Tonight for your Halloween hauntings we present two stories--There Was A Man Dwelt Beside a Churchyard--a continuation of the story Mamilius begins to tell in A Winter's Tale, and the Ghost Story of Annie Walker.
Narrator of the Ghost Story of Annie Walker: James Lucas
Stories of outdoor theater from SVS' actors, directors and crew.
Thank you to Erin Southard for a delightful interview regarding her direction of Silicon Valley Shakespeare's production of Emma.
Additional acting by:
Mr. James Lucas
A look at this summer's Richard III and a comparison between Shakespeare's Richard and History's Richard!
Acting Credits:
Richard III--James Lucas
Lady Anne--Doll Piccotto
Sir Thomas More--James Lucas
Poem: "Richard" by Carol Anne Duffy
Performed by James Lucas
Roll for initiative and prepare for a storm of epic proportions!
In this episode of Shakespod we chat with Drew Jones, Director of The Tempest at Frank Bramhill Park in San Jose, June 6-22, 2025 and find out what inspired his Dungeons & Dragons take of this epic play!!
Thank you to Drew Jones for his time and energy!
A first scholarly look at our 2025 Summer Free Shakespeare in the Park production of The Tempest, directed by Drew Benjamin Jones.
Actors:
James Lucas--Oberon, Puck, Prospero
Doll Piccotto--Titania, Ariel
This episode dives into the weird and wacky world of Christopher Marlowe---or does it?
Actors:
James Lucas--Sir Toby Belch, Dogberry, Lear's Fool
Doll PIccotto--Maria, Verges, King Lear
Acting Credits:
Caesar and Portia: Doll Piccotto
Soothsayer: James Lucas
Did Shakespeare Trick or Treat? Tune in and find out!!
Players:
Vincent Shakesprice--James Lucas
First Fairy/Juliet--Sydney
Nurse--Melissa Mei Jones
Puck--Tonya Mara
Sources:
Astonishing legends.com
'Did Shakespeare Go Trick or Treating'--Cassidy Cash:
"All Saints Day"--Britannica
'Samhain"--History.com
"Imbolc"--History.com
"Beltane"--History.com
"Lughnassa"--History.com
"Origin of Halloween"--Hauntpay.com
Ever wonder what school was like in Shakespeare's Day? Well, tune in this week to find out! This week we dive into Shakespeare's school days, what kind of education he had, and why some people think that means he couldn't have written his plays.
Merry Wives of Windsor Scene performed by: Sydney Harmon, Oliver Piccotto, Doll Piccotto, and James Lucas as Sir Hugh.
Sources for this podcast:
Elizabethan Education by Linda Alchin
"A Double Spirit of Teaching--What Shakespeare's Teachers Teach Us" by Patricia Winson
Why Some People Think Shakespeare Didn't Write Shakespeare, Explained--by Constance Grady
Greene's Groats-Worth of Witte--Folger Shakespeare Library
Children in Elizabethan England--Julia Bossonis
Famous Shakespeare Authorship Skeptics--Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship
Yes, Shakespeare Really Was Shakespeare--Shiladitya Sen
The Rediscovery of Shakespeare's Greek--Earl Showerman
Yes, Shakespeare Really Did Write Shakespeare--Alex Knapp
A Note on a Phrase In Shakespeare's Play King Lear-"A Plague Upon your Epileptic Visage"--Tim and Hannah Betts
This episode of Shakespod dives into the history of theatre in China and when and how Shakespeare made his arrival there.
Special Guest: James Lucas performing Marc Antony from Julius Caesar.
Sources:
SHAKESPEARE IN CHINA
Ho Hsiang-Lin
The ComparatistVol. 13 (MAY 1989), pp. 11-21 (11 pages)Published By: University of North Carolina Press
Shakespeare Reception in China by Yanna Sun
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 2, No. 9, pp. 1931-1938, September 2012 © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.
Why China's Love Affair With Shakespeare Endures
Enid Tsui, Post Magazine
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/1996061/why-chinas-love-affair-shakespeare-endures
Shakespeare in China
L.E.
https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2017/03/12/shakespeare-in-china/
Royalty-Free Renaissance music provided by:Pixabay
In this episode, we take an in-depth look at the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which provides the backdrop for our 2024 summer production of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS in Sanborn Park. The episode also features an interview with Melissa Mei Jones, director of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, discussing her experience as a first-time director, her experience directing an AAPI-centric production, and much, much more.
Sources:
Royalty Free Music from https://www.fesliyanstudios.com
National Archives--archives.gov
Office of the Historian--history.state.gov
Library of Congress--loc.gov
Bill of Rights Institute--The Chinese Exclusion Act--Stephanie Hinnershitz
NPR--As Chinese Exclusion Act Turns 135, Experts Point to Parallels Today--Kat Chow
Calisphere--Chinese Exclusion Act Exhibition
Leland Stanford on Chinese Exclusion--1889
Tour of San Francisco's Chinatown
Doll Piccotto, SVS' Resident Dramaturg and 3 guests, Alika Spencer, director of SVS' Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Myles Rowland, actor who is playing Henry Jekyll and James Lucas--because he's entertaining and loves movies--discuss 3 different film versions of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.
CORRECTION: We often call the John Barrymore version the 1931 version--it is in fact the 1920 version.
Films Discussed:
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde--John Barrymore (1920)--Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjQaAK5Vof4
Dr. Jekyll & Ms. Hyde--Tim Daly/Sean Young (1995)--Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFf9khNkOtc
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde--Michael McKell (2021)--Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAd6bp0naAA
Join Doll Piccotto, our resident dramaturg as she takes a walk on the light and dark side in this discussion of Jekyll & Hyde, Dualism and Allegory. Be sure to see our production of Jekyll & Hyde this summer at Sanborne Park in Saratoga, CA. Special Guest recordings by James Lucas.
Ale and Anecdotes by Darren Curtis | https://www.darrencurtismusic.com/
Music promoted on https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
All's Well that Ends Well....or does it? Listen in as a director, a professor and a dramaturg discuss Shakespeare's 'problem plays' and the issues that hinder a 'happy ending' in All's Well that Ends Well. Dr. Adrienne Eastwood from San Jose State Universityand and Marley Rose-Teter, the Director of Silicon Valley Shakespeare's All's Well that Ends Well sit down with Doll Piccotto, our resident dramaturg to pick apart these fascinating plays and discuss why they don't sit well with our modern sensibilities.
In this episode, SVS Resident Dramaturg, Doll Piccotto, does a deep dive into Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well.
In the third edition of "Flipping the Script," SVS presents another round of artists performing monologues in roles they wouldn't be traditionally cast in. Featuring pieces from Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, The Importance of Being Earnest, and more; this episode will having you seeing these characters in a new light.
Silicon Valley Shakespeare's Production Manager, Tonya Mara, has a lively discussion with guests Doll Piccotto and Christian Pizzirani about all the good (and bad) examples of Shakespeare inspired films as SVS gears up for Shakespeare in Love, opening at Sanborn this summer.
