Something Shakespeare This Way Comes

Most likely to rope their brother into recording a ridiculous podcast episode about Shakespeare? That goes to me!I thought it would be fun to run through a list of the superlatives you find in a high school yearbook and award them to various characters in Shakespeare. You know, best couple, mostly likely to succeed, all that fun stuff. Also, apologies to anyone whose high schools were way too into this. As it turns out, superlatives are mostly really weird!In this episode, catch me trying to spread the awards around instead of going back to the same five characters, become flabbergasted by some of the choices presented me, and enjoy a lot of background noise from my dog, who decided he wanted to be included.If there are any superlatives we don't cover in the episode or you'd like to argue I picked the wrong character for one of these, please let me know! Especially would love to hear from the underrepresented plays.Credit where credit is duePodcast art by Halie BransonMusic recording by josdvg

Farewell to 2025 – may you meet your fitting end at midnight (drowning in a cask of wine, perhaps).The past couple years have seen an absolute boom in Hamlet adaptations and productions. Why is Hamlet so hot right now?In this episode, I tackle the sheer number of Hamlet productions on the scene and how those adaptations wrestle with Shakespeare’s original work and what that says about the times we live in and what we find relatable.Hopefully you didn’t have a Hamlet year, but if you did, then you’re in good company!Let’s hope next year is a little kinder to us all. Adaptations discussed in this episode:Fat Ham – Winner of the Pulitzer Prize 2022Grand Theft HamletHamlet Hail to the Thief – Stage playRiz Ahmed’s HamletKing Hamlet - Oscar Issac documentaryScarlet – Anime adaptationHamnet (book) and Hamnet (movie) Some additional background:Four Hamlets talk about what it’s like playing the roleRiz Ahmed talk to Vanity Fair about his filmA conversation with the creators of Grand Theft HamletCredit where credit is due:Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

Are we so back??? I hope so!Thank you to everyone who has patiently waited while I've been working through personal stuff. And congrats to everyone who caught up on the podcast during the break.I am back with an episode near and dear to my heart about whether Shakespeare was, in fact, a bisexual icon.Okay, not entirely. In this episode I talk about the long history of questions surrounding Shakespeare's sexuality, whether queer interpretations of his plays are reading "too much" into them, and talk about a wonderful book I read recently, Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare by Will Tosh.Straight Acting looks at the different facets of Shakespeare's life growing up, going to school, and the theater scene in London and aspects of queerness in the culture at the time that he would have been introduced to and some ways we can see him engaging with it. In particular, I talk about some other writers at the time who were also having fun with gender and sexuality in their works.As always, I love building out that sweet, sweet context.Further Reading:Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeareby Will ToshHomosexuality in Renaissance England by Alan BrayThe Renaissance of Lesbianism in Early Modern England by Valerie TraubFurther Listening:Episode 15: Introduction to Shakespeare's SonnetsEpisode 10: Twelfth Night and Gender Exploration

Has the shrew been tamed or was the taming just the friendswe made along the way?I am back with the third and final episode looking at TheTaming of the Shrew! And, phew, it’s been quite a ride.In this episode, I’ll be discussing contemporary reactionsto The Taming of the Shrew, performances of the play across time, and my final take on the play now that I’ve finished reading way too much about it.When we build out the context surrounding a work of art,that allows us to think about it more deeply and consider the merits or problems with the text we didn’t consider the first time around. It’s a worthwhile exercise, even if you end up still disliking something after doing additional reading.At least that’s what I’m telling myself.Enjoy me taking every last opportunity to diss Petruchio!Next time I’ll talk about something else. Promise.Further Reading and Watching⁠⁠The Taming of the Shrew⁠⁠ by William Shakespeare, specially the Arden ShakespeareThe Woman’s Prize, or, The Tamer Tamed by John Fletcher⁠Shakespeare and feminist performance: ideology on stage⁠ by Sarah Werner"I Will Be Master of What Is Mine Own": Fortune Hunters and Shrews in Early Modern London by Eleanor HubbardThe Tamer as Shrewd in John Fletcher's "The Woman's Prize: Or, The Tamer Tam'd" by Holly A. Crocker"The Taming of the Shrew" with Morgan Freeman⁠, episode of Shakespeare Uncovered from PBS Credit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠⁠Halie Branson⁠⁠Music recording by ⁠⁠josdvg

Hello boys, I’m back!The long-awaited 10 Things I Hate About You episode is here. Please enjoy listening to me and my brother probably defend this movie too hard. Honestly, for being a late ‘90s romcom, it’s doing a pretty good job of being a Shakespeare adaptation. And has the added advantage of being put against a Shakespeare play that is…more problematic than many of his other comedies.While we are open to other people’s interpretations of thisfilm, we here at Something Shakespeare This Way Comes will not be allowing any Kat slander at this time. Thank you.Warning: This episode has a higher swearing content than most episodes of this podcast (I was too tired to censor them). So please be aware that there will be some four-letter words flung about!Credit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

It’s that time of year again to look back at what happened on the Ides of March many years ago and consider how badly the conspirators fumbled the ball.While I will be celebrating March 15 my favorite way, by posting jokes on social media, I wanted to take the time to collect some general thoughts about the assassination of Julius Caesar and the relevance of Shakespeare’s play.When I covered it last year, I thought that the action of play definitely felt relevant, but that the general reception of it seems to fall a little flat. Is there a way to make the play feel more immediate to a modern audience?This year, as the events of the late Roman Republic feel more immediate than ever, I wanted to think about what we might take away from Julius Caesar, the conspirators, and the play Julius Caesar itself. What new takeaways can we draw from old material and how can we contend with those conclusions?If you want to listen to my original episodes on the Ides of March and Julius Caesar:Bonus Episode 4: Beware the Ides of MarchEpisode 14: Can Julius Caesar Still Feel Relevant?Further Reading and ListeningIf you’re looking for a more comprehensive view of Roman history as a whole, I cannot recommend Mike Duncan’s The History of Rome podcast highly enough. Or if you want to focus in on the late Roman Republic, Duncan wrote a book about it: The Storm Before the Storm

This episode is a true example of what happens when you don't make yourself stop falling down the research rabbit hole.We're back with more The Taming of the Shrew and looking specifically the two main romantic leads. What is Petruchio's deal? What is Kate's? And why is everyone so obsessed with them?I wade my way through a reading of the play, several books, and a number of articles to see what people have said about these two characters to get a better idea of why the conversation surrounding this play is so lively.Initially, I thought this was something I could get through quickly. But it turns out, I had way more feelings about it than anticipated. So enjoy a discussion of a romantic male lead who might actually be the worst person ever and a romantic female lead who maybe makes no sense?Enjoy, and gird your loins for an eventual part three!Further Reading and Watching⁠The Taming of the Shrew⁠ by William Shakespeare (I read the Arden edition, which always has lovely introductions)Shakespeare and feminist performance: ideology on stageby Sarah Werner"Performing Marriage with a Difference: Wooing, Wedding,and Bedding in 'The Taming of the Shrew" by Amy L. SmithShakespeare for Students: Book 2 by Catherine C Dominic"Comic Structure the Humanizing of Kate in The Taming of the Shrew" by John C. Bean, chapter in In The Women’s part: feminist criticism of Shakespeare, edited by Carolyn Lenz"From Shrew to Subject: Petruchio's Humanist Education ofKatherine in 'The Taming of the Shrew'" by Elizabeth Hutcheon"The Taming of the Shrew" with Morgan Freeman, episode of Shakespeare Uncovered from PBSFurther ListeningEpisode 35: The Taming of the Shrew, Context and ConfusionCredit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg

Our long-awaited Shrew series has begun! And I have discovered that I committed myself to doing three episodes surrounding a play that maybe I don’t like?But regardless of whether I’m going to banish Petruchio to my rejected list, there are still interesting things to talk about concerning The Taming of the Shrew, because of course there are! It’s Shakespeare. There’s always something to talk about.So let’s do that. In this episode we’re talking the plot ofthe play, why so much of it involves men putting on disguises and pretending to be someone else, what is up with the Christopher Sly setup that seemingly goes nowhere, and the play’s complicated relationship with another play that hasalmost exactly the same title.As always, I did discover a couple things to appreciateabout this play after doing some intensive reading. It never fails to delight me how research can make my experience of a Shakespeare play better. Enough to redeem this particular play? Time will tell.Join me for an introduction to this complicated play that has proved to be tricky for modern audiences. Then, next episode, we’ll really get into the controversy surrounding this one.Further ReadingThe Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (I read the Arden edition, which always has lovely introductions)Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber, the “The Taming of the Shrew” chapter“‘I Will Be Master of What Is Mine Own’: Fortune Hunters and Shrews in Early Modern London" by Eleanor Hubbard (This is the article that talks about a real divorce case in early modern England)Credit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

The Academy recently announced its Best Picture nominees,and while there’s been plenty of discussion over how good those nominees are, not even enough people are discussing how Shakespeare these movies are.I’m here to the change that by starting with the only nominee I’ve seen so far: Conclave. How Shakespeare is this movie about electing the pope?Well, seems like it has the potential to be pretty Shakespeare, doesn’t it. Join me on my first foray into a little series I’m calling “How Shakespeare Is It” as I look at this interesting little Best Picture nominee and the parts of it that are Shakespeare (or not) and then rate it.Then, give me some suggestions for what else I rate based onhow Shakespeare it is! Or which Best Picture nom I should tackle next.Credit where credit is duePodcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠

This episode is brought to you by the newsletters about books that I subscribe to and my ability to sometimes overthink things. This time around we are talking books! First-person perspective! Theater! Soliloquy! Do you find it true that in the modern books you read, there’s more action than introspection and thought? Do books seem to be cinematic, already poised perfectly for an adaptation to the screen? If we remove the insight into a character’s mind, how effective is the book? We love books for how close they bring us to characters and often turn a side eye when movies tried to capture that interior knowledge through voiceover. What about when we turn it over to the stage? How can the theater capture characters, their inner thoughts, and show the perspective of a single person? And how did Shakespeare do that? Some fun musings abound this episode. Thinking about interiority in theater, how Shakespeare lets us get into character’s thoughts (or not), the purpose of stage directions, and ultimately land on the position that all art is interconnected and what a beautiful web we weave. Credit where credit is due Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠ Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠