Shakespeare Anyone?
Shakespeare Anyone? is co-hosted by Elyse Sharp and Kourtney Smith, two professional actors and hobbyist Shakespeare scholars. Join us as we explore Shakepeare’s plays through as many lenses as we can by looking at the text and how the text is viewed through modern lenses of feminism, racism, classism, colonialism, nationalism… all the-isms. We will discuss how his plays shaped both the past and present, and look at how his work was performed throughout various periods of time–all while trying our best to approach his works without giving in to bardolatry. We examine one play at a time for an extended window of time, interspersed with mini-episodes about Shakespeare’s time for context. Episodes are released every other week.
Episodes
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In this mini-episode, we sit down with actor ML Roberts and co-playwrights Sean Patrick Nill and Elyse Sharp to talk about NEVER FEAR, SHAKESPEARE—a brand new Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) play premiering at Sacramento’s B Street Theatre.
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
This episode explores Caliban’s role in The Tempest and the ways his character has been shaped by and interpreted through race, class, and colonialism. We begin with a close look at “the pinch” and unpack how Shakespeare’s audience would have understood its connections to resource scar...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In this mini-episode, we explore the world of the Court Masque, a form of entertainment that flourished in the Tudor and Stuart courts. From its roots in medieval pageantry and music to its height as a vehicle for royal celebration and political display of wealth, the masque became a d...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In this episode, we explore how The Tempest reflects—and at times challenges—patriarchal power structures in Shakespeare’s world and in its performance history. First, we examine how Prospero’s control over Miranda, Ariel, and Caliban reflects early m...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In this mini episode, we’re joined by Mike and Steph Crugnola of Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project to talk about their mission to make Shakespeare more accessible—for both audiences and artists.
We dive into the co...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
Did Shakespeare write The Tempest in response to a shipwreck, or was something bigger at play? In this episode, we explore the early modern travel narratives that many scholars believe inspired Shakespeare’s final s...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
To kick off our series on Shakespeare's The Tempest, we are (as always) starting with an overview of basic facts and history about the play and an introduction to the major themes and motifs of the play.
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Ko...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
We are now on to our tenth play series! Today we are starting our series on Shakespeare's The Tempest with a synopsis episode. In this episode, we will provide a detailed summary of the plot, breaking down the action of the play scene by scene.
Shakespe...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In this bonus episode, we’re joined by Dr. Kent Lehnhoff to talk about his new book, Voice and Ethics in Shakespeare’s Late Plays. Together, we explore how Shakespeare uses the concept and qualities of ...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In this wrap-up episode, we reflect on our journey through Shakespeare's King Henry V by examining three distinct productions that bring t...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In this mini-episode, we sit down with author Julie Hammonds to discuss her debut novel, ...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In today's episode, we are exploring the English relationships with foreigners and immigrants from other European countries. First, we'll discuss what the experience of immigrant communities was like in England during the Tudor and early Stuart periods--were the English people xenophob...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
This week, we are bringing you something a little different and unlocking our Patreon bonus episode on the 1998 film, Shakespeare in Love. Over on our Patreon, we regularly watch/read and discuss Shakespeare-adjacent media.
Shakespeare in Love, written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard a...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In today's episode, we will be exploring the lives of common and working people of Shakespeare's time. While Shakespeare's plays tend to feature nobles, monarchs, and other people of higher status as their main characters, they also feature a variety of characters from lower ranks of s...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
Have you ever wondered where those colorful Folger paperback editions of Shakespeare plays got their name? Or how the Folger Shakespeare Library came to have the largest collection of First Folios in the world? Or if there was any relation to the coffee brand?
In today’s episode, we a...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In today's episode, we are exploring the realities of military life in early modern and medieval England and how those realities are reflected (or not!) in Shakespeare's King Henry V. We will discuss historical misrepresentations of the English military during Shakespeare's lifetime an...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about early modern English nobility. Shakespeare’s history plays are about monarchs and royal lineages, and the world he was writing in was organized by ranks and degrees. So, we think it's important to talk about these pivotal ranks fr...
Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In this week's episode, we are exploring the historical record to better understand the difference between the facts of the historical record and the history-making and myths in Shakespeare's King Henry V. We will share brief biographies of the historical figures presented in Shakespea...
To kick off our series on Shakespeare's King Henry V, we are (as always) starting with an overview of basic facts about the play and an introduction to the major themes and motifs of the play.
Location of the Battle of Agincourt
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.
Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.
We are starting off 2025 and Shakespeare Anyone's fifth year with our first History (and also a play with the number five in its title): King Henry V. In this episode, we will provide a detailed summary of the plot, breaking down the action of the play scene by scene. To quote this play, "once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more," or...let's dive in!
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produ...
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