Season 4 kicks off with Webster's dark (literally) Jacobean horror, THE DUCHESS OF MALFI. One of the few early seventeenth-century tragedies to remain popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this alt-canon staple features creative poisoning methods, medicinal apricots, and lycanthropy (aka werewolf disease) -- but the heart of the story is a woman who knows what she wants out of life and is punished for going out and getting it Content note: The Duchess of Malfi depicts, and this episode discusses, a number of traumatic subjects, including: gaslighting; murder (including of children) by poison, strangulation, and stabbing; hidden pregnancies; suggestion of incestuous feelings; mental health crisis (lycanthropy)
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Join us as we wrap up the saga of Season 3 and see if James remembers anything we covered! We talk about the inclusion of Shakespeare movie adaptations and whether or not we should keep the misogynometer. Thanks for sticking with us!
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It’s been a long road, but we have finally come to our Season 3 finale: ‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE! If you thought Hamlet was incestuous…buckle up, friends, because things are about to get weird. And do especially mind the content notes on this one. CONTENT NOTE This play and this episode depicts overt misogynist violence, including a graphic onstage murder. It also features blood and gore, including a scene with an anatomical heart.
This episode in our At the Movies series, we’re tackling everyone’s favourite childhood trauma, THE LION KING! With very special guest Arezou Amin, we tackle what Matthew Broderick is doing in this movie, how Hamlet’s dad pales in comparison to Mufasa, and to what extent Disney atones for its sins in the sequel. CONTENT NOTE: The Lion King famously depicts the death of Mufasa by stampede, and his brother Scar encouraging Simba, a child at the time, to believe it’s all his fault. AREZOU AMIN is a full-time writer, though she’s worn many hats, from teaching, to Disney cast member, to on-set production assistant. She writes for the preschool web series Lili & Lola, and her work also appears on Collider, in Star Wars Insider, and on The Geeky Waffle, which she also co-runs. She has a BA from the University of Toronto, and an MA from the University of Geneva. She reads an absurd amount, enjoys travelling as much as possible, takes recreational ballet in her spare time, and is the proud owner of a moody-yet-cuddly gerbil named Echo.
For once, a film we actually liked!! In this episode from our Shakespeare At the Movies series, we break down Feng Xiaogang’s 2006 wuxia Hamlet adaptation THE BANQUET (aka The Black Scorpion). James somehow connects this to the Loch Ness Monster, we envy Hamlet’s fancy hair bath, and there’s just a little too much incest for everyone’s comfort level. CONTENT NOTE This episode discusses the various forms of violence that are represented in the film, including sexual violence.
We’re back with the second part of HAMLET, featuring our fantastic guest and VP of Merch Dr Emer McHugh! This time, Polonius is finally concise, the Ghost just wants to go to bed, Horatio and Hamlet somehow end up naked together (whoopsie, how did that happen??), and James gets salty about the lack of stage time for the pirates. With cameos from pelicans, sparrows, and a Danish seal. CONTENT NOTE: Hamlet and this episode discusses suicide and self harm, murder by stabbing and poison, “madness”, grief and burial (including a disrupted funeral). Dr Emer McHugh @emeramchugh is Marie Skłowdowska-Curie Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, working on the project ‘Shakespeare and the Irish Actor’. She specialises in early modern performance studies, Shakespeare and Ireland, histories of actors and acting, theatre and celebrity, gender and sexuality studies, and modern and contemporary Irish and British performance. Her monograph, Irish Shakespeares: Gender, Sexuality, and Performance in the Twenty-First Century, is forthcoming from Routledge. When not working, she’s reading, collecting vinyls, going to the cinema, or watching Frasier or Twin Peaks. Her favourite Christmas album is ‘Christmas’ (1999) by Low.
The time has come, dear friends. We can avoid the elephant in the room no longer. It’s Hamlet time. Join us and the fabulous Dr Emer McHugh on a two-part adventure through the tortured psyche of the Prince of Denmark and his mommy issues! Along the way we’ll discuss the friendliness of your average ghost, our fave celebrity breakups, and whether that cloud really is backed like a weasel. CONTENT NOTE: This episode discusses death and murder, suicidal ideation and self harm. Dr Emer McHugh is Marie Skłowdowska-Curie Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, working on the project ‘Shakespeare and the Irish Actor’. She specialises in early modern performance studies, Shakespeare and Ireland, histories of actors and acting, theatre and celebrity, gender and sexuality studies, and modern and contemporary Irish and British performance. Her monograph, Irish Shakespeares: Gender, Sexuality, and Performance in the Twenty-First Century, is forthcoming from Routledge. When not working, she’s reading, collecting vinyls, going to the cinema, or watching Frasier or Twin Peaks. Her favourite Christmas album is ‘Christmas’ (1999) by Low.
It’s summer, and everyone wants to be at the beach — including the cast of ROMEO AND JULIET: SEALED WITH A KISS. Yes, they are actual seals. Join Nora and James as we discuss this dubious animated classic, complete with a crab band, ham-fisted segregation metaphors, a very annoying fish, and royalty-free music.
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Fun with fairies, true love, a beautiful wedding at the end… Oh, wait, I thought we were listing stuff that’s NOT in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? My bad. Nora and James get drunk and dunk on this perennial Shakespeare in the Park fave.
CONTENT NOTE: this play includes and this episode discusses involuntary intoxication, forced marriage with death threats attached, sexual assault and violence, and racist language
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We are back with a brand-new episode on Shakespeare’s weird little play ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL!! Today, we’re asking the important questions: Can your haemorrhoids give you a hernia? What rhymes with Nantucket? And do we really have to feel bad for Bertram? Diana, Roman goddess of rectums makes a surprise appearance in this, Shakespeare’s most morally grey comedy.
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Just a quick check in from Nora to explain where we've been.
It’s time for a dubious holiday (& world cup) special, a movie that has aged like pint of ice cream, our first Shakespeare film adaptation: SHE’S THE MAN!
With apologies in advance to your early ‘aughts nostalgia, we dive into this Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum classic. As is tradition, the high school characters are played by actors clearly approaching 30, the Shakespeare appropriation is ham-fisted at best (Channers’ character is literally named “Duke Orsino.” First name Duke, last name Orsino), and the gay panic/transphobia is at an all-time high. What fun!
CONTENT NOTE: As you might expect, this episode discusses gender dysphoria, transphobia, and homophobia. We also talk about body image and weight/weight loss.
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We kick off Season 3 with two households, both alike in dignity. That’s right friends, it’s ROMEO AND JULIET time! Follow along as we discuss Juliet’s concerning youth, Queen Mab’s nut wagon, and James’s sauce obsession.
We’re changing our release schedule to one episode per month this season, to keep the podcast sustainable. Thanks for sticking with us!
CONTENT NOTE: This play includes suicide and suicidal ideation in young people.
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Our Middleton Mid-Season (finally) concludes with our fan’s choice: WOMEN BEWARE WOMEN!
Join us on this wild ride of infidelity, incest, murder, and mayhem, which of course is all the fault of the pesky women and nothing to do with the men involved. Not at all. Not even one little bit. Come for the naughty chess puns; stay for the…*checks notes*…burning gold??
Content Note: this play discusses and depicts coercive sexual encounters, incest, and misogyny typical of the period (including an “inspection” of a female character by her prospective husband. This is non-penetrative but still absolutely gross). The final banquet scene has a high body count with several murders by various means taking place in quick succession.
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Hi! Did you miss us?
We’re back with a bang, as our friend Dr Brandi K. Adam’s joins us to tackle Thomas Middleton’s iconic city comedy A CHASTE MAID IN CHEAPSIDE! It’s got secret marriages and escaping daughters; it’s got meat babies and Puritans; it’s got Timoetheus AND his tutor; it’s even got all the mountains in Wales! Brandi’s mastery of Latin and Nintendo baddies alike comes in very handy as we navigate this wacky romp of a play.
This marks the first of two bonus episodes - aka The Middleton Mid-Season - which were chosen in an audience poll tournament.
Brandi K. Adams is an assistant professor in the Department of English at Arizona State University and member of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Her interests include book history, history of reading, early modern English drama, and premodern critical race and gender studies. Having formerly served as an undergraduate program manager at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she also researches the early history of artificial intelligence, early modern automata and how studying literature can have a significant and positive impact on computing.
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It’s our birthday!!! Not Another Shakespeare Podcast has been podding for a whole solar orbit, so in this episode we look back on season 2, rank our favourite plays so far, and preview some exciting future developments. Shoutouts for Brad Pitt’s butt in 2004, Disney princesses, sequels that are better than the original—and of course, James’s favourite characters, the lion and the bear. And towards the end of the episode, have a little request for you, our beloved listeners…
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We’re back!! After a brief hiatus, we’re returning with a bang to share our take on TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, featuring special guest Charlene V. Smith! Tune in for reminiscences about TROY (2004), bizarrely over-invested uncles, and objectively the weirdest ending in the canon.
CONTENT NOTE: This play contains depictions of sexual assault and implied coercion, as well as wartime violence.
Charlene V. Smith is an actor, director, and scholar, who has worked in the DC metropolitan area since 2006. She co-founded Brave Spirits Theatre in 2011 and became Artistic Director in 2014. Sadly, Brave Spirits was forced to close during the pandemic. But at that time, they were mid-way through a historic project to stage 8 of Shakespeare’s history plays in rep. Shakespeare’s Histories will now be released as audio recordings: https://t.co/T9BLg8YeUN
Charlene completed her BA in English & Theatre at the College of William and Mary and studied at the London Dramatic Academy. She has an MLitt & an MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin College (now University) in partnership w/ the American Shakespeare Center. She has written and published in a variety of venues, both academic and public-facing — you can see them all here: https://t.co/MJ7aPJljtt And, important for our purposes, she recently taught Troilus and Cressida as part of a team-taught directing class at Mary Baldwin, so she is the perfect person to discuss this wacky play with us!
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We’re back for the second part of our holiday special, returning to TWELFTH NIGHT just in time for, well, Twelfth Night! Topsy-turvy twin shenanigans continue, with guest appearances by John Donne, the Backstreet Boys, and the Hallmark Christmas cinematic universe. Literally everyone gets married at the end. What’s more festive than that??
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In the first part of our epic Christmas special, James rejects the play title (again), we debate the merits of meat-flavoured crisps/chips, and a barrage of festive movie references are made. How many of these people will be married by the end? Let’s be honest—probably all of them.
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Bohemian sea coasts, bad disguises, and offstage deaths, oh my! It’s THE WINTER’S TALE! In yet another case of James feeling betrayed by a play title, The Winter’s Tale is a magical story with ghosts, bears, and long-lost princesses — but it’s not set in winter. Featuring Gerard Butler and 300, and precisely how many biscuits we’d serve the Queen if she came to tea.
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