Not Another Shakespeare Podcast!

For once, a film we actually liked!! In this episode from our Shakespeare At the Movies series, we break down Feng Xiaogang’s 2006 wuxia Hamlet adaptation THE BANQUET (aka The Black Scorpion). James somehow connects this to the Loch Ness Monster, we envy Hamlet’s fancy hair bath, and there’s just a little too much incest for everyone’s comfort level. CONTENT NOTE This episode discusses the various forms of violence that are represented in the film, including sexual violence.

We’re back with the second part of HAMLET, featuring our fantastic guest and VP of Merch Dr Emer McHugh! This time, Polonius is finally concise, the Ghost just wants to go to bed, Horatio and Hamlet somehow end up naked together (whoopsie, how did that happen??), and James gets salty about the lack of stage time for the pirates. With cameos from pelicans, sparrows, and a Danish seal. CONTENT NOTE: Hamlet and this episode discusses suicide and self harm, murder by stabbing and poison, “madness”, grief and burial (including a disrupted funeral). Dr Emer McHugh @emeramchugh is Marie Skłowdowska-Curie Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, working on the project ‘Shakespeare and the Irish Actor’. She specialises in early modern performance studies, Shakespeare and Ireland, histories of actors and acting, theatre and celebrity, gender and sexuality studies, and modern and contemporary Irish and British performance. Her monograph, Irish Shakespeares: Gender, Sexuality, and Performance in the Twenty-First Century, is forthcoming from Routledge. When not working, she’s reading, collecting vinyls, going to the cinema, or watching Frasier or Twin Peaks. Her favourite Christmas album is ‘Christmas’ (1999) by Low.

The time has come, dear friends. We can avoid the elephant in the room no longer. It’s Hamlet time. Join us and the fabulous Dr Emer McHugh on a two-part adventure through the tortured psyche of the Prince of Denmark and his mommy issues! Along the way we’ll discuss the friendliness of your average ghost, our fave celebrity breakups, and whether that cloud really is backed like a weasel. CONTENT NOTE: This episode discusses death and murder, suicidal ideation and self harm. Dr Emer McHugh is Marie Skłowdowska-Curie Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, working on the project ‘Shakespeare and the Irish Actor’. She specialises in early modern performance studies, Shakespeare and Ireland, histories of actors and acting, theatre and celebrity, gender and sexuality studies, and modern and contemporary Irish and British performance. Her monograph, Irish Shakespeares: Gender, Sexuality, and Performance in the Twenty-First Century, is forthcoming from Routledge. When not working, she’s reading, collecting vinyls, going to the cinema, or watching Frasier or Twin Peaks. Her favourite Christmas album is ‘Christmas’ (1999) by Low.

It’s summer, and everyone wants to be at the beach — including the cast of ROMEO AND JULIET: SEALED WITH A KISS. Yes, they are actual seals. Join Nora and James as we discuss this dubious animated classic, complete with a crab band, ham-fisted segregation metaphors, a very annoying fish, and royalty-free music. If you love this episode, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

Fun with fairies, true love, a beautiful wedding at the end… Oh, wait, I thought we were listing stuff that’s NOT in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? My bad. Nora and James get drunk and dunk on this perennial Shakespeare in the Park fave. CONTENT NOTE: this play includes and this episode discusses involuntary intoxication, forced marriage with death threats attached, sexual assault and violence, and racist language If you love this episode, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

We are back with a brand-new episode on Shakespeare’s weird little play ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL!! Today, we’re asking the important questions: Can your haemorrhoids give you a hernia? What rhymes with Nantucket? And do we really have to feel bad for Bertram? Diana, Roman goddess of rectums makes a surprise appearance in this, Shakespeare’s most morally grey comedy. If you love this episode, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

It’s time for a dubious holiday (& world cup) special, a movie that has aged like pint of ice cream, our first Shakespeare film adaptation: SHE’S THE MAN!    With apologies in advance to your early ‘aughts nostalgia, we dive into this Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum classic. As is tradition, the high school characters are played by actors clearly approaching 30, the Shakespeare appropriation is ham-fisted at best (Channers’ character is literally named “Duke Orsino.” First name Duke, last name Orsino), and the gay panic/transphobia is at an all-time high. What fun!    CONTENT NOTE: As you might expect, this episode discusses gender dysphoria, transphobia, and homophobia. We also talk about body image and weight/weight loss. If you love this episode, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

We kick off Season 3 with two households, both alike in dignity. That’s right friends, it’s ROMEO AND JULIET time! Follow along as we discuss Juliet’s concerning youth, Queen Mab’s nut wagon, and James’s sauce obsession.    We’re changing our release schedule to one episode per month this season, to keep the podcast sustainable. Thanks for sticking with us!    CONTENT NOTE: This play includes suicide and suicidal ideation in young people. If you love this episode, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

We’re back!! After a brief hiatus, we’re returning with a bang to share our take on TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, featuring special guest Charlene V. Smith! Tune in for reminiscences about TROY (2004), bizarrely over-invested uncles, and objectively the weirdest ending in the canon.    CONTENT NOTE: This play contains depictions of sexual assault and implied coercion, as well as wartime violence.    Charlene V. Smith is an actor, director, and scholar, who has worked in the DC metropolitan area since 2006. She co-founded Brave Spirits Theatre in 2011 and became Artistic Director in 2014.  Sadly, Brave Spirits was forced to close during the pandemic. But at that time, they were mid-way through a historic project to stage 8 of Shakespeare’s history plays in rep. Shakespeare’s Histories will now be released as audio recordings: https://t.co/T9BLg8YeUN  Charlene completed her BA in English & Theatre at the College of William and Mary and studied at the London Dramatic Academy. She has an MLitt & an MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin College (now University) in partnership w/ the American Shakespeare Center.  She has written and published in a variety of venues, both academic and public-facing — you can see them all here: https://t.co/MJ7aPJljtt   And, important for our purposes, she recently taught Troilus and Cressida as part of a team-taught directing class at Mary Baldwin, so she is the perfect person to discuss this wacky play with us! If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

We’re back for the second part of our holiday special, returning to TWELFTH NIGHT just in time for, well, Twelfth Night! Topsy-turvy twin shenanigans continue, with guest appearances by John Donne, the Backstreet Boys, and the Hallmark Christmas cinematic universe. Literally everyone gets married at the end. What’s more festive than that?? If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

In the first part of our epic Christmas special, James rejects the play title (again), we debate the merits of meat-flavoured crisps/chips, and a barrage of festive movie references are made. How many of these people will be married by the end? Let’s be honest—probably all of them. If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

Bohemian sea coasts, bad disguises, and offstage deaths, oh my! It’s THE WINTER’S TALE! In yet another case of James feeling betrayed by a play title, The Winter’s Tale is a magical story with ghosts, bears, and long-lost princesses — but it’s not set in winter. Featuring Gerard Butler and 300, and precisely how many biscuits we’d serve the Queen if she came to tea. If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

Step aside, Billy Shakes — it’s your buddy J. Fletch’s day to shine! This week we’re washing out the bad taste the Taming left in our mouths with John Fletcher’s semi-sequel THE WOMAN’S PRIZE aka THE TAMER TAMED. We detour to 80s British children’s TV stars, Bill & Ted, and Chumbawumba. Did Fletcher really do it better? Listen to find out!    Content Note: Be aware that this play (and this episode) contains discussion of rape, sexual violence, and intimate partner violence. If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

On today’s episode, we’re drinking wine to help us get through Shakespeare’s domestic violence comedy, The Taming of the Shrew! We detour to water voles and garden pests, James loses track of who’s who, and we test the limits of the misogynometer.    Content note: Be aware that this episode (and this play) touches on domestic / intimate partner violence, gaslighting and coercive control. If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

“Let not the world witches or devils condemn / They follow us, and then we follow them.” Along with witches, devils, murders and Morris dancing, our spooky Halloween special features a list of James’s favourite witches, the only Dog Nora doesn’t love, a woman disguised as a boy (of course), and some casual bigamy. If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

What do Mean Girls, James Bond, and baguettes all have to do with Richard II? Join James, Nora, and special guest Dr Ambereen Dadabhoy to find out! We’ve got scheming uncles, familiar castles, and improbable timelines galore in our first foray into Shakespeare’s history plays.    Ambereen is an Associate Professor of Literature at Harvey Mudd College. Her research focuses on racial and religious "otherness," in early modern English drama, particularly on plays set in the Mediterranean. She's currently working on a book on Shakespeare and Islamicate cultures, which dovetails with her interest in early modern forms of the "War on Terror." Ambereen's favourite Shakespeare play is Richard II.    Check out Ambereen’s most recent publication in the excellent Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race, edited by Ayanna Thompson. Her chapter is on ‘Barbarian Moors: Documenting Racial Formation in Early Modern England’ https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/literature/renaissance-and-early-modern-literature/cambridge-companion-shakespeare-and-race?format=PB If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

We’re back for Measure for Measure, Part 2!! Join us for the epic conclusion to this deeply messed up play as we call Shakespeare out for his blatant pirate erasure, speculate on whether for fornication can occur in a garden, and invent a new superhero    Content note: Be aware that this episode (and this play) deals with sexual violence and wrongful imprisonment. If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

We’re back! Season 2 kicks off with a two-part Measure for Measure episode. We’ll explore the play that Nora’s been researching for years, with a detour to the Mr Men (again), and a pitch to get Fiat to sponsor us. Is Angelo’s dick actually made of ice? Will we finally crank the misogynometer up to 11? Tune in to find out!    Content note: Be aware that this episode (and this play) deals with sexual violence and wrongful imprisonment. If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

In the second half of our two-part season finale, we speculate on the Freudian possibilities of Banquo’s ghost, Flandolph makes a triumphant return, and Lady Macbeth gets the lion treatment. If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!

In the first instalment of our epic, two-part season one finale, we learn that murder can sour a marriage, the witches give a two-for-one prophecy discount, Macbeth talks to his psychic penis, and James makes a surprising Tolkien connection. If you love this episode, follow us on social media @NAShaxPodcast and subscribe to get notified about new episodes!