The State of Shakespeare

Kurt Rhoads and Nance Williamson

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.

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

Kevin Rich 2.0

Aug 012022

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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 65^th 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.

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

Carl Cofield

Jul 072022

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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.

Click here to follow along with the text.

Click here for a First Folio version of the text.

Click here for more information about CTH.

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

The Texas Shakespeare Festival

Jun 212022

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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.

Follow them on all platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Flicker

Watch a time lapse of their changeover between shows.

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

Toby Malone and Aili Huber

May 162022

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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.

Click here to follow along with the text.

Find Cutting Shakespeare for Performance at Routledge and Amazon.

Follow them on all platforms: @cuttingplays

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

Nathan Winkelstein

Mar 282022

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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.

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

Mike Lew

Feb 232022

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Teenage Dick
February 23, 2022

What happens if you plunk down Richard III in a modern day High School? You get Teenage Dick. Teenage Dick, Written by Mike Lew, was commissioned and developed by Gregg Mozgala’s own theater company, The Apothetae, which is dedicated to productions that illuminate the disabled experience.

“Exhilarating. It suggests how much richer the theater will be when it is truly open to artists of all kinds. Not just because those artists deserve employment but also because the canon of classics deserves reimagining to match our world.”

Lew says, “We set out to re-examine disability politics from Shakespearean times to our time, through a dark comedy that mashes up Shakespeare-talk and Tik Tok.” Join us as we sit down with Mike and talk all things Teenage Dick.

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

Keith Hamilton Cobb

Jan 272022

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The Untitled Othello Project
January 27, 2022

What is the Untitled Othello Project? According to Keith Hamilton Cobb, the award-winning playwright who is the driving force behind the ensemble-based “adventure in theatre-making”, it’s much more than a deep and sustained exploration of Shakespeare’s text, it’s an “exercise in creative justice.” With this project, Keith is not just tackling Shakespeare’s play, he is taking on the whole “theatre industry complex”.

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

Paul Alan Ruben and Scott Brick

Dec 102021

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The Tragedy of Macbeth
Act 5, Scene 5
December 10, 2021

Paul Alan Ruben has a sense for the feeling of a piece. The Grammy award winning director has finally turned his sense to Shakespeare. With Scott Brick in the title role, he has created the audiobook of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Creating this piece was a delicate balancing act between director, actor and microphone. Especially given that they were never in the same room!

The Tragedy of Macbeth, which Paul directed for Dreamscape Audio, was released on March 18, 2021. The play features ten actor/audiobook narrators, including some of our industry’s most notable performers: Scott Brick, Simon Vance, Dion Graham and Kathe Mazur. Get it here: The Tragedy of Macbeth.

Click here to follow Scott with the text.

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

Patrick Harvey

Jul 172021

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Act 3, Scene 1
Bottom
July 18, 2021

Live theatre is back! Our guest, Patrick Harvey, is a member of the inaugural cast of the Connecticut Shakespeare Festival. He’s playing Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Hartford’s Playhouse on Park. In this interview, Patrick shares why he especially loves playing characters who speak in prose – hint: it’s not all about the verse.

Artists, Interviews, Podcasts

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