EP 6: Adaptation and the Politics of Language

In this episode, co-host Liam Lockhart-Rush continues the conversation around Shakespeare’s relationship to colonialism in Canada, specifically through looking at some recent adaptations that complicate his work and cultural privilege. Hearing from several prominent playwrights, the conversation focuses on questioning Shakespeare’s authority through the politics of language. This episode contains excerpts from the “Recasting Shakespeare Through Adaptation” and “Grappling with Shakespeare's Colonial Legacy” panels from the (Re)casting Shakespeare in Canada Symposium which took place in April and May 2023. 

This episode features conversations with Jani Lauzon, Yvette Nolan, and PJ Prudat, as well as excerpts of Reneltta Arluk, Jeff Ho, Keira Loughran, Joseph Jomo Pierre, Kaitlyn Riordan, and Erin Shields speaking at the (Re)casting Shakespeare in Canada Symposium. 

Episode 6 ASL translation courtesy of Dawn Jani Birley. ASL interpretation by Dawn Jani Birley, Robert Haughton, and Alice Lo.

Here are links to things mentioned in the episode and some suggestions for further reading:

The (Re)casting Shakespeare in Canada Symposium 

Pawâkan Macbeth by Reneltta Arluk

Queen Goneril by Erin Shields

Portia’s Julius Caesar by Kaitlyn Riordan

Shakespeare’s Nigga by Joseph Jomo Pierre

Cockroach by Jeff Ho

1939 by Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan

otîhêw by PJ Prudat

Death of a Chief directed and adapted by Yvette Nolan and Kennedy C. MacKinnon

Dr. Lindsay Lachance

Chief Bev SellarsDecolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Dean Gabourie

Jessica Carmichael