That Shakespeare Life

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Episode 54: Rebecca Totaro Talks About Plague Apr 29, 2019

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Whether it's Lear calling Goneril a plague-sore, or Mercutio cursing the families in Romeo and Juliet by saying "A plague on both your houses!" Shakespeare's works testify to the fact that rampant plague was a very real, and very prevalent, part of Shakespeare's daily life. But what were the concerns about plague that Shakespeare was considering when he wrote these works that refer to the disease? For Shakespeare and his contemporaries, there was a real plague culture in England that impacted the entertainment industry including theater, literature, and even music. Here today to help us unpack what we can learn about plague for Shakespeare's lifetime is an expert on this subject, Rebecca Totaro professor of literature and culture of early modern England at Florida Gulf Coast University and author of several books on plague including The Plague in Print. joins us today to discuss her book, Plague in Print, a work that examines plague literature, and what surviving documents written about the experiences of living with plague can teach about the life of William Shakespeare.

Episode 53: Happy Birthday, Shakespeare! Let's Talk Coat of Arms with Paul Edmondson Apr 22, 2019

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We are celebrating Shakespeare's birthday this week by taking a look at how Shakespeare became a gentleman. One of the ways William Shakespeare achieved the status of a gentleman was in the procurement of the family Coat of Arms. This process was something of a mystery because history shows us that Shakespeare's father had been eligible for a coat of arms, but never received it. Later, his son William would successfully acquire the arms for the family, presumably a source of pride for his father, as well as a firm establishment of respect and status in the community. This week we are happy to welcome back to the show for his second time as a guest here at That Shakespeare Life, the distinguished Dr. Paul Edmondson, Head of Research and Knowledge at Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who joins us to be our guide into the history of Shakespeare's coat of arms, heraldry, and the Shakespeare family.

Episode 52: Scott Farrell and Knights in Shakespeare's England Apr 15, 2019

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Several of Shakespeare's history plays, and even some of his comedies mention or refer to characters as a knight. Sometimes knights are good, other times they are bad, and sometimes we aren't quite sure what they are as is often the case with characters like Falstaff. However, what's true is that an armored knight defending the honor of the monarchy were real people in Shakespeare's lifetime, and the portrayal of them on stage reflects what was going on around the real 16th century audience. Here to help us sort out the legend from the fact surrounding knights in early modern England is our guest, Scott Farrell.

Ep 51: Poverty and the Playhouse with Rob Henke Apr 08, 2019

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For William Shakespeare, the Globe theater itself represented a place that brought together a mix of classes. People from high society, all the way down the poorest of the poor observed Shakespeare's plays, but how much of the bard's work acknowledged the poor and what was the reality of charitable giving going on around William Shakespeare as he was penning some of his famous scenes about beggars? That's the question we'll be asking today as we chat with our guest, Robert Henke. Rob is a professor Professor of Drama and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley, and the author of several works on Shakespeare and theater. He joins us today to discuss one book in particular, Poverty and Charity in Early Modern Theater and Performance.

Ep 50 Globe v Blackfriars with Sarah Dustagheer Apr 01, 2019

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When William Shakespeare was writing The Tempest was he considering the light bouncing off the walls of his playhouse? When he directed Feste to be fond of singing in Twelfth Night, did Shakespeare know the people in the back would be able to hear him?

We don't often think about Shakespeare's plays in context of where they were originally performed, but this week our guest Sarah Dustagheer has written an entire book exploring that very question. Turns out, many of Shakespeare's lines were written for the location where they were first to be performed. Sarah is a Senior Lecturer in Early Modern Literature at The University of Kent, and author of her latest book, Shakespeare's Playhouses: Repertory and Theatre Space at the Globe and the Blackfriars, 1599-1613

Ep 49: Shakespeare's Sheep with Lizzy Dobbin Mar 25, 2019

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Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford Upon Avon sits just outside the famous Cotswolds Hills, where wool was the primary industry. It's even thought that shepherds in the area taking care of their sheep are responsible for the first discovery of graphite that would go on to be used in pencils. In Shakespeare's plays, there are references to sheep, lambs, fleeces, wool, and shepherds in almost all of his works, leading us to wonder how personally connected to sheep and the wool industry William Shakespeare might have been.

Here as our guest this week to help us explore Shakespeare's history with sheep is the person in charge of the actual living sheep kept in Shakespeare's name, and a representative part of his history at Mary Arden's Farm in Stratford Upon Avon, is Lizzy Dobbin [Assistant Farm Manager at Mary Arden's Farm], at Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Ep 48: Examining Shakespeare's Sources with JM Pressley Mar 18, 2019

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Good artists copy, great artists steal. That's the line they tell us about what it takes to be great at art, but was it true for William Shakespeare? The bard borrows heavily from sources like Holinshed, Ovid, and others in the writing of his plays but does it impact how we understand the story? This week we welcome our guest, JM Pressley of the Shakespeare Resource Center to walk us through the history of sources as it applies to Shakespeare's plays. Turns out, the reality of life in 16th century England might surprise you when it comes to examining how to bard developed his plot lines.

M. Pressley has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts and an M.A. in Writing, both from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He has been the author, designer, content editor, and webmaster of the Shakespeare Resource Center since it began, over 20 years ago.

The Elizabethan Jig with Lucie Skeaping Mar 11, 2019

Show notes

Many times when Shakespeare would perform a play, there would be a bawdy and comical song and dance show performed after the play, even if the play was a tragedy or something more serious. A traditional part of Elizabethan theater, the jig was a not only an expected part of playhouse performances but they represent a slice of culture from Shakespeare's liftime. Many of the song and dance routines performed were inspired by, or examples of, Elizabethan pop culture. The tunes were a kind of street music, and the stories represented popular tales that would influence playwrights like William Shakespeare. Here to share with us the history of broadside ballads and the Elizabethan jigs is our distinguished guest, Lucie Skeaping

John Fletcher, the man who took over The King's Men when Shakespeare died Mar 04, 2019

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John Fletcher was a prominent playwright during William Shakespeare's lifetime, whose work came close to eclipsing that of the bard during the height of his popularity in early modern England. Friends, as well as colleagues with The King's Men, Shakespeare and Fletcher collaborated on several key plays of Shakespeare like Henry VIII as well as Two Noble Kinsmen. John Fletcher was so prominent and important during the life of the bard that after Shakespeare's death in 1616, it would be John Fletcher who took over the healm of the King's Men to run the playing company under James I. Understanding the life of John Fletcher provides a unique window into the life and times of William Shakespeare and our guest today has done an extensive amount of research into John Fletcher as well as his relationship to Shakespeare. We are delighted to welcome Lucy Munro as our guide into the life of John Fletcher and his friendship with William Shakespeare. Lucy Munro, is a professor of early modern literature at King's College London, and author of an entire chapter on John Fletcher in the recent book The Shakespeare Circle.

Episode 45: Natalie Grueninger on Tudor Bathing Feb 25, 2019

Show notes

While many of the castles and great homes of the monarch in England already contained luxurious bathrooms, it would be Henry VIII--in a style true to his flamboyant reputation, that would create elaborately accessorized bathrooms for palaces like Whitehall and Hampton Court. While these bathrooms were used by the monarchy in Shakespeare's life, such as Queen Elizabeth, the average Tudor, and Shakespeare himself, had a much simpler version of bathing, not to mention a variety of myths and legends to accompany popular opinion of keeping clean. Here to walk us through a brief history of soaps, bathing, and the act of cleanliness in Shakespeare's lifetime is Natalie Grueniger. Natalie is the host of the Talking Tudors podcast, as well as the author of the blog "On the Tudor Trail." I've asked Natalie to visit with us today to talk with us about two excellent blog articles she wrote specifically about Tudor bathing, examining the common practices, methods of making soap, and the inside details about those bathrooms in Whitehall Palace.

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