Shakespeare Anyone‪?‬ Kourtney Smith & Elyse Sharp

In today's episode, we are exploring the historical context for the family feud and violence between the Capulets and Montagues in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. We'll briefly revisit the history of medieval bloodfeuds that we examined in our episodes on Macbeth, then we will dive into the pratices of vendettas and dueling in the Italian renaissance and how this form of violence was imported into England, Scotland, and Wales in the late 1500s and early 1600s.
We will examine the rise in popularity of dueling among young men of the English nobility and gentry, how the public theatres romanticized and dramatized dueling, and how Shakespeare wove this trend and reactions to it into the plot of Romeo and Juliet. 
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.
Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.
Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com
You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod
Works referenced:
Bowen, Lloyd. “The Duel in Elizabethan and Jacobean England and Wales.” Anatomy of a Duel in Jacobean England: Gentry Honour, Violence and the Law, NED-New edition, Boydell & Brewer, 2021, pp. 68–83. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18x4j9z.11. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.
Dean, Trevor. “Marriage and Mutilation: Vendetta in Late Medieval Italy.” Past & Present, no. 157, 1997, pp. 3–36. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/651079. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.
Quint, David. “Duelling and Civility in Sixteenth Century Italy.” I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance, vol. 7, 1997, pp. 231–78. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/4603706. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.
 

In today's episode, we are exploring the life and works of one of Shakespeare's contemporaries: Ben Jonson. Often called "Shakespeare's rival," Ben Jonson was an early modern actor turned playwright who came from humble beginnings to achieve success on the London stages. We'll dive into the parallels between Shakespeare and Jonson's lives, and we'll discuss how Jonson may be the person who we should thank for Shakespeare's First Folio. 
 
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.
Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.
Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com
You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod
Works referenced:
 Donaldson, Ian. "Jonson, Benjamin [Ben] (1572–1637), poet and playwright." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.  October 03, 2013. Oxford University Press. Date of access 9 Apr. 2024,
Editors of Poetry Foundation. “Ben Jonson.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2024, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ben-jonson.
Jonson, Ben. “To the Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr....” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2024, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44466/to-the-memory-of-my-beloved-the-author-mr-william-shakespeare.
Leech, Clifford. “Ben Jonson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 7 Apr. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Ben-Jonson-English-writer.
Mabillard, Amanda. “Preface to The First Folio (1623).” William Shakespeare’s First Folio: The Preface to the First Folio, 21 Jan. 2022, www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/firstfolio.html.
“Research Guides: Shakespeare Studies: Ben Jonson.” Ben Jonson - Shakespeare Studies - Research Guides at New York University, New York University, 2024, guides.nyu.edu/shakespeare-studies/ben-johnson.
“Shakespeare First Folio: Folger Shakespeare Library.” Edited by Folger Shakespeare Library, Shakespeare First Folio | Folger Shakespeare Library, Folger Shakespeare Library, 2024, www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeare-in-print/first-folio/.
Shoemaker, Robert. “Punishment Sentences at the Old Bailey.” The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, Digital Humanities Institute at the University of Sheffield, autumn 2023, www.oldbaileyonline.org/about/punishment.
Westminister Abbey. “Ben Jonson.” Westminster Abbey, Westminster Abbey, 2024, www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/ben-jonson.
 
 

In today's episode, we will be discussing what is was like to be a teenager in Shakespeare's time, and how we can see early modern teenagerdom represented in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. We will build on our previous explorations of the early modern understanding of age and youth from our episodes on girlhood and manhood, then dive into the lived experiences of early modern teens and young adults. Finally, we will discuss the early modern public health crisis of suicide among children and adolescents.
Content Warning: Suicide
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, you are not alone and help is available.
If you are in the United States, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
You can find additional resources for your location at https://www.iasp.info/suicidalthoughts/
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.
Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.
Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com
You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod
Works referenced:
Murphy, Terence R. “‘Woful Childe of Parents Rage’: Suicide of Children and Adolescents in Early Modern England, 1507-1710.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, vol. 17, no. 3, 1986, pp. 259–70. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2540320. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.
Prusko, Rachel. “Youth and Privacy in Romeo and Juliet.” Early Theatre, vol. 19, no. 1, 2016, pp. 113–36. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/90018273. Accessed 22 Mar. 2024.
Sparey, Victoria. “Performing Puberty: Fertile Complexions in Shakespeare’s Plays.” Shakespeare Bulletin, vol. 33, no. 3, 2015, pp. 441–67. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26355127. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

In today's episode, we are joined by Dr. Danielle Rosvally and Sydney Schwindt to discuss how fight choreographers approach staging moments of violence in theatre, specifically in Shakespeare's plays. We will discuss how they collaborate with directors and actors to safely depict violence on stage, the state of the fight direction community, and how anyone can learn more about safe, consent-based practices for staging violence onstage. 
Our guests: 
Danielle Rosvally, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of theatre at the University at Buffalo where she serves as resident violence coordinator. She is a fight director, actor, dramaturge, and director. Danielle has been crafting and performing staged violence for over twenty years, and has written about fight direction for venues such as Theatre Topics, Fight Master Magazine, and various edited collections. As a researcher, Danielle specializes in Shakespeare; her book on  on Shakespeare as an economic value comes out with the State University of New York press in July.
Sydney Schwindt wears many hats in the theatre world; she is an actor, director, fight director, and educator. She is a resident artist with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and works frequently with SPARC Theatre. She is an advanced actor combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors and is on the advisory board for the Same Boat Theatre Collective. She has taught movement and stage combat at Indiana University and the American Conservatory Theatre’s Graduate program. 
Sydney directed “As You Like It” with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s Shakespeare on Tour. It is running from now until mid May 2024 all across California. Check the websites for a public performance near you! www.sfshakes.org
She will be directing “Twelfth Night” with the Starling Shakespeare Company this summer. The show runs in rep with “Henry IV, Part 1” from June until September, 2024. 
Learn more about Fight Direction:
Society of American Fight Directors
The British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat
British Academy of Dramatic Combat
Fight Directors Canada
Danielle's HowlRound Article
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.
Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.
Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com
You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod
 
 

In today's episode, we will be diving into the culture of courtship and marriage in early modern England. We will take a look at how the cultural norms and concerns surrounding marriage were shifting and changing in Shakespeare's time and how we can see this represented in Romeo and Juliet. We will also discuss how, at least in some parts of England and for certain classes, young people were able to resist some of the societal structures around courtship and marriage. 
 
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.
Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.
Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com
You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod
Works referenced:
Hubbard, Eleanor. “A Room of Their Own: Young Women, Courtship, and the Night in Early Modern England.” The Youth of Early Modern Women, edited by Elizabeth S. Cohen and Margaret Reeves, Amsterdam University Press, 2018, pp. 297–314. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv8pzd5z.17. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.
 
Peters, Christine. “Gender, Sacrament and Ritual: The Making and Meaning of Marriage in Late Medieval and Early Modern England.” Past & Present, no. 169, 2000, pp. 63–96. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/651264. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.
 


Waddington, Raymond B. “Marriage in Early Modern Europe.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, vol. 34, no. 2, 2003, pp. 315–18. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/20061411. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.

In today's episode, we will be continuing our series on Shakespeare's Language Framework and our Shakespeare's Sources by taking a closer look at Petrarch.
First, we will dive into the biography of Francesco Petrarca, more commonly known as Petrarch in English, the 14th century poet who had a huge influence on European humanism, the Renaissance, and poetry.
Then, we will explore Petrarch's influence and how it spread across Europe before covering how we can see his influence in the works of William Shakespeare. 
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.
Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.
Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod for updates or visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com
You can support the podcast by becoming a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone  or by shopping our bookshelves at bookshop.org/shop/shakespeareanyonepod
Works referenced:
Paster, Gail Kern. “A Modern Perspective: Romeo and Juliet.” Folger Shakespeare Library, 2024, www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/romeo-and-juliet/romeo-and-juliet-a-modern-perspective/.
"Petrarchism." The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. Credo Reference. Web. 21 January 2015. 
Shakespeare, William, and Keir Elam. Twelfth Night. Arden Shakespeare, 2008.
Vuillemin, Rémi. “‘love with excess of heat’: The sonnet and Petrarchan excess in the late elizabethan and early jacobean periods.” XVII-XVIII, no. 71, 31 Dec. 2014, pp. 99–120, https://doi.org/10.4000/1718.395.
Whitfield, John Humphreys. “Petrarch.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 25 Jan. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Petrarch.