Favorite guest expert and fellow #LadyAcademic Molly Seremet returns to talk to us about why Fletcher and Massinger’s goofy pirate collabo, The Sea Voyage, should be on everyone’s “must” list. We introduce you to the elusive and mysterious (and neckless) Philip Massinger in our Meet the Contemporary segment; we read a smidge of Act 2, scene 1 for A Taste of Text; Molly tells us all about the staging challenges and delights when producing this play, and then she SLAYS a round of Line Roulette; and finally, we gossip about all our favorite things happening in the ShakesBubble right now. We hope you’re weathering the pandemic safely and with clean hands! #stayhome #washyourhands
Jovial Crew 101
The characters in Richard Brome’s play A Jovial Crew do exactly what most of us cannot in this ‘Rona Age: they go cavorting about in large groups! In Public! So we use this play to get out a little cabin fever of our own. We invite you to Meet the Contemporary, Richard Brome, about whom the only thing we really know for sure is that he was Ben Jonson’s #1 Fanboy; we play a new game - BYO Crew - to help us think about our own “Jovial Crew”; and we have tons of fresh ShakesBubble Gossip. We hope the Merry Beggars of A Jovial Crew brighten your day. #stayhome #washyourhands
Here are the links from this week’s ShakesBubble Gossip:
Hidden Room’s “German Puppet Hamlet” Der Berstrafte Brudermord
The article about Shakespeare’s newly-revealed collaborator, Thomas Watson.
What Shakespeare Actually Did During the Plague (New Yorker article)
Duchess of Malfi 101
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: