Feb 282023
 

Hamlet; Act 3, Scene 1
Hamlet
February 28, 2023

Drop in!   All Chukwudi Iwuji needs is the language, how the words resonate in him, their sounds and meanings and rhythms. Using these, how is he affecting the listener?  When you listen, you will know.

Click here to follow along with the text.

Click here for a First Folio version of the text.

Jan 282023
 

Midsummer Night’s Dream: Act 4, Scene 1
Bottom
January 27, 2023

What does it mean to be “smartly stupid,” and how might this approach help an actor reveal delightfully unexpected moments in well-worn texts?  Ian Gould credits his training at the Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy in Washington DC for this technique, which he demonstrates in his fresh take on “Bottom’s Dream” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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Click here for a First Folio version of the text.

Watch Ian Gould perform Bottom’s Monologue from the interview!

Nov 302022
 

Shakespeare’s Sceptered Isle

November 30, 2022

What did it mean to be “English” in Shakespeare’s day?   How may Shakespeare’s most patriotic play, Henry V, have shaped notions of English identity ever since?  Brian Carroll’s new book, Shakespeare’s Sceptered Isle: Finding English National Identity in the Plays examines hints in Shakespeare’s text about what his audiences might have thought being “English” was – and perhaps more revealingly, what (or who) wasn’t.

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Click here for a First Folio version of the text.

Oct 112022
 

Julius Caesar; Act 2, Scene 1
Brutus
October 11, 2022

With double digit years at a trio of theaters, Lynn Robert Berg is on the move. The self-proclaimed character actor has moved from intern to company leader with a skill set most actors would kill for (especially after listening to his reading of Brutus’ bloody-minded monologue from Julius Caesar.). A man of many hats, Lynn Robert Berg delights in his motley assortment of roles.  

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Click here to see a First Folio version of the text.

Click here for a scanned version of the text.

Click here for Information about Idaho Shakes, Tahoe Shakes and Great Lakes Shakes.

Aug 232022
 

Romeo and Juliet; Act 3, Scene 5
Romeo and Juliet
August 23, 2022

After a lifetime in the theatre, what does Shakespeare still have to teach us about life and love? Long-time stage veterans (and real-life couple0 Nance Williamson and Kurt Rhoads take on the titular roles in Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s “age-blind” production of Romeo and Juliet.   Having shared the stage together in seventy (70!) productions spanning more than 30 years, they may well be the most seasoned star-crossed young lovers Verona has ever met.    

Click here for more information about HVSF.

Aug 012022
 

The Book of Will
Colorado Shakespeare Festival
August 1, 2022

Who were the men and women who miraculously rescued half of Shakespeare’s plays from being lost forever – and what mystery, tragedy, romance, and drama raged around them as they struggled against greed, politics and their own mortality in order to grant immortality to a few precious words?   Kevin Rich and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (currently celebrating its 65th season) bring these forgotten heroes vividly to life in Lauren Gunderson’s, The Book of Will, a play about the birth of Shakespeare’s First Folio, which was published seven years after the Bard’s death and which Kevin Rich describes as a “love letter to the Theater”.  

Click here for more information about CSF.

Jul 072022
 

Twelfth Night
Act 1, Scene 5
July 8, 2022

Something special is happening in Harlem. The Classical Theater of Harlem is bringing its unique brand of Shakespeare to Marcus Garvey Park. Associate Artistic Director Carl Cofield is directing an Afro-Futuristic version of Twelfth Night – complete with VR and the ambient sounds of NYC. Carl stops by to talk about all things Shakespeare, Education and Twelfth Night.

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Click here for a First Folio version of the text.

Click here for more information about CTH.

Jun 212022
 

Val Winkelman and John Dodd

June 18, 2022

In Texas, when something delightful has been marinating for 36 years, you know you’re in for a treat. The Texas Shakespeare Festival has been a staple of East Texas since the 1980’s. For five decades, TSF’s own John Dodd and Val Winkelman have helped to feed (literally) and nurture hundreds of theatre artists. They share advice, anecdotes and a who’s who of TSF Alum (including at least one who will be familiar to SoS listeners 😉 This is one Shakespeare Festival that is aged to perfection.

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Watch a time lapse of their changeover between shows.

May 162022
 

Aili Huber and Toby Malone
Cutting Plays for Performance
May 16, 2022

Was this the kindest cut of all?  It began as a friendly argument between fellow Shakespeareans,  Aili Huber and Toby Malone, about how to trim the text of Richard III.  They’ve since collaborated on a book and website with tools and hints to how to cut Shakespeare effectively.  With a dose of humor and a dollop of wisdom, Cutting Shakespeare for Performance keenly tackles a sticky subject in Shakespeare.

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Find Cutting Shakespeare for Performance at Routledge and Amazon.

Follow them on all platforms: @cuttingplays

Mar 282022
 

Henry V: Act 1, Scene 2
King Henry
March 28, 2022

Named for the rowdy Jacobean playhouse that illegally performed plays in England during the years of Puritan rule, the Red Bull Theater is breaking barriers. Using one of Henry V’s speeches, Associate Artistic Director Nathan Winkelstein reveals the power of Shakespeare and other plays of heightened language to deepen our understanding of the human condition.

Follow along with the speech.

First Folio Version.