Tempest 301

Sometimes when you think you have nothing to say about a play, it turns out you still have a sh*t-ton to say. Today’s 301 episode revisits The Tempest, and we ask the question - what is its genre, really, and also why this play now? Jess posits that maybe The Tempest would feel a little more cathartic at the end if it were staged more like a revenge tragedy at the beginning; Aubrey speculates a bit about why so many regional theaters have added this title to their 2022 lineup. Oh, and we take not one but TWO birdwalks down Marie de France lane because Jess just can’t shut up about this medieval author. Lesbian weasels! Fun times!

Here’s what we featured in our Happy Hour segment:

• Aubrey’s rec: @decolonizeyourclassroom and @amplify.RJ communities on Insta are offering weekly asynchronous video lessons and live zoom discussions about “History of Black Abolitionist Politics and Action” starting Feb 5, going every saturday all month. You can learn more and sign up at tiny.cc/abolition

• Jess’s rec: Marie de France. Know her. Read her. Love her.

Here’s what we featured in our ShakesBubble Gossip segments:

• This Washington Post article about the recent STA conference

• Nataki Garrett’s op ed in The Hill

• The Globe’s continuing series on Anti-racist Shakespeare webinars - next one is Feb. 10

• American Moor is coming to Pittsburg, PA Feb 17-20!!

• Awesome letter from ACMRS and RaceB4Race Executive Board on medium.com

201 Roulette!

SURPRISE! You thought you were getting a Love’s Labour’s episode but we had a last minute change of plans. Instead, we opted for something new, a way to get a bunch of plays into a 201-ish discussion without dedicating an episode to each individual one (because, tbh, we’re down to the dregs - mostly plays we just don’t wanna talk about anymore). So we invented 201 Roulette! Jess and Aubrey take turns drawing the names of plays out of a hat and extemporizing about those plays however they like. No spoilers, but you’ll definitely get a dose of what we love and hate, as well as who we would cast in dream productions of the titles we draw. Tell us what you think - if you like this format, we might do it again!

Here’s what we featured in our Happy Hour segment:

• GoFundMe campaign for Tonga tsunami relief!

Here’s what we featured in our ShakesBubble Gossip segments:

• meh…not a lot this week. The breaking news from last episode tapped us out!

Henriad 201

This episode is a Hurly Burly first, both because we’re rolling 201 content for three plays - 1 & 2 Henry IV and Henry V - all into one episode, but also because we have a MAJOR SCOOP in ShakesBubble Gossip that you get to hear all about here first! The endlessly charming Brandon Carter joins us to talk about tackling the arc of the first Henriad as Prince Hal/King Henry, being the first (and maybe only?) African American to play the role in a series of connected productions, and spill the hot hot tea about what else is happening in his career. You’ll have to listen to the end to catch it, but he’s such a delight that you won’t mind one bit.

Here’s what we featured in our Happy Hour segment:

• Distributed Leadership research, for anyone looking for a less hierarchical way of operating in the workplace

• Bonding on Netflix

Here’s what we featured in our ShakesBubble Gossip segments:

• Open access special edition of Literature Compass on PCRS: includes Medieval and Renaissance topics together, and a couple of the articles also come with teaching guides.

Hamlet 202: Interred With Their Bones

In our second ever 202 episode (reserved for a Shakespeare adaptation or adjacent work), we take you through the suspenseful and sometimes bemusing and frustrating plot of Jennifer Lee Carrell’s mystery thriller Interred With Their Bones. We give you a plot and character synopsis as well as all the Shakespearean easter eggs you can handle, with just a sprinkle of “authorship question” (because the book forced us to) and some early modern true crime to boot. Looking for a fun read for your holiday break? Read this book (and listen to our episode before you do)!

Here’s what we featured in our Happy Hour segment:

• Olivia Dade’s Spoiler Alert and All The Feels

Here’s what we featured in our ShakesBubble Gossip segments:

• ACMRS first and second book fellowships

• ACMRS poetics symposium

• Guardian article about a forthcoming book by Molly Yarn from Cambridge Press about history of Shakespearean “lady editors” 

• Scholar Haley Bachrach making headlines!

Midsummer 301

It’s not enough to talk to one Bottom about being Nick Bottom, we needed at least 2: utter delights and all-around good humans (and actors) Topher Embry and Gregory Jon Phelps join us to talk about what they love (and hate) about A Midsummer Night’s Dream, playing Bottom and other characters, and so much more. It’s a shenanigan roller coaster for this 301-level episode, so buckle up!

Here’s what we featured in our ShakesBubble Gossip segments:

• Here are the anticipated early modern (and EM-adjacent) titles of North American theatres for 2022 (next time we’ll cover across the pond):

  1. Old Globe: Taming and Midsummer

  2. OSF: The Tempest, King John, and The Cymbeline Project

  3. Colorado Shakes: 2 Gents, All’s Well, Coriolanus, and The Alchemist

  4. Utah Shakes: All’s Well, Lear, Tempest

  5. STC in DC: Merchant and Much Ado

  6. Stratford Fest: Hamlet, All’s Well, Richard 3, Hamlet-911

• Jess’s latest publication is out now - check it out!