The State of Shakespeare

The State of Shakespeare
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Great Interviews with Great Artists. We’re talking Shakespeare.

  1. 9h ago

    Jacob Ming-Trent

    Macbeth; Act 5, Scene 5 MacbethJune 24, 2026 For a poor player, strutting and fretting on the stage, sometimes words and verse can spell the difference between life and death.  Jacob Ming-Trent stars in his original, multimedia, one-person play, How Shakespeare Saved My Life, the autobiographical story of how a troubled youth found salvation in poetry.  Playing through July 5 at the Folger Theatre in DC, and coming to the Public and Red Bull Theatre in October. Click here for information about How Shakespeare Saved My Life Click here to follow along with the text. Click here for a Scanned version Click here for a First Folio version.

    23 min

  2. Jun 17

    Ben Turner

    Othello; Act 2, Scene 1 IagoJune 17, 2026 Who says, "I have to bring my truth to the part I'm playing": Ben Turner or Iago? In the Shakespeare Theatre of DC’s new production of Othello, Ben Turner reveals the humanity and heart beneath Iago’s machinations, transforming Shakespeare’s most overtly “evil” creation into something much more recognizably (and terrifyingly) human. The production runs until June 28. Click here for information about Othello Click here to follow along with the text. Click here for a Scanned version Click here for a First Folio version.

    33 min

  3. May 19

    Bedlam

    Othello May 19, 2026 “What’s he, then, that says I play the villain?” Few questions more clearly reveal where each of us stands in today’s deeply polarized society. Recorded on the eve of a profoundly tense moment in global geopolitics, we speak with Eric Tucker and Bedlam discussing their critically acclaimed four-person production of Othello, running through May 31 in New York City. Click here for information about Othello

    35 min

  4. Apr 29

    Jesse Berger and McKinley Belcher III

    Titus Andronicus; Act 5, Scene 1 AaronApril 29, 2026 “I have done a thousand dreadful thingsAs willingly as one would kill a fly,And nothing grieves me heartily indeedBut that I cannot do ten thousand more.”   Director Jesse Berger and actor McKinley Belcher III dish up their critically acclaimed Titus Andronicus, now in an extended run with Red Bull Theater in New York City. Together, we carve into why Shakespeare's notoriously blood-soaked tragedy serves the moment. Click here for information about Red Bull Theater Click here to follow along with the text. Click here for a Folio Version Click here for a scanned version

    40 min

  5. Apr 20

    Timothy Douglas

    As You Like It Folger TheatreApril 20, 2026 How should an actor approach Shakespeare’s language? Is the focus on rehearsing delivery, or on cultivating presence in the moment? Director Timothy Douglas credits the teachings of Tina Packer and Kristin Linklater for shaping his approach to helping actors “own” Shakespeare. His latest collaboration, As You Like It, at the Folger Theatre in Washington, DC runs through April 19. The quote we talk about in the interview: As You Like It; Act 4, Scene 1: (spoken by Rosalind, disguised as Ganymede to Jacques in Act 4, scene 1) 24. I fear you have sold your own lands to see other men's; then 25. to have seen much and to have nothing is to have rich eyes 26. and poor hands. Click here to go to the Folger Website.

    35 min

  6. Apr 2

    Nancy Voigts

    The Merry Wives of Windsor; Act 2 Scene 2 Mistress QuicklyApril 2, 2026 Which female character became such a fan favorite that Shakespeare featured her in four different plays? Award-winning actor Nancy Voigts brings this famously bawdy mischief-maker and mistress of misinformation to life in a vibrant new production of The Merry Wives of Windsor at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Click here for more information about the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Click here to follow along with the text. Click here for the First Folio version of the text.

    27 min

  7. Mar 5

    Carol Grieb

    A Truant Dispostion: Hamlet and HoratioMarch 4, 2025 Is Horatio the villain?  A literary stand-in for the murderously opportunistic “friends” who stalked the halls of power in Elizabethan England?  Carol Grieb imagines a Hamlet in which Hamlet’s so-called best friend is anything but. Click here to go to the book website. Click here to purchase the book.

    27 min

  8. 11/10/2025

    Saul Rubinek

    The Merchant of Venice; Act 3, Scene 1 ShylockNovember 10, 2025 The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.” Actor and storyteller Saul Rubinek takes us inside his one-man show Playing Shylock, now on stage at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in New York City. Rubinek explores Shylock’s confounding genesis and reveals why one of Shakespeare’s so-called “minor” roles continues to be one of the most groundbreaking, misunderstood and controversial characters in theater history. Click here to see the Folio Version. Click here for a Modern Version of the Text. Click here for more information about Playing Shylock. Click here for Saul's book, All in the Telling. Click here for a transcript of "The Stranger's Case" by Thomas More.

    51 min
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Great Interviews with Great Artists. We’re talking Shakespeare.

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