Early Modern D*ck Bracket Draft

This week we break tradition to try out something new! After a dust-up on Twitter about which character  should claim the title of "Biggest Dick" (read: biggest douchebag) in the early modern canon, Jess and Aubrey made a list of 72 contenders. In this episode, we narrow that list down* to 32 early modern a*holes of the highest degree; each week in Season 2 we will narrow the list  (with your help!**) until there is only one Dick left standing. Stay tuned!

*To see our official brackets from this week's Dick Draft, see below and visit our Instagram @Hurlyburlyshakes

**Follow us on Twitter at @Hurlyburlyshake to participate in the weekly Dick Poll! 

Bracket #1

Bracket #2

Richard III 201

This week we go narrower and deeper into the text of Richard III to discuss why there's so much symploce (#RhetoricalDeviceRevisited) all over the place, why Colley Cibber thought he knew better than Shakespeare, and why Richard both hates and fears the women in his life. All that and some "Dicky-centric" ShakesBubble Gossip coming at ya to round out the episode.

Here's the list of productions we referenced in today's episode:

1. Muse of Fire Theatre Company, Evanston, Illinois, August 11–September 9, 2018

2. The War of the Roses (Henry VI through Richard III), Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley, California, August 22–September 9, 2018

3. Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle, Washington, September 12–October 7, 2018

4. American Shakespeare Center, Staunton, Virginia, July 6–December 1, 2018

5. The Rustic Mechanicals, Clarksburg, West Virginia, 2018 tour

6. Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C., February 5–March 10, 2019

7. Orlando Shakespeare Theater in Partnership with UCF, Orlando, Florida, March 27–April 28, 2019

8. Synetic Theater, Arlington, Virginia,May 15–June 16, 2019

9. Sweet Tea Shakespeare, Fayetteville, North Carolina, June 4–23, 2019

10. Death of Kings: Seize the Crown (eight of Shakespeare's history plays), Southwest Shakespeare Company, Mesa, Arizona, 2018–2019 season

11. Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, York, UK thru Sept. 1 http://www.shakespearesrosetheatre.com/

And here's the link to the NY Times article about the high school Richard III adaptation at the Public Theatre.

Comedy of Errors 101

We're baaaaaaack from summer vacay and with double the action! In our first episode of Season 2, Jess and Aubrey explore the twists and turns of twinsie-town, The Comedy of Errors! The Rhetorical Device of the Week is zeugma; the Burbage Break is all about the early modern fascination with - you guessed it - TWINS; we introduce a robot variation of our "___ Fails at Shakespeare" game; and we attempt to summarize the play and deliver our trademarked deep insights while drinking chardonnay (not our brightest idea, but a cool internal rhyme). Oh, and we drop a few hot gossip bombs to catch you up on WTF happened this summer.  

Also this:

The portrait of the Cholmondeley Ladies c. 1600-1610 #twins

Mid-Summer Mini-sode: The Athiest's Tragedy

In which Jess tells Aubrey all about The Athiest's Tragedy, a little-known early modern play she read in preparation for her PhD exams. It's wild, you guys. #graveyardsnogging

Mid-Summer Mini-sode: Hamlet Chat

In our first "mini-sode" of the summer, we revisit a chunk of our conversation with Patrick Aaron Harris that didn't make it into the Merchant 101 episode...because it was about Hamlet - the American Shakespeare Center's Hamlet, to be precise - and we bird-walked deep into our FEELINGS about it.