Shakespeare Unlimited podcast
William Shakespeare and his works are woven throughout our global culture, from theater, music, and films to new scholarship, education, amazing discoveries, and more. In our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast, Shakespeare opens a window into topics ranging from the American West, to the real history of Elizabethan street fighting, to interviews with Shakespearean stars. As you’ll hear, he turns up in surprising places, too—including outer space. Join us for a “no limits” tour of the connections between Shakespeare, his works, and our world.
Lena Cowen Orlin on The Private Life of William Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 180 Dr. Lena Cowen Orlin’s new book, The Private Life of Shakespeare, isn’t exactly a biography. Rather, it’s an exhaustive return to the primary sources that document Shakespeare’s life, a book that scholar James Shapiro says “demolishes…
Holidays in Shakespeare's England, with Erika T. Lin
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 179 Many of us have holiday traditions: we trim trees, spin dreidels, trick-or-treat, set off fireworks, and host parties. People had holiday traditions in Shakespeare’s time too: they crossdressed, roleplayed, fought, acted in amateur theatricals, ate pancakes,…
Bringing Latinx Voices to Shakespeare, with Cynthia Santos DeCure and Micha Espinosa
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 178 Cynthia Santos DeCure and Micha Espinosa both grew up speaking English and Spanish, and they share memories of being made to feel like their voices, dialects, and identities weren’t “good enough” for Shakespeare. Now, both DeCure…
Shakespeare's Language and Race, with Patricia Akhimie and Carol Mejia LaPerle
Dr. Patricia Akhimie and Dr. Carol Mejia LaPerle explore the ways that Shakespeare’s language—think descriptors like “fair,” “sooty,” and “alabaster”—constructs and enshrines systems of race and racism.
Shakespeare in Latinx Communities, with José Cruz González and David Lozano
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 176 Theater artists José Cruz González and David Lozano join us in this episode. Their conversation “On Making Shakespeare Relevant to Latinx Communities” appears in the new book Shakespeare and Latinidad. González and Lozano talk with Barbara…
Shakespeare and the British Royal Family, with Gordon McMullan
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 175 Shakespeare wrote a lot about English kings and queens. Over the last three hundred years, a lot of English kings and queens have gotten really into Shakespeare. Our guest Gordon McMullan is the Principal Investigator of…
Mike Lew on Teenage Dick
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 174 In Mike Lew’s play Teenage Dick, Richard, a high-school senior with cerebral palsy, is determined to become class president by any means necessary. Commissioned by theater artist Gregg Mozgala and Apothetae, the company Mozgala started to talk about…
Mona Awad on All's Well
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 173 In her new novel, All’s Well, author Mona Awad combines elements of All’s Well That Ends Well, Macbeth, and the 1999 movie Election to tell the story of Miranda Fitch, a theater professor with a mutinous…
How We Hear Shakespeare's Plays, with Carla Della Gatta
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 172 In Shakespeare’s time, people talked about going to hear a play and going to see one in equal measure. So what exactly do we hear when we hear one of Shakespeare’s plays? What information do we…
The Restoration Reinvention of Shakespeare
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 171 The next time someone complains about a director changing or tampering with Shakespeare… we’ve got an answer for them. The first generation of theater artists after Shakespeare weren’t particularly concerned about performing Shakespeare’s plays the way…
Geoffrey Marsh on Shakespeare's Neighbors
Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 169 What would we find out about you if we got to know your neighbors? What if we took a walk around the neighborhood where you live? That’s the way that Geoffrey Marsh hopes to learn more…
Madeline Sayet on Where We Belong
We talk with Madeline Sayet about growing up Mohegan in Connecticut, her evolving relationship with Shakespeare today, and what it means to belong in a complicated world.