Welcome to the werewolf-filled world of Webster’s Duchess of Malfi (#alliteration)! In Meet the Contemporary we tell you what we know about that guy John Webster (not much); we go a little long in the summary but that’s only because the play itself is sooooooo long; we read murderous moment in A Taste of Text; Jess reads from a real-life German account of a real-life 16th century werewolf; and in our ShakesBubble Gossip segment we give you a few more free online resources to occupy your shelter-in-place free time. We also played a game, Secret Werewolf, but it was cut for time — look for it as an Extra later this week! Stay home! Wash your hands! Be well, friends!
The Alchemist 101
This week we pay our obligatory respects to Ben Jonson and his insanely relevant comedy The Alchemist. We give you a brief biography of the famously pugnacious playwright in our Meet the Contemporary segment, summarize this very long play for you, and give you a Taste of Text with a reading of Act 1, scene 1. We decided to forego a game this time because, TBH, we didn’t really want to prolong our engagement with the play more than necessary. Instead we jumped straight into some ShakesBubble Gossip and what the Bubble has been up to in the time of Covid-19. Answer - a LOT. Stay home and tune in, y’all!
Fair Maid of the West 101
We’re not gonna lie…#coronavirus got us like WTF and we talk about it before diving into Thomas Heywood’s Fair Maid of the West. We shout out some resources for getting your artsy fartsy fix online while you’re practicing social distancing and STAYING THE F*K AT HOME AND WASHING YOUR HANDS. We summarize the play for you and give you A Taste of Text and that’s about it because we are shook. Just chalk this one up as a time capsule. You’re welcome, historians!
Here’s where you can read Fair Maid in full online: https://emed.folger.edu/sites/default/files/folger_encodings/pdf/EMED-1FMW-reg-3.pdf
Places you can continue to consume art online during shelter in place orders or self-isolation:
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:
Ian Smith’s seminal article about Othello’s handkerchief
The Ira Aldridge biographical article from The Folger
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.