got from the anti-Strats of SAC. (We’re not going to dignify their nonsense with a link to their site. You’re smart. You can find it if you want to.)

A King and No King 101

CW: Today’s episode involves one of our classic tangents, this time into the topic of incest and incest porn.

That said, today’s episode is a 101 all about dynamic playwriting duo Beaumont and Fletcher’s “tragicomedy” A King and No King. We summarize this bonkers play for you - spoilers: it’s only a fake incest plot to lure you in - and ready a portion of act 3 for a Taste of Text. We talk a little about why incest tropes are so popular in modern media, particularly in pornography but also in early modern drama, we gossip a little about the still-unraveling Cleveland Playhouse debacle, and call it a day. Also, there’s a minor character in the play whose name sounds like BI-CURIOUS, so start the fan fictions engines NOW.

Here’s what we featured in our Happy Hour segment:

• Aubrey’s rec: Ancient History FanGirl podcast

• Jess’s rec: Louise Erdrich, The Future Home of the Living God  and Grace D. Li, Portrait of a Thief

Here’s what we talked about in our ShakesBubble Gossip segment:

• Cleveland Playhouse debacle

Love's Labour's Lost 201

It only took us 4 years, but we have finally circled back to Love’s Labour’s Lost for a deep dive into what some fussy Victorians - Hazlitt and Tennyson - had to say about the play, plus a little bit about the moral implications of the ladies’ “homework” for the boys at the play’s conclusion. There also may or may not be some extensive bird walking into a little-known whodunit called The Moonstone #sorrynotsorry. We gossip a little and also deliver A Big Announcement About the Podcast.

Here’s what we featured in our Happy Hour segment:

• Aubrey’s rec: Black Shakespeare: Reading and Misreading Race by Ian Smith

• Jess’s rec: Anti-Racist Shakespeare edited by Ambereen Dadabhoy and Nedda Mehdizadeh

Here’s what we talked about in our ShakesBubble Gossip segment:

• That dumb tweet about pronoun use in Shakespeare eye roll

• Southwest Shakespeare’s LLL production runs March 24 & 30

• LLL plays at the Stratford Festival from August 23- October 1

• Asolo Rep’s LLL production runs April 4-23

City Nightcap 101

This week we’re talking about The City Nightcap by Robert Davenport, a bewildering play by an even more bewildering (read: mysterious) author. We try to help you Meet the Contemporary, but Bobby Davs left us very little to go on; our Taste of Text is sure to amuse (and confuse) you; we talk a LOT about all the kicking happening in this play, as well as why it - among other things - is so problematic (read: sexist AF). If you have the chance to see this play, awesome, but if you don’t you’re not really missing much aside from a unique barnyard-themed masque and the most hilarious not-a-bed-trick bed trick of all time. Have a great holiday season and we’ll see you in January!

Here’s what we featured in our Happy Hour segment:

• Aubrey’s rec: get your stir crazy dog a Flirt Pole!

• Jess’s rec: Take yourself out for something nice - treat yo’self!

Here’s what we talked about in our ShakesBubble Gossip segment:

• “New” portrait of “Shakespeare”

• Dr. Patricia Akhimie named new executive director of the Folger Institute!

Twelfth Night 302

This week we return to the classic romantic comedy, Twelfth Night, to talk about the recent production at the American Shakespeare Center (directed by the amazing Jenny Bennett) and how it's a great example of how queering your casting and production concept can unlock new takes on a well-known, popular play. We also gossip about Jess's experience at the recent Early Modern Trans 2 Conference, as well as some...um...highly questionable choices made by a certain theatre company for their ill-fated production of Romeo & Juliet. Bottom line, when in doubt: queer it up and say NO to Nazis.

Here’s what we featured in our Happy Hour segment:

• Aubrey’s rec: Circe by Madeline Miller

• Jess’s rec: If at all possible, get back to in-person conference attendance. It’s good for the soul!

Here’s what we talked about in our ShakesBubble Gossip segment:

• Nataki Garret’s response to NPR article

• Podcasts & Feminist Shakespeare Pedagogy by Varsha Panjwani–free to download!

• EmoTrans2 Conference