Podcasts ArtsShakespeare and Pals: Recapping the Bard

Shakespeare and Pals: Recapping the Bard

Shakespeare and Pals

A Shakespeare recap podcast, talking about them in the order he wrote them.We also do Shakespeare’s peers, influences and influencees

Arts Books

Available Episodes

5 of 36

036/001 Take My Mistress, Please... AGAIN!: The Two Gentlemen of Verona REDUX (1589)
We're having a second chance at a first impression. Shakespeare's first play -- AGAIN! Just like Shakespeare got better, so have we. Sophie and Michael go back to Shakespeare's very first play. Does Shakespeare's debut -- packed with love triangles, cross-dressing, and love-able rogues, and hate-able heroes -- benefit from a new light? Tune in to our new episode 1 and episode 36. Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to [email protected] Sources: The Oxford Shakespeare: The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Oxford University Press) Shakespeare: The Critical Heritage, edited by Brian Vickers (Routledge)
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035 The Elizabethan James Cameron: Henry V (1599)
Is Henry V great? Or propaganda? It's great propaganda! In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare invented the modern romantic comedy. Now he invents the modern war film. Henry V fights the valiant, villainous French with a country-crossing army of ethnically diverse warriors (English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh). Does this patriotic crowd-pleaser still work in our more cynical times? Is it patriotic at all? Join us to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to [email protected] Sources: The Oxford Shakespeare: Henry V (Oxford University Press) Shakespeare: The Critical Heritage, edited by Brian Vickers (Routledge)
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2:11:20
034 Put Away Your Sword: Aristophanes' Lysistrata (411 BCE)
Bringing back the explicit tag for this one! The ladies of Ancient Greece are fed up with the war. Well, you know what men love more than killing each other? Sex! Greek citizenesses are going on a sex-strike till the peace. Comedy ages notoriously badly, but is Aristophanes' edgy, bawdy, snappy satire still a hit? Join us to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to [email protected] Sources: Lysistrata and Other Plays, by Aristophanes, trans. Alan H Sommerstein (Penguin Books) Lysistrata, by Aristophanes, trans. Jack Lyndsay (Perseus Digital Library)
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033 Listening to Your Evil Friend: Much Ado About Nothing (1598)
Believe Your Girlfriend: The Play Benedict likes Beatrice, and Beatrice likes Benedict, but Benedict and Beatrice don't like that they like each other, so their friends trick them into getting together. Meanwhile, Claudio likes Hero, and Hero likes Claudio, but Don John doesn't like people being happy, so he tricks Claudio into thinking Hero is cheating on him. Claudio... does not take it well. "Romeo and Juliet" was a comedy that became a tragedy. "Much Ado About Nothing" is a comedy that becomes a tragedy and becomes a comedy again. Does it work? Join us to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to [email protected] Sources: The Oxford Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing (Oxford University Press) Shakespeare: The Critical Heritage, edited by Brian Vickers (Routledge)
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2:07:01
032 Keanu Reeves is Trust Fund Prince Hal: Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Gay Henry IV! Except not really... Except very much yes! Gus Van Sant's classic of queer cinema recontextualises Henry IV into the world of gay hustlers. Prince Hal is a trust fund kid slumming it, and Poins is our narcoleptic viewpoint character. With lines directly adapted from Henry IV, and sequences remixed from Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight, Gus Van Sant rams Henry IV into modern day. Does it work? Join us to find out! Make sure to subscribe and share this podcast! Comments and questions can be sent to [email protected] Sources: Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho (1991)
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