Tempest 301

Sometimes when you think you have nothing to say about a play, it turns out you still have a sh*t-ton to say. Today’s 301 episode revisits The Tempest, and we ask the question - what is its genre, really, and also why this play now? Jess posits that maybe The Tempest would feel a little more cathartic at the end if it were staged more like a revenge tragedy at the beginning; Aubrey speculates a bit about why so many regional theaters have added this title to their 2022 lineup. Oh, and we take not one but TWO birdwalks down Marie de France lane because Jess just can’t shut up about this medieval author. Lesbian weasels! Fun times!

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

• Aubrey’s rec: @decolonizeyourclassroom and @amplify.RJ communities on Insta are offering weekly asynchronous video lessons and live zoom discussions about “History of Black Abolitionist Politics and Action” starting Feb 5, going every saturday all month. You can learn more and sign up at tiny.cc/abolition

• Jess’s rec: Marie de France. Know her. Read her. Love her.

Here’s what we featured in our ShakesBubble Gossip segments:

• This Washington Post article about the recent STA conference

• Nataki Garrett’s op ed in The Hill

• The Globe’s continuing series on Anti-racist Shakespeare webinars - next one is Feb. 10

• American Moor is coming to Pittsburg, PA Feb 17-20!!

• Awesome letter from ACMRS and RaceB4Race Executive Board on medium.com

Cymbeline 201

IN A WORLD full of pandemic podcasts…Whamlet makes our triumphant return with our Season 4 premiere: CYMBELINE 201! We introduce a new feature: Happy Hour; we talk about the evil queen trope and the Cymbeline’s Celtic “roots” in pre-Roman king Cunobelin; we shamelessly self-promote our other current projects and generally revel in reuniting for what is sure to be a killer season. Want to know what’s in store this year? Gotta listen up!

From today’s NEW Happy Hour feature:

• Ayanna Thompson’s Othello presentation that everyone needs to watch IMMEDIATELY.

• You can download the entire issue of Shakespeare Quarterly for FREE and read up on premodern critical race studies!

• Also this super Queer reading of the Twilight series.

From our ShakesBubble Gossip segment:

• Listen to Aubrey play Lady M on The Horned Moon Presents podcast

• Jess will charm your pants off on this episode of A Bit Lit

• Jess gushes about Pericles for the Shakespeare 2020 project

• Wanna hear about The Hudson Strode program? Tune in here on Oct. 14, 2020!

Winter's Tale 301

In this in-depth 301 episode, we dive right into the strange little mind of David Garrick, the famous 18th century Shakespeare actor and super-fan, and his adaptation of The Winter’s Tale: “Florizel and Perdita.” We read a few scenes side-by-side for you from Shakespeare and Garrick so you can judge for yourself who did it better. Equally important, Jess sings a song (written by Garrick for Perdita), and we gossip a little bit about some personal and ShakesBubble happenings. Don’t start this episode if you can’t finish it… ;)

Here are the gossip items:

1. Lyn Gardner has an answer for the Telegraph article we talked about last week.

2. Fred C. Adams (Utah Shakes founder) passed away on Feb. 6.

3. SHAKESPEARE GYM LOLZ

“The Garrick Start” (David Garrick in Richard III) painted by William Hogarth, 1745.

“The Garrick Start” (David Garrick in Richard III) painted by William Hogarth, 1745.

“The Garrick Start” (David Garrick in Richard III) painted by William Hogarth, 1745.

“The Garrick Start” (David Garrick in Richard III) painted by William Hogarth, 1745.

“The Garrick Start” (David Garrick in Richard III) painted by William Hogarth, 1745.

“The Garrick Start” (David Garrick in Richard III) painted by William Hogarth, 1745.

The Tempest 201

We hate Prospero. #SorryNotSorry BUT there are still interesting things to delve into with The Tempest (including why we hate Prospero so much, tbh). The Rhetorical Device(s) revisited are accumulatio and auxesis. Jess talks about editorial interference in Miranda’s ONLY good speech, and Aubrey rants about - you guessed it - Prospero. We also shout out some highlights from the recent Blackfriars Conference at the ASC and the upcoming Symposium at the Hudson Strode Program in Alabama.

Find out more about the TOTALLY FREE symposium here.

Pericles 201

This week we dive deep back into Pericles to talk about the perils of traveling while female (in early modern plays, that is…and maybe now, too…), and bemoan what online study guides get absolutely wrong about this play. We revisit apposition (a type of addition) as the main rhetorical trait of our title character. We talk about what “fully funded” actually means in our How to Grad School segment. Finally, we can neither confirm nor deny that we may or may not also fall down a Journey rabbit hole. Join us for the…journey…

Also, here’s that link to Erin Bartram’s spreadsheet we talk about in the How to Grad School segment.

And the link to info about the staged reading of The Macbeth Travesty in Tuscaloosa, AL.