Shakespeare Anyone?

In today's episode, we will be continuing our series on Shakespeare's Language Framework and our Shakespeare's Sources by taking a closer look at Petrarch. First, we will dive into the biography of Francesco Petrarca, more commonly known as Petrarch in English, the 14th century poet who had a huge influence on European humanism, the Renaissance, and poetry. Then, we will explore Petrarch's influence and how it spread across Europe before covering how we can see his influence in the works of William Shakespeare.  Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod Works referenced: Paster, Gail Kern. “A Modern Perspective: Romeo and Juliet.” Folger Shakespeare Library, 2024, www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/romeo-and-juliet/romeo-and-juliet-a-modern-perspective/. "Petrarchism." The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. Credo Reference. Web. 21 January 2015.  Shakespeare, William, and Keir Elam. Twelfth Night. Arden Shakespeare, 2008. Vuillemin, Rémi. “‘love with excess of heat’: The sonnet and Petrarchan excess in the late elizabethan and early jacobean periods.” XVII-XVIII, no. 71, 31 Dec. 2014, pp. 99–120, https://doi.org/10.4000/1718.395. Whitfield, John Humphreys. “Petrarch.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 25 Jan. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Petrarch.

In today's episode, we're diving deep into the world of early modern masculinity, patriarchy, and honor as we dissect Shakespeare's iconic play, Romeo and Juliet. Our discussion begins with the examination of the expectations placed upon men during the early modern period and how those pressures are reflected in Shakespeare's play – the embodiment of honor, the nuances of patriarchy, and the various faces of masculinity depicted in Shakespeare's characters. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod Works referenced: Appelbaum, Robert. “‘Standing to the Wall’: The Pressures of Masculinity in Romeo and Juliet.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 3, 1997, pp. 251–72. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2871016. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.   Capp, Bernard. “‘JESUS WEPT’ BUT DID THE ENGLISHMAN? MASCULINITY AND EMOTION IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND.” Past & Present, no. 224, 2014, pp. 75–108. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24545175. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.   Fisher, Will. “The Renaissance Beard: Masculinity in Early Modern England.” Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 54, no. 1, 2001, pp. 155–87. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1262223. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.   FLETCHER, ANTHONY. “Manhood, the Male Body, Courtship and the Household in Early Modern England.” History, vol. 84, no. 275, 1999, pp. 419–36. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24424587. Accessed 27 Jan. 2024.

To kick off our series on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, we are (as always) starting with an overview of basic facts about the play and an introduction to the major themes and motifs of the play.  Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod Works referenced: Shakespeare, William, and René Weis. Romeo and Juliet: Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2012. SparkNotes Editors. “Romeo and Juliet.” SparkNotes.com, SparkNotes LLC, 2005, URL.

It's time for a new play, which means a new synopsis! We are diving into Romeo and Juliet today, and we will be breaking down this play scene by scene.  Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Special thanks to Nat Yonce for guest-editing this episode. Episode written by Elyse Sharp and Kourtney Smith. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod Works referenced: Shakespeare, William, and René Weis. Romeo and Juliet: Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2012.

In today's special bonus episode, we are joined by a panel of Shakespeare social media content creators in our first-ever panel episode to discuss the intersection between Shakespeare and social media. We discuss each guests’ work; the different social media platforms; how and why we create Shakespeare content; the benefits of educating through memes; and what makes Shakespeare so dang memeable! Emily Jackoway is an actor, writer, and lifelong Shakespeare nerd. She earned her BFA in drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied Shakespeare at the Classical Studio. She is a former contributing writer and social media manager for Shakespeare and literary education website NoSweatShakespeare, which strives to make Shakespeare accessible for audiences and students. She also hosted their podcast, “Scurvy Companions,” which discusses Shakespeare in all his facets with actors, writers, directors, scholars, stage combat professionals and more. Favorite past roles include Juliet, Puck, and Iago. Carson Brakke is a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and is writing her dissertation on representations of hospitality in early modern English literature. In addition to hospitality, her research interests include domesticity, food studies, and women’s writing. To break up the solitary work of dissertating, Carson uses her TikTok platform to talk about early modern literature and the PhD experience. You can find her @glutenbergbible, where she’s always looking to chat with more people about research, academia, and the weird and surprising sides of early modern English literature! Micaela Mannix considers herself a jack of all Shakespeare. She is the artistic director of Bowls with the Bard, Denver's stoned Shakespeare company, and she hosts their podcast. Micaela is also an actor and content creator. You can find her making memes and working toward 10,000 hours of Shakespeare practice @10kshakespeare on TikTok and Instagram. Project: Bowls with the Bard is producing Stoned Cymbeline in Denver at the Coffee Joint February 22 - 25, 2024. Stephanie Crugnola has spent a very long time yelling about Shakespeare and how to start making it fun, accessible, responsible, and engaging for people who live in the 21st century. She has her MA in Early Modern English from King's College, London where she learned niche-ier words to yell with. Now, she hosts the Protest too Much podcast (@p2mpod): a Shakespeare showdown with a new guest each week and runs Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project (@wsshakes), a company focused on interactive educational performance opportunities and one-rehearsal pop-up productions. Her favorite Shakespeare play is Cymbeline because she thrives on chaos and being extra. Mia Escott is an Assistant Professor of English, Rhetoric, and Writing at Berry College. She joined the faculty in 2022 after receiving her doctoral degree in English from Louisiana State University. An Alabama native, she graduated from Auburn University and the University of Montevallo. Her research and teaching interests include early modern British Literature, Renaissance Drama, Shakespeare, Early Modern Race Studies, Critical Race Theory, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Trevor Boffone went viral in 2019 and hasn't looked back. His work using TikTok and Instagram with his students has been featured on Good Morning America, ABC News, Inside Edition, and Access Hollywood, among numerous national media platforms. His work as a social media expert has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Forbes, The Atlantic, and NPR. Trevor has published two books on social media and popular culture, and has two forthcoming books exploring theatre marketing on social media. Oh, and he does the Shakespeare thing, too. He is the co-editor of Shakespeare & Latinidad and is currently co-writing a book on Yassified Shakespeare. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone.  

As we wrap up 2023, we are taking a look back at the plays we covered this year by re-reading them and discussing how our readings of the plays has changed after doing our research for our episodes. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Works referenced: Shakespeare, William, and Harold F. Brooks. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Bloomsbury, 1979. Shakespeare, William, and Jonathan Bate. Titus Andronicus: Revised Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2018.  

Each year, in recognition of the National Day of Mourning/Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, we examine how British colonialism is irrevocably intertwined with Shakespeare. This year, we are taking a look at how Shakespeare's works have been used to critique the legacy of colonialism. We will look at how adaptations of Shakespeare's work from Martinique, Barbados, Cuba, and Kenya have utilized Shakespeare's stories and characters to represent and unpack the effects of colonialism. We also discuss a 2011 Palestinian production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that intentionally worked to create post-colonial version of Dream. Because of current events at the time we are releasing this podcast, we also encourage our listeners to learn more about colonialism as it relates to Palestine and have included additional resources below.  Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Works referenced: Al-Saber, Samer. “Beyond Colonial Tropes: Two Productions of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in Palestine.” Critical Survey, vol. 28, no. 3, 2016, pp. 27–46. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26384116. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.   Singh, Jyotsna G. Shakespeare and Postcolonial Theory, The Arden Shakespeare, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2020. Additional resources on Palestine:  Non-fiction Books: The Question of Palestine by Edward Said The Hundreds’ Year War On Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 by Rashid Khalidi The General’s Son: the Journey of an Israeli in Palestine by Miko Peled Palestine, Israel and the U.S. Empire by Richard Becker The Revolution of 1936-1939 in Palestine: Background, Details, Analysis by Ghassan Kanafani Documentaries: The Empire Files Presents: Gaza Fights for Freedom The Empire Files Presents: The Untold History of Palestine & Israel Al-Jazeera’s Ten Films to Watch About the History of the Israel-Palestine Conflict  Journalists: Motaz Azaiza @motaz_azaiza Plestia Alaqad @byplestia Rania Khalek @raniakhalek Wizard Bisan @wizard_bisan1 Photographers: Hamdan Dahdouh @hamdaneldahdouh Hamza Wael @hamza_w_dahdooh Mohamed Al Masri @mohamed.h.masri Ali Jadallah @alijadallah66 Video Creator: Ahmed Hijazi @ahmedhijazee Documenting Palestine @documentingpalestine Podcasts: The Palestinian Pod Citations Needed Podcast Episode 28: The Asymptotic ‘Two State Solution’ (Part 1) and Episode 29: The Asymptotic ‘Two State Solution’ (Part 2) Writer: Jenan Matari @jenanmatari Organizations: Palestinian Youth Movement Jewish Voice for Peace Answer Coalition Breaking the Silence: Israel @breakingthesilenceisrael  Aid: Anera: helps refugees and vulnerable communities in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan @aneraorg  

We are finishing up our series on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus by discussing two prominent adaptations and how they match up to what we've studied in our episodes.  First, we will take a look at Julie Taymor's 1999 epic surrealist film adaptation, Titus, starring Antony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Then, we compare it to the 2017 Royal Shakespeare Company production directed by Matthew Woodward. Join us as we explore these two very different productions of Shakespeare's bloody and brutal play! Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod Works referenced: Taymor, Julie, director. Titus. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2000. "Titus Andronicus." , directed by Matthew Woodward, and William Shakespeare. , produced by Griselda Yorke. , Royal Shakespeare Company, 2017. Alexander Street, https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cvideo_work%7C3999879. 

This year, 2023, is the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway. Have you ever stopped to ask how much you actually know about Anne? In today's episode, we will travel back through time to explore how Anne has been depicted in Shakespeare biographies and works of imaginative fiction since her death. We explore how her inclusion (or exclusion) from Shakespeare's narrative has changed and investigate what these depictions can tell us about society's perceptions of Shakespeare. Finally, we will also dive into the historical record and share the facts of Anne Hathaway's life. And yes, we will talk about that second best bed line in William Shakespeare's will.  Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Works referenced: AKA Group Limited, LLC, and Juliet Broadway LLC. “& Juliet: Official Broadway Website.” & Juliet | Official Broadway Website – Official Tickets for the New Broadway Musical & Juliet., Juliet Broadway LLC, 2022, andjulietbroadway.com/. Gunderson, Lauren. The Book of Will. Dramatists Play Service Inc., 2018. O’Farrell, Maggie. Hamnet. Alfred A. Knopf, 2020. Scheil, Katherine West. Imagining Shakespeare’s Wife: The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway. Cambridge University Press, 2018.

In today's episode we are joined by Carson Brakke to discuss how early modern concepts and anxieties about hospitality and cannibalism influenced early modern literature and drama, most explicitly in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.  Carson breaks down the early modern concept of hospitality and shares the cultural debates and dilemmas that centered around it and its inherent dangers. Join us as she guides us through the cognitive dissonance surrounding cannibalism for early modern Europeans, who simultaneously used it to other non-Europeans while possibly participating in cannibalism themselves!  We also explore how readers and theatre-makers today can use this knowledge to interpret scenes of hospitality and cannibalism in Shakespeare and other early modern works. Content warning: cannibalism is discussed throughout this episode. Please listen with care.  Our guest: Carson Brakke is a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and is writing her dissertation on representations of hospitality in early modern English literature. In addition to hospitality, her research interests include domesticity, food studies, and women’s writing. To break up the solitary work of dissertating, Carson uses her TikTok platform to talk about early modern literature and the PhD experience. You can find her @glutenbergbible, where she’s always looking to chat with more people about research, academia, and the weird and surprising sides of early modern English literature! Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com You can support the podcast at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone Works referenced: Brakke, Carson. “The Dangers of Hospitality in Shakespeare: The Hostess in The Rape of Lucrece and The Winter’s Tale.” Journal of the Wooden O, vol. 21, 3 June 2022, pp. 1–12, https://omeka.li.suu.edu/ojs/index.php/woodeno/article/view/265. Shahani, Gitanjali G. Tasting Difference: Food Race and Cultural Encounters in Early Modern Literature. Cornell University Press, 2021.