Shakespeare's Shadows

Shakespeare's Shadows

Featuring interviews with both actors and academics, Shakespeare’s Shadows delves into a single Shakespeare character in each episode. Perspectives from the worlds of academia, theater, and film together shape explorations of the Bard’s shadows, his imitations of life — pretty good imitations, ones that reveal enough of ourselves that we’re still talking about them four centuries later.

Episodes

May 2, 2025 31 mins
Shakespeare’s words from "As You Like It" and "Twelfth Night" get a catchy, folkish musical treatment on "The Shakespeare Tapes," a new EP by folk-pop-americana trio Bandits on the Run. The Brooklyn-based group’s three band members — Adrian Blake Enscoe (he/they), Sydney Shepherd (she/her), and Regina Stayhorn (she/her) — join Shakespeare’s Shadows for this bonus episode to talk about the forthcoming EP, which has one single, “Tiny...
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What does it take for a woman to survive in Elsinore? What would Ophelia and Gertrude tell us — if only they got anywhere close to the number of lines Shakespeare gives Hamlet? This and more is explored in new play "A Room in the Castle," which gives the women of Hamlet their time to shine. A co-production of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and the Folger Shakespeare Library, "A Room in the Castle" is in the midst of its world ...
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September 27, 2024 64 mins
"As You Like It" is often remembered for being a rom-com, but it’s also a family drama. Duke Senior (Rosalind’s father) is usurped by his brother Duke Frederick. One brother rules at court while the exiled brother builds a new life in the Forest of Arden. In this episode — about not just one but two characters — we discuss why it is that Frederick banished his brother and then his niece, what makes As You Like It ripe for musical ...
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July 30, 2024 65 mins

Hamlet’s best friend, Horatio, gets 7 percent of the lines in "Hamlet" next to the title character “who never shuts up” (as one guest on this episode puts it) with 37 percent. This episode gives Horatio his moment to be center stage, revealing how he doesn’t have to be a one-note or one-dimensional character, even as his role is in service of Hamlet’s story. We discuss Horatio’s journey being one of learned bravery, whether Hamlet ...

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June 20, 2024 74 mins

In "The Merchant of Venice," Portia is remarkable for her cleverness and the power she holds, and she’s ostensibly a hero of this story. But her journey is entwined with that of Shylock, the Jewish moneylender whose mistreatment makes "Merchant of Venice" a deeply troubling play. In this episode, we discuss just how extremely wealthy Portia is, whether or not Portia is likable (and how her likability is often approached differently...

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Roberto Williams is one of five actors together playing the title character in Long Beach Playhouse’s current production of "Hamlet". One actor plays what’s called the core Hamlet, and the others play four parts of Hamlet’s psyche: wisdom, innocence, justice, and vengeance — Roberto plays the latter. In this bonus episode, Roberto discusses this unique staging of what’s often referred to as Shakespeare’s best play. He also shares ...
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"Sleep No More," the immersive, one-of-a-kind adaptation of "Macbeth," is in the spotlight in the first-ever bonus episode of Shakespeare’s Shadows. Co-produced by Punchdrunk and Emursive Productions, "Sleep No More" is a promenade-style performance that invites the audience members to freely explore the eerie spaces of its 5-story set. Its iconic run in New York is currently set to close in mid-June. Though this episode doesn’t d...
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April 18, 2024 56 mins

In “Henry V,” King Henry gets a new foil: the French Dauphin, the heir apparent in France, England’s rival. In the conflict that culminates in the Battle of Agincourt, Shakespeare depicts the English with layers and complexity and ultimately with a great deal of nobility. Meanwhile, the French (in the text and sometimes even more so in performance) come off as arrogant, foppish, and often q...

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March 27, 2024 83 mins

featuring interviews with actor Michael Blake, Pilobolus choreographers Matt Kent and Renée Jaworski, and SUNY New Paltz professor Matthieu Chapman

A Shakespeare play that can be at turns heartwarming and troubling, “The Tempest” features two major characters who don’t look like the humans around them: Caliban and Ariel. Caliban, repeatedly described...

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February 28, 2024 61 mins
featuring interviews with actor Bally Gill and University of the Pacific professor Courtney Lehmann One half of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers is in the spotlight in this episode, which explores how this character goes from bad poet to good poet, what it takes to deliver an authentic and naturalistic Romeo, and how the introduction of the rapier to England shortly before Shakespeare wrote "Romeo and Juliet" was a deadly game-ch...
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January 24, 2024 80 mins

featuring interviews with actors Patrice Jean-Baptiste and Simon Paisley Day and Gonzaga University professor Heather Easterling

One of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays, “The Taming of the Shrew,” gets put under the microscope in this episode as we examine the character Petruchio, the man who supposedly tames the play’s titular shrew. Discussed...

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January 5, 2024 49 mins
A spirit of mischief, transformation, and imagination, Puck aka Robin Goodfellow darts around "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" provoking chaos and confusion when a couple groups of humans wander into a forest populated by magical beings. Discussed in this episode is Puck’s relationship to Oberon, looking at "Midsummer" with an ecological lens, how Puck’s meter sets him apart, and why this play is such a popular choice for young audience...
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December 20, 2023 56 mins
One of Shakespeare’s most notorious and chilling villains, "Othello" character Iago, is in the spotlight in the second episode of season 2. This character has inspired debate for centuries, and this episodes’ guests — who, at times, have totally different takes on Iago — suggest that the debate will continue. Discussed in this episode is whether “motiveless malignity” is a helpful phrase for understanding Iago, whether or not Iago ...
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December 6, 2023 64 mins
The podcast relaunches with an episode all about Shakespeare’s first tragic heroine. This season 2 premiere explores what makes Juliet extraordinary: she’s brave, playful, confident, and resourceful — all at age 13. Also discussed: Romeo and Juliet’s popularity among Latinx theater-makers, Juliet’s relationship with her parents and the Nurse, whether Juliet is really a character who exhibits agency, and the Taylor Swift song “Love ...
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August 24, 2017 48 mins
In "Romeo and Juliet," Mercutio becomes the tipping point that turns this tale of two star-crossed lovers from a romantic comedy to a tragedy. Episode 11 delves into what kind of friend Mercutio is to Romeo, various approaches to his famed Queen Mab speech, imaginings of Mercutio’s own romantic history, and why Mercutio — after speaking in only four scenes — remains one of the most memorable and beloved parts of this iconic play. G...
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July 27, 2017 46 mins
Ariel, the sprite who serves Prospero in “The Tempest” is the first non-human character featured on Shakespeare’s Shadows. Dr. Brinda Charry — an English professor at Keene State College — and Mark Quartley — currently playing Ariel for the Royal Shakespeare Company — discuss Ariel’s complicated relationship with his master, varying interpretations of the moment he is set free, and how Ariel discovers what it is to be human. Quartl...
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July 16, 2017 40 mins
For a character that doesn’t appear onstage for much of the play, there is a lot to unpack with Cordelia, and she has a major impact on the journey of her father, the title character of “King Lear.” In this episode, UCSB professor Jim Kearney returns to the podcast, and Erika Soto shares her experience playing Cordelia earlier this year at A Noise Within in Pasadena, California. Discussed here are the changes Shakespeare made to hi...
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July 1, 2017 49 mins
The most recognizable image of perhaps any Shakespeare heroine is Ophelia drowning — Gertrude’s description of Ophelia “mermaid-like” in the brook has inspired numerous painters. But her untimely death is not her full story. In this episode, we discuss the young woman tangled up in Hamlet’s drama with guests Deanne Williams, an English professor at York University in Toronto; Jennie Greenberry, who played Ophelia last year at the O...
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June 15, 2017 43 mins
With more lines than any other female character in Shakespeare’s canon, Rosalind stands apart. Both a romantic and a cynic when it comes to love, she chooses her own husband and launches discourse with him negotiating their domestic life — near-unheard of for a noblewoman in her time of arranged marriages. Featuring interviews with Jessika D. Williams — currently starring in CalShakes’ “As You Like It” — and Cal State Dominguez Hil...
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May 31, 2017 34 mins
“Twelfth Night” is a comedy, so it calls for a happy ending — but not all of the play’s characters get a wedding and a ride off into the Illyrian sunset. Amid all the the farce and revelry of “Twelfth Night,” Malvolio’s story is a darker one. Featuring interviews with Amin El Gamal (“Prison Break,” “The Newsroom”) and UCLA English department chair Lowell Gallagher, this episode takes a closer look at why Malvolio fantasies about ma...
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