Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in ’t." (Hamlet, 2.2.223) Plenty of people today consider Shakespeare a literary genius, a pillar of theater history, a gifted writer of timeless love poems, and more. But even the most over-the-top contemporary admirer of Shakespeare is unlikely to consider him a pioneer of modern medical science... much less forensic psychiatry. Hard as it may be to believe, however, there was a strange period in American history when that's exactly how William Shakespeare was seen in both law and medicine. Rebecca Sheir, host of the Shakespeare Unlimited series, interviews Benjamin Reiss, a professor in the English department at Emory University and the author of a book called "Theaters of Madness: Insane Asylums and Nineteenth-Century American Culture." "From the mid-1840s through about the mid-1860s in the United States, during the first generation of American psychiatry, no figure was cited as an authority on insanity and mental functioning more frequently than William Shakespeare," says Reiss. Such citations were not just in medical journals, he adds, but in sworn legal testimony. The reason, we learn in this podcast, was essentially this: Modern psychiatry was a fledgling field, regarded with distrust and little respect by many Americans. What it needed, above all, was authority—and what better, more respected authority than the great playwright? Join us to explore this curious yet fascinating intersection between civil society and William Shakespeare. ------------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Recorded by Toby Schreiner.

"I prithee speak to me as to thy thinkings," (Othello, 3.3.152) How do Shakespeare's works, written so long ago, still speak to us today? Just as actors and directors strive to work out this question on the stage, the academy continues to find new meaning in Shakespeare, too. Rebecca Sheir, host of our Shakespeare Unlimited series, talks with scholars Gail Kern Paster and Jeremy Lopez about why we continue to learn something new from Shakespeare's plays more than four hundred years after their first performance. Gail Kern Paster is director emerita of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Jeremy Lopez is an associate professor of English at the University of Toronto and former National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the Folger. ------------------ From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Written and produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is associate producer. Edited by Esther Ferington. We had help gathering material for this podcast series from Amy Arden.

"I was born to speak all mirth and no matter." (Much Ado About Nothing, 2.1.323) Let's face it: Modern audiences sometimes go from roaring with laughter to scratching their heads when it comes to enjoying Shakespeare's jokes four hundred years later. How (and why) has "what's funny" changed over the years—and what's still a guaranteed belly laugh? Theater artists and scholars, along with narrator Rebecca Sheir, host of our Shakespeare Unlimited series, take an amusing, sometimes surprising, look at things that were funny in Shakespeare's time, but not so much now—as well as gems of Shakespearean comedy that still sparkle today. Among those featured in this podcast: - Michael Green is the author of The Art of Coarse Acting. - Robert Hornback is associate professor of English, comparative literatures, and theatre and chair of the Department of English and Comparative Literatures at Oglethorpe University. - Austin Tichenor is a writer, performer, and managing partner of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. He also produces and hosts the Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast. - Adam Zucker is an associate professor of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of the book "The Places of Wit in Early Modern English Comedy." -------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Written and produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul, an author and documentary producer who is also a long-time member of Washington's own Capitol Steps singing comedy troupe. Garland Scott is associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. We had help gathering material for this podcast from Esther French. We also had help from Candice Ludlow, Jane Degenhardt, Ian Briggs, and Andrea Bath. Original music composed and arranged by Lenny Williams.

"Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee! Thou art translated!" (A Midsummer Night's Dream, 3.1.120-121) What happens when Shakespeare’s work is translated into foreign languages? Is it still Shakespeare? Or does something fundamental to the original evaporate in the process? Scholars and theater artists, with Rebecca Sheir, host of our Shakespeare Unlimited series, look at what constitutes the essence of Shakespeare. A translator can retain the story, characters, and ideas of a play, but the intricate wordplay proves much more difficult. For one thing, it’s impossible to translate Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter into a language like Korean, in which poetry is based on syllable counts, not stresses. And what is to be done with those well-crafted puns? However, translation also opens up possibilities for new depths of meaning, as the familiar recedes and a different perspective takes over. Among those featured in this podcast: - Joe Calarco is the adaptor and original director of Shakespeare’s R&J. - Rupert Chan is a writer and playwright who has translated multiple Shakespeare plays into Cantonese. - Joe Dowling is the artistic director for the Guthrie Theater in Minnesota. - Alexa Huang is a professor of English, theater and dance, East Asian languages and literatures, and international affairs at George Washington University. - Ah-Jeong Kim is a professor of theater history at California State University–Northridge. - Hyonu Lee is a professor at Soon Chun Hyang University in South Korea. ------------------ From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Written and produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Edited by Garland Scott, Gail Kern Paster, and Esther Ferington. We had help gathering material for this podcast series from Amy Arden.

"Here will we sit and let the sounds of music / Creep in our ears" (The Merchant of Venice, 5.1.63-64) How can young people connect with Shakespeare? It's a question that confronts each generation. Members of Taffety Punk, a Washington, DC, theater company, have taken to heart the mission of bringing Shakespeare into the 21st century. Rebecca Sheir, host of our Shakespeare Unlimited series, talks with Taffety Punk founding member and Artistic Director Marcus Kyd about how he and a group of classically trained actors—who are also ex-punk rockers—are giving new meaning to the term "band of players." From Bootleg performances of Shakespeare's plays—rehearsed and staged in a day—to Riot Grrrls all-female Shakespeare, recordings of punk versions of Shakespeare's Sonnet 71 and Mercutio's "Queen Mab" speech from ROMEO AND JULIET, and the Generator series of experimental works, Taffety Punk is defining Shakespeare for a new generation of theatergoers and theater makers. Marcus Kyd is a founding member and artistic director of Taffety Punk Theatre Company. Taffety Punk Theatre Company's mission is to establish a dynamic ensemble of actors, dancers, and musicians who ignite a public passion for theater by making the classical and the contemporary exciting, meaningful, and affordable. Taffety Punk received the John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company at the 2008 Helen Hayes Awards. ---------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul; Garland Scott, associate producer.

"Under the greenwood tree / Who loves to lie with me / And turn his merry note / Unto the sweet bird’s throat, / Come hither, come hither, come hither. / Here shall he see / No enemy / But winter and rough weather." (As You Like It, 2.5.1-8) Pack the picnic basket. Grab a blanket. Don't forget the bug spray. Shakespeare under the stars is a long-standing tradition in America—and elsewhere in the English-speaking world and beyond. Rebecca Sheir, host of our Shakespeare Unlimited series, talks with scholars and theater artists about the social and cultural forces that came together to create outdoor Shakepeare festivals. (Hint: The tradition starts a lot sooner than you might think!) Among those featured in this podcast: - Libby Appel is former Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. - Charlotte Canning is a professor in the theater and dance department of the University of Texas at Austin. - Michael Dobson is director of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham in England. - Frank Hildy is a professor of theater at the University of Maryland. - Scott Kaiser is the head of voice and text at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. ----------------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul; Garland Scott, associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. We had help gathering material for this Shakespeare Unlimited episode from Esther French. Thanks to Nick Moorbath at Evolution Studios in Oxford England and Eddie Wallace at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The music was composed and arranged by Lenny Williams.

"I, that am rudely stamped..." (Richard III, 1.1.16) Shakespeare not only talked about his own times; he also wrote history plays that showed us the past—though it was a past filtered through the politics and prejudices of Shakespeare's present. Questions about this came up recently when a body was found in a Leicester, England, parking lot. That body is now widely believed to be that of King Richard III. Among the many issues raised, along with that body, are questions about who the real Richard III was, versus the dramatic character that we've all come to know from stage and film. In search of that answer, Rebecca Sheir, host of our Shakespeare Unlimited series, talks with an expert on the historic Richard III, David Baldwin, and an expert on Shakespeare's Richard III, Michael Dobson. Meanwhile, historian Retha Warnicke explains the practical challenges of any research into Richard's long-ago time. David Baldwin is a medieval historian who has taught at the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham. His book "Richard III" was published by Amberley in 2012. Michael Dobson is Director of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham in England. Retha Warnicke is Professor of History at Arizona State University. ----------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul; Garland Scott, associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Thanks to Hannah Tucker at the University of Leicester for her help.

"All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players." (As You Like It, 2.7.146-147) In Shakespeare's time, only men appeared on stage, with teenage boys playing the women's parts. Today, women play women and sometimes men—and vice-versa. In this podcast we have gathered some of the best-known actresses in the Folger's home town, Washington, DC—Naomi Jacobsen, Cam Magee, Francelle Stewart Dorn, Victoria Reinsel, Charlene V Smith, and Holly Twyford—to talk about their experiences on stage with Shakespeare. The all-female staging of RICHARD III was produced for Brave Spirit Theater, with Jenna Berk as George, Duke of Clarence. First Murderer was Rachel Hynes; Second Murderer was Tina Renay Fulp. ---------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul; Garland Scott, associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. The music in the piece was composed and arranged by Lenny Williams. We had help gathering material for Shakespeare Unlimited from Amy Arden.

While Nelson Mandela was incarcerated on South Africa's Robben Island, one of the other political prisoners managed to retain a copy of Shakespeare's complete works, which was secretly circulated through the group. At that prisoner's request, many of the others—including Mandela—signed their names next to their favorite passages. As Shakespeare scholar David Schalkwyk, also a South African, explains to interviewer Rebecca Sheir, there is something special about "a book that had passed through the hands of the people who had saved my country." Schalkwyk shares some personal history and reveals what Shakespeare might have meant to the men who signed the Robben Island Shakespeare. David Schalkwyk is Professor of English at the University of Cape Town and, beginning in 2009, has served as Director of Research at the Folger Shakespeare Library and editor of "Shakespeare Quarterly." He is also the author of "Speech and Performance in Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Plays," "Literature and the Touch of the Real," and "Shakespeare, Love and Service." His most recent book, "Hamlet’s Dreams: The Robben Island Shakespeare," was published in February 2013. ---------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul; Garland Scott, associate producer.

“And I hope here is a play fitted.” —A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1.2.63) There's an old Broadway saying (sometimes attributed to Richard Rodgers) that "No one ever walked out of a theater humming the scenery." Nevertheless, costume and scenery designers can be vital to the success of a play. In this episode of the Shakespeare Unlimited series, Steve Martin talks with Denise Walen about the sweeping changes in costumes, scenery, and other staging choices in the 400 years since Shakespeare's time. From elaborate settings and carefully researched costumes that were meant to educate audiences, to modernist stripped-down sets or fanciful reimaginings, Shakespeare productions have long responded to the theater choices of their day. As for the future, Walen is sure: whatever changes lie ahead, Shakespeare's plays will still take the stage. Denise Walen is an associate professor in the Department of Drama at Vassar College. She was the curator of "Here Is a Play Fitted," a Folger Shakespeare Library exhibition. ------------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Written and produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Steve Martin is the former program director of WAMU public radio in Washington, DC.

"Freedom, high-day! High-day, freedom! Freedom, high-day, freedom!" —THE TEMPEST(2.2.192-193) In this second of two podcasts on Shakespeare and the African American experience, "Freedom, Hey-Day! Hey-Day, Freedom!" examines some of the many ways—including, but not limited to, performance—that black Americans have encountered, responded to, taken ownership of, and sometimes turned away from Shakespeare's words. Rebecca Sheir, host of the Shakespeare Unlimited series, narrates this expansive, interview-filled look at the intersection between African American life and Shakespeare, from stage productions to personal and academic encounters with the texts. Kim Hall is a professor of English at Barnard College. Caleen Sinnette Jennings is a professor of theater at American University in Washington, DC. Bernth Lindfors is professor emeritus of history at the University of Texas. Francesca Royster is a professor of English at DePaul University. Shane White is a professor of history at the University of Sydney in Australia. -------------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. We had help gathering material for the Shakespeare Unlimited series from Esther French. We also had help from Britta Greene and Anne Marie Baldonado at Fresh Air with Terry Gross, who gave us their 1987 recording of August Wilson. Original music composed and arranged by Lenny Williams. The title of this episode uses an alternate spelling ("hey-day") in quoting Caliban's exclamation; it is "high-day" in the Folger Digital Texts edition of THE TEMPEST.