Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

The author of the Patrick Melrose novels talks about adapting the story of one of Shakespeare’s most dysfunctional families for the Hogarth Shakespeare series. In Edward St. Aubyn’s version of “King Lear,” called “Dunbar,” Lear becomes a media mogul whose evil daughters have locked him away in a psychiatric hospital. Edward St. Aubyn is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published November 1, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode, “Th’ Untented Woundings of a Father’s Curse,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Andrew Feliciano and Evan Marquardt at Voice Trax West in Studio City, California and Paul Reuest at Argot Studios in New York.

Even if you’re not a Shakespeare scholar, there are things you have learned about Shakespeare and his plays throughout your life – that it’s bad luck to say the name of “the Scottish play” or that Shakespeare hated his wife. Are any of these stories true? And whether they are or not, what do they tell us about previous eras, and our own? (This episode was first released on April 22, 2015.) From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Emma Smith, a professor of English at Oxford University, is co-author, along with Laurie Maguire, of "30 Great Myths About Shakespeare." She was interviewed by Rebecca Sheir. This episode, “Thou Dost But Say 'Tis So”, was produced by Richard Pau.; Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Nick Moorbath at Evolution Studios in Oxford, and Jonathan Charry at public radio station WAMU.

Two literary scholars discuss Shakespeare’s influence on the politics, history, and literary culture of East Africa. Edward Wilson-Lee, the son of white wildlife conservationists, spent his childhood in Kenya and now teaches Shakespeare at the University of Cambridge in England. Over the past few years he has spent extended periods back in Kenya, as well as in Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, researching his book, Shakespeare in Swahililand. Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o, the renowned Kenyan playwright, novelist, dissident, and social activist, grew up in Kenya when it was still a British colony and is now a Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. His most recent work is the memoir Birth of a Dream Weaver. Ngũgĩ and Edward were interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published October 3, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode, “The Language That I Have Lived In,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Barbara Caldwell at the University of California  Irvine, Evan Marquardt at Voice Trax West in Studio City, California, and Roger Chatterton at Kite Recording Studio in Cambridge, England.

How do actors breathe life into Shakespeare’s texts? How do they take language that’s centuries old and make it sound so real and immediate? Barry Edelstein, the Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director at The Old Globe in San Diego, is one of the nation’s most experienced Shakespeare directors. Join him for an abbreviated version of Thinking Shakespeare Live!, his master class for acting that pulls back the curtain on the rehearsal room. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published September 19, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode Speak The Speech, I Pray You, As I Pronounced It was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Justin Waldman, Associate Artistic Director at The Old Globe, and from Andrew Feliciano and Evan Marquardt at Voice Trax West in Studio City, California, and Kurt Kohnen at KPBS in San Diego.

In his one-man show "Cry Havoc!" actor Stephan Wolfert, a US Army veteran, draws together lines in Shakespeare’s plays spoken by soldiers and former soldiers—including Macbeth, Othello, and Richard III. He puts those words to the task of explaining the toll that soldiering and war can take on the psyches of the men and women who volunteer for military duty. He is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published September 5, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode, “To the Battle Came He,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Beth Emelson, Associate Artistic Producer of Folger Theatre; Eric Tucker, Artistic Director of Bedlam; Melissa Kuypers at NPR-West in Culver City, California; and from Ray Cruz at Hawaii Public Radio.

Next year, 2018, is the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth. To honor him, we’re taking a look at the creation of "West Side Story," Bernstein’s most significant contribution to the world of Shakespeare. To help us out, we’ve invited in two guests with extensive knowledge. Mark Horowitz is archivist for the Leonard Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress—nearly 400,000 items, including music manuscripts, letters, photographs, audio and video recordings, fan mail, and even some of the maestro’s old batons. Nigel Simeone has produced two books on Bernstein, "Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story" (2009) and "The Leonard Bernstein Letters" (2013). Nigel and Mark are interviewed by Neva Grant. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published August 23, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, "Juliet Appears Above, At A Window" was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Eric Engler, the Summer News Operations Intern at NPR in Washington, from Sheryl Cannady at the Library of Congress, and from Jono O'Neill at Yellow Bean Studios in Leicester, England.

How and what did the Elizabethans eat? The kitchens of Shakespeare’s time looked very different from our kitchens today, and that’s not all that has changed when it comes to habits of diet, food preparation, and especially, the way food is served. In this episode, noted food historian Francine Segan leads listeners through a recipe for a salmon pie from the 1600s. She is interviewed by Neva Grant. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published August 8, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, "What Say You To A Piece Of Beef and Mustard?" was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer.

“Is it Shakespeare, or is it hip-hop?” British poet, rapper, and educator Kingslee James Daley, who goes by the stage name Akala, likes to recite a passage and then challenge his audience with this question. Since 2009, under the auspices of his “Hip-hop Shakespeare Company,” Akala has been going to community centers, prisons, and schools in immigrant and underserved communities, using the tools of hip-hop to spread an understanding of the relevance of Shakespeare’s poetry. Akala is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published July 25, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, "The Poet’s Pen Turns Them to Shapes," was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Joe Philip at Covered PR, from Mariama Abudulai, and from Ryan Pate at the Dub Room Studio in Los Angeles.

'Will,' the new series on TNT, tells stories derived from what we often call Shakespeare’s “lost years”—the time before he made a name for himself as a writer. The series takes advantage of that gaping hole in Shakespeare’s biography to weave an intricate and exciting tale of art, strife, death, love, poetry, and violence in Elizabethan England. Executive producer/writer Craig Pearce and executive producer/director Shekhar Kapur tell us about adapting Shakespeare's biography—or lack thereof—into a new television show with a punk rock aesthetic. Pearce and Kapur are interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published July 12, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “We'll Tell Tales” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. Special thanks Martine Resnick, Scott Radloff, Heather Crawford, and Kristin Boos at TNT; Tony Ward, Sharon Bowe, Ruth Waites, Pete Smith, and Alison Atkey at the BBC in London; Melissa Kuypers and Peter Stenshoel at NPR-West in Culver City, California; as well as Shekhar Kapur’s assistant, Rhiannon Allen, and Craig Pearce’s assistant, Angus Wilkinson.

In 2012, the Donmar Warehouse presented an all-female production of "Julius Caesar," directed by Tony Award nominated director Phyllida Lloyd and starring Harriet Walter. The production was set in a womens' prison, and was the first of a trilogy of all-female productions that the Guardian would call “one of the most important theatrical events of the past 20 years.” Director Phyllida Lloyd tells us about the productions, from conception to production. She is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published June 27, 2016. ©Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “We Are Governed With Our Mothers' Spirits” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Chris Charles at the Sound Company in London.

Twenty-first-century wizardry meets the seventeenth-century kind in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of "The Tempest" with digital effects created by The Imaginarium, a performance-capture company that’s best known for movie and video game animations. RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran and Ben Lumsden, Imaginarium’s head of studio, are interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published June 13, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode, “My So Potent Art,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from the RSC head of press, Philippa Harland; from Ed Walker at Sounding Sweet studios in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Marcia Caldwell and Melissa Kuypers at NPR-West in Los Angeles, and Chris Charles at The Sound Company in London. Enjoy the podcast? Please consider leaving a review.

Tracy Chevalier, author of "Girl With a Pearl Earring," takes on the tragedy of "Othello" in her latest novel, part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series. But in a twist, she moves the action to a public elementary school playground in Washington, DC, in the early 1970s. The book, titled "New Boy," uses its distinctive setting to explore issues of discrimination, betrayal, alienation, and jealousy. In this episode, Tracy talks about the book, her inspirations, and the challenges of working with, and under the shadow of, Shakespeare. Tracy Chevalier was interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published May 31, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, "The Property of Youth and Maidhood," was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Melissa Marquis as NPR in Washington and Angie Hamilton-Lowe at NPR-West in Culver City, California.

In 2014, Shakespeare’s Globe in London sent a group of actors on a two-year tour to perform "Hamlet" all around the world. They finished on the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016, after having traveled 193,000 miles and performed in 197 countries. Dominic Dromgoole, the Globe’s Artistic Director at the time, has written a book about the tour called "Hamlet Globe to Globe." Tom Bird is the Globe’s Executive Producer who managed the tour from London and also traveled to 19 of the countries that "Hamlet" visited. They are interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published May 16, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode, “So Many Journeys,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Cecily Meza-Martinez at NPR in Washington, Neal Roush at NPR in New York and Gareth Wood at The Sound Company in London.

What exactly counts as a Shakespeare adaptation? And why bother in the first place? In this podcast episode, we talk with three writers who have wrestled with these questions. Craig Wright is a TV writer and showrunner whose play, Melissa Arctic, a retelling of "The Winter’s Tale" set in rural Minnesota, premiered at Folger Theatre in 2004 and went on to play across the country. Chris Stezin’s play "Mac, Beth," which just ended a run at DC’s Keegan Theater, involves a businessman and his PR executive wife plotting to kill the CEO of Duncan Enterprises. Washington Post humor columnist Alexandra Petri’s new play "Tell My Story" – Hamlet in the world of online fan fiction – opens this summer as the next work by the DC playwrights collaborative The Welders. They are interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published May 3, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode, “It Is A Copy Out Of Mine” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Casey Vandeventer and from Cecily Meza-Martinez at NPR in Washington and Leo Delagula at NPR-West in Culver City, California.

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016, Chicago mobilized the city’s cultural and administrative resources in an unprecedented way. Barbara Gaines, founder and Artistic Director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, reflects on the "Shakespeare 400 Chicago" anniversary celebration. She was interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published April 18, 2017. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode, “In This City Will I Stay” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Esther French is the web producer. We had help from Hannah Kennedy and Alida Szabo at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Collin Ashmead-Bobbitt at WBEZ in Chicago, and Jake Gorsky and Jeff Peters at the Marketplace studios in Los Angeles.