In this 301 episode (where rules don’t exist and anarchy reigns) we work through the foundational dramaturgical question: Why this play now? Together we hash out the possible reasons for including Twelfth Night in a season of plays or on a syllabus and what it has to offer in conversation with other works. We also rabbit-hole juuuuuuust a little bit about what an entire season of shipwreck plays would look like and why John Donne’s poetry is all you’ll ever need to get you….err….in the mood…#yourewelcome
Mucedorus 101
Why was Mucedorus the most popular play of its time and nowadays no one knows about it? And why can no one agree about who wrote it? Our special guest, Finch, gives us some answers. We (Re)Meet the Contemporary, Anonymous; we give you a hilarious Taste of Text; Finch absolutely slays a round of Line Roulette; and we do a little ShakesBubble Gossiping. Find out all about The Other Bear Play and more in this episode.
Devil's Charter 101
Happy New Year, Friends! We start the year off right, with a little demonic conjuring and Borgia back-stabbing, in Barnabe Barnes’s The Devil’s Charter. We ‘Meet the Contemporary’ and tell you all about Barnes’s epic beef with Thomas Nashe; we give you a suuuuper gay (but also papal) ‘Taste of Text’; for our game we generate a playlist for your listening pleasure; and our ShakesBubble Gossip catches you up on what you missed over the winter break.
Curious about our playlist? Here it is:
“I want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow
“Closer” by Nine Inch Nails
“Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift
“Killing In The Name” by Rage Against the Machine
“Devil with a Blue Dress” by Mitch Ryder (NOT Elvis)
“Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen
“For Once in My Life” by the Decemberists
“Scuse Me” by Lizzo
“Last Resort” by Papa Roach
“Everlong” by Foo Fighters
Much Ado 301
Ooopsies...This was supposed to be a Midsummer 301, but after we watched the 2019 Public Theatre production of Much Ado About Nothing, we just HAD to talk about all the interesting, political, shocking, confusing, GORGEOUS CHOICES they made! We also gossip a little bit, but mostly we're just gushing about this thought-provoking and beautiful production. ***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***
Also, here’s a link to the article about QE1’s translation of Tacitus.
Coriolanus 201
We sit down with incredibly thoughtful special guest, Dr. Haylie B. Swenson, of the Folger to talk about animal studies and how rats in particular…ahem…penetrate the text and person of Coriolanus. The Rhetorical Device Revisited is epizeuxis, epizeuxis, epizeuxis, and how Shakespeare uses it to create a particularly sheep-like mob in the play (animals, again!). In our on-going How to Grad School segment, Haylie and Jess discuss how to confront the isolation that comes with ABD status and writing your dissertation. We gossip about the (very few) upcoming productions of Coriolanus, as well as a call for action* on racism in Medieval and Early Modern academia. Thanks for giving us so much to chew on, Dr. Swenson!
*To read the fantastic call to action written by Kimberly Anne Coles, Kim F. Hall, and Ayanna Thompson, go here.