The Hurly Burly Shakespeare Show‪!‬ Whamlet

Season 6 begins with a ROAR(ing Girl) courtesy of Thomases Dekker and Middleton. The famous city comedy features real-life legend Mary Frith, aka Moll Cutpurse, but not with nearly the stage time such a character deserves; we give you a brief introduction to the lesser-known Thomas of this collab team, Dekker, and also a Taste of Text where Moll’s voice really shines. Jess gives you a refresher on the city comedy genre, as well as the real life Moll and we deliver a little personal gossip. We hope you enjoy our roaring return. It’s good to be back!

Sooooooo William Rowley’s The Birth of Merlin actually has very little to do with Merlin or any other part of the Arthurian legend, and it’s more of a history play than its title would suggest. We re-introduce you to playwright William Rowley, who apparently loved to write himself into all of his plays as a “fat clown;” we give you A Taste of Text from Act IV involving a little antic spirit; we talk about how this play doesn’t fit neatly into any particular genre because it is doing The Literal Most at all times, but for all that it’s not even that great; then we gossip a bit and that’s that. Don’t believe anyone that tells you this play was written by Shakespeare, and definitely don’t believe them if they say it’s their favorite play.

It’s our first ever 101 for a Spanish Golden Age play! Today we’re talking about Lope de Vega’s Fuenteovejuna and all the wild, wonderful customs and traditions of the early modern Spanish theatre. Our Meet the Playwright segment takes you through de Vega’s impressive (and horny) biography; Jess delights with her multitude of voices in A Taste of Text; we take you through the real event that this play is based on - true crime, again, huzzah! - and Aubrey compares the structure and culture of Spanish playhouses to the English ones we usually talk about, plus the added layer of textual instability that comes with second-language translation. The differences may surprise you! Not only that, but this play gives you the perfect excuse for your mistakes and/or crimes: just say “Fuenteovejuna did it!”

Well, we hope you like feminist rants, because that’s what most of this episode devolved into. In this 201 we go off on Troilus and the rest of the men of Troilus and Cressida to interrogate why the Greeks and Trojans hinged all of their masculinity and self worth on Helen and Cressida’s status as chaste virgins. We also take a brief birdwalk to examine the folio text of this play to check an odd prose-to-verse switch in act 3 scene 2. Finally, we dust the cobwebs off of a favorite game, Line Roulette, and find out why a line about Achilles’ Mermidons cries encapsulates this entire play full of whiny boys.

This week we return to the classic romantic comedy, Twelfth Night, to talk about the recent production at the American Shakespeare Center (directed by the amazing Jenny Bennett) and how it's a great example of how queering your casting and production concept can unlock new takes on a well-known, popular play. We also gossip about Jess's experience at the recent Early Modern Trans Conference, as well as some...um...highly questionable choices made by a certain theatre company for their ill-fated production of Romeo & Juliet. Bottom line, when in doubt: queer it up and say NO to Nazis.

This week we’re talking about The City Nightcap by Robert Davenport, a bewildering play by an even more bewildering (read: mysterious) author. We try to help you Meet the Contemporary, but Bobby Davs left us very little to go on; our Taste of Text is sure to amuse (and confuse) you; we talk a LOT about all the kicking happening in this play, as well as why it - among other things - is so problematic (read: sexist AF). If you have the chance to see this play, awesome, but if you don’t you’re not really missing much aside from a unique barnyard-themed masque and the most hilarious not-a-bed-trick bed trick of all time. Have a great holiday season and we’ll see you in January!