Austin Tichenor
“I Want It That Way”: Rosaline & Juliet
“In both ‘Rosaline,’ a charming teen romcom streaming on Hulu, and ‘& Juliet,’ a splashy new musical making its Broadway debut this week, Shakespeare’s tragedy becomes a surprising springboard for music, comedy, and investigations into narrative ownership,” writes Austin Tichenor.
“Worthy service": The Tempest-uousness of The White Lotus
HBO’s Emmy-winning “The White Lotus” transforms Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” into a darkly funny satire of the hospitality industry, writes Austin Tichenor.
“I do fear thy nature”: Kim Wexler and echoes of 'Macbeth' in 'Better Call Saul'
Austin Tichenor draws comparisons between Kim Wexler and Lady Macbeth, unpacking Shakespearean themes in the “Better Call Saul” series.
'We few, we happy few': Small-cast Shakespeare
Austin Tichenor explores small-cast Shakespeare and the artistic possibilities of a few performers playing multiple roles.
A summer Shakespeare adventure: 'Her Majesty’s Will' by David Blixt
Austin Tichenor recommends an adventure novel starring a young Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, who uncover a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth.
Bothered by madness: 'Hamlet' and 'The Northman'
Robert Eggers’s “The Northman” is not an adaptation of “Hamlet,” but a film in conversation with Shakespeare’s play, Austin Tichenor writes.
Something is rotten in the state of Gotham: Shakespeare and The Batman
Austin Tichenor draws connections between Hamlet and Batman, noting the range of interpretations.
Actors taking on tyrants: Ernst Lubitsch’s 'To Be or Not to Be'
A Polish acting troupe outwits the Nazis using Shakespeare codes and theatrical smarts in Ernst Lubitsch’s 1942 film “To Be or Not to Be,” an audacious comedy filmed as Hitler was devastating Europe. Almost the definition of a joke told…
Is Shakespeare for everyone?
Austin Tichenor makes the case for why we should say “Shakespeare is for anyone who wants him” instead of “Shakespeare is for everyone.”
The power of restriction: Joel Coen's 'The Tragedy of Macbeth'
Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth, now streaming on Apple TV+ A movie that honors a play’s theatricality: That’s what director Joel Coen said he wanted for The Tragedy of Macbeth, his new adaptation of the Scottish play. The…
“The world unwinding”: Station Eleven, Shakespeare, and an artist’s-eye view of apocalypse
During the covid-19 pandemic, two methods of escape for me have been Shakespeare and depictions of fictional catastrophes, so you can imagine my excitement when I learned that a novel that combines both — Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven…
Of Roys and kings: “The shadow of Succession”
Austin Tichenor explores the copious Shakespearean echoes in HBO’s Succession series, in which the Shakespearean actor Brian Cox plays a key role.