Titus Andronicus 201

Today we ask you to lean into discomfort as we tackle the fraught issue of race in Titus Andronicus. We give you some thoughts from prevailing scholars on the subject, as well as a few approaches for this play in your classroom, and we also talk about Ira Aldridge’s contribution to the play (and to theatre in general) in the 19th century.

Here are links to some of the sources we quoted in today’s episode:

1. Ian Smith’s seminal article about Othello’s handkerchief

2. The Ira Aldridge biographical article from The Folger

3. Info from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust about Aldridge’s adaptation of Titus.

Here’s the image of Ira Aldridge we mentioned on the episode, circa 1852. Image courtesy of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Women Beware Women 101

Women, beware those women! A solid title and admonition, no? We take you step by step through Thomas Middleton’s gruesome tragedy, Women Beware Women, with a summary, a Taste of Text, and more than you ever wanted to know about the significance of chess in the play. We also play a round of F*k, Marry, Kill (just in case you were looking for some dating wisdom) and reveal some quite exciting ShakesBubble Gossip news. How many ways can people die all at once on stage? You’ll have to listen to find out!

Click here to learn about the Shakespeare 2020 project that Jess will be part of later this year.

Tis Pity 101

If you love incest plots, you’re in luck! John Ford’s immortal Tis Pity She’s a Whore is the Romeo and Juliet of incestuous, misbegotten, star-crossed love. We tell you what little we know of Ford in Meet the Contemporary; we give you a rather complete and detailed summary; we read Act 5, scene 5 for A Taste of Text; and we play the Playlist game where we brainstorm songs that will get you in the Tis Pity mood…and that’s it, because the ShakesBubble world was pretty boring and news-less this week…nothing so exciting as a heart impaled on a dagger or anything…

Here’s the playlist we came up with:

1. Is this desire - PJ Harvey

2. Touch Myself - Divinyls

3. Heart Attack - Trey Songz

4. Like a Virgin - Madonna

5. Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana

6. Colorblind - Counting Crows

7. Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys

8. With or Without You - U2

9. Look What You Made Me Do - Taylor Swift

10. Woman - Harry Styles

11. (Bonus Track) Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me - U2

12. (Bonus Track) How Will I Know? - Whitney Houston

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.

Maid's Tragedy 101

This episode is all about the AMAZING Beau-Fletch collabo The Maid’s Tragedy! We love this play sooooo much, so we start by Meeting the Contemporaries and tell you all about Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher’s epic, early modern bro-mance; we give you a Taste of Text (and a great “your mom” joke); Aubrey plays a round of Line Roulette; and we have soooooo much to cover in our ShakesBubble Gossip that it needed its own list of links (see below). Enjoy the episode and all the kinky twists of The Maid’s Tragedy!

1. This week’s SHAKES-BUBBLE “GOSSIP”: 

   1. Cool post on Burbage

   2. Also some cool shit happening at OSF

   3. This nonsense from The Telegraph

   4. This adaptation of Macbeth down under

   5. Watch the speakers from the recent RaceB4Race Symposium