The Bardcast: "It's Shakespeare, You Dick!"

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Adapted Shakespeare Jan 22, 2021

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The well known American author Susan Vreeland was correct - art begets art!!!
On the heels of our Film Shakespeare series - here is our longest episode so far, comprising even MORE stuff that is based on, or inspired by, the works of our friend Will!!!
His plays have given birth to SOOOOO MUCH ART!!!!!
We can tell you this....
Shakespeare AIN'T GOING NOWHERE, folks, and this episode proves that indisputably.
To send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: thebardcastyoudick@gmail.com
To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here:
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To visit our website, go here:
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To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
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Episode Sources:
Wikipedia and the rest of the interwebs :)

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Violent Shakespeare Jan 08, 2021

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Sent us a text, you dicks!!

"Have at thee, coward!!!"
As we've discussed before, there are SOOOOO many instances of violence of one kind or another in the Shakespeare canon. So... how does that get translated onto the stage or in a film in a believable way?
We talk to Randy Kovitz, master fight choreographer, who helps us understand how we can stab, strangle, smother, or otherwise subdue a character and make it look real - while being safe... cuz we're only ACTING, people!!!
To send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: thebardcastyoudick@gmail.com
To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true
To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com
To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!

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Christmas Shakespeare Dec 25, 2020

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Sent us a text, you dicks!!

Merrie Christmas, dear listeners!!!
In this episode we discuss how those Elizabethans celebrated Christmas - for twelve days, those filthy animals!!!
ALSO.....
At the end of the episode is a special gift from us to you... Merry Merry!!!!
So now is come our joyful'st feast,
Let every man be jolly.
Each room with ivy leaves is drest,
And every post with holly.
Though some churls at our mirth repine,
Round your foreheads garlands twine,
Drown sorrow in a cup of wine,
And let us all be merry.
(George Wither—16th c. poet)
To send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: thebardcastyoudick@gmail.com
To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true
To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com
To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!

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Racial Shakespeare Dec 11, 2020

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Sent us a text, you dicks!!

Was Shakespeare racist? Was he anti-Semitic? Or was he just writing as a product of his times?
And what about modern day productions of Shakespeare - how do they deal with these issues? Is there such a thing as truly colorblind casting?
We are proud to welcome our first guest (YAY!!!!), the wonderful and talented Alvin Keith, to discuss this very timely, important, and frankly, often inflammatory topic.
To send us an email - please do, we want to hear from you!!! - write us at: thebardcastyoudick@gmail.com
To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true
To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com
To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!
Episode Sources:
Little, Arthur L. Jr.: Shakespeare Jungle Fever, Stanford University Press, 2000
Alexander, Catherine M.S. and Wells, Stanley, editors: Shakespeare and Race, Cambridge University Press, 2000
Shapiro, James: Shakespeare and the Jews, Columbia University Press, 1996
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roderigo_Lopez

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Film Shakespeare Part 4 - Romeo and Juliet Nov 27, 2020

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Sent us a text, you dicks!!

We're back at it! The bard's youngest lovers on the big screen!!
For this episode, we stuffed ourselves full of Romeo and Juliet in preparation for stuffing ourselves full of turkey!! Although frankly, some of the Romeo and Juliet was far less palatable...
But we digress.
We give thanks for YOU this year, dear listener!!!
So dive in with us to the world of love, passion, weapons, family feuding, and fatal mistakes!!
And hopefully, no plague on any of your houses, especially this year - 2020 has given us some shit, you know???
To support us (by giving us money - per episode if you like!) on Patreon, go here:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true
To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com
To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!

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Winning Shakespeare Nov 13, 2020

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Sent us a text, you dicks!!

Winners and losers... losers and winners....
What kind of behaviour does a winner or loser display? Are they gracious? Do they experience a moment of clarity in loss? Do they ascend with humility or do they try to burn the freaking house down??
On the heels of the recent United States Presidential election of Joe Biden (and yes, he DID win, contrary to what SOME people would like to believe), we return once more to the plays of the Bard to understand the etiquette - or lack thereof - within the scope of political power.
To support us (by giving us money) on Patreon, go here:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true
To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com
To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!
Episode Sources:
IT'S SHAKESPEARE, YOU DICK!!!!

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Occult Shakespeare Oct 30, 2020

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Sent us a text, you dicks!!

Double, double, toil, and trouble....
Fire burn and podcast bubble....
What?? Never mind.
It's Halloween!!! Samhaim!!! All Hallows Eve!!! And our boy Will has magic and witches and ghosts and demons and premonitions and precognitions and dreams and all kinds of freaky shit literally sprinkled throughout his plays. In this episode, we discuss some of the history that influenced Shakespeare's writing as well as some conjecture about which witch is which in many of his plays.
To support us (by giving us money) on Patreon, go here:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true
To visit our website, go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com
To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!
Episode Sources:
Rogers, L.W., The Occultism in the Shakespeare Plays - A study of the Occult, First Edition 1907
Brigg, K.M., Pale Hecate's Team, Humanities Press, 1962
Kahan, Jeffrey, Shakespiritualism: Shakespeare and the Occult, 1850 - 1950, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013
Titland, Freia M., Magic and Shakespeare: A Representation of the Times, Presented to the Faculty of Regent University for Master of Fine Arts
Mebane, John S., Renaissance Magic & the Return of the Golden Age, University of Nebraska Press, 1992
Long, Tom, The Book of Traditional Magickal Plants and Herbs, Archan Publishing, 2019

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Tyrannical Shakespeare Oct 16, 2020

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Sent us a text, you dicks!!

It's almost November, people!!!
There are certain ELECTIONS in certain countries that are very much on our minds, as well as the minds of the rest of the planet.
So... how we do deal with it? We talk about the political atmosphere that surrounded our boy Will!! Was there a separation of church and state for Shakespeare? Hell, no! Shakespeare had a devil of a time maneuvering around the politics of his time, but managed to stay under the radar of those who would chop off his head for treason.
"Tyranny attempts to poison not merely the present but generations to come, to extend itself forever. Tyrannies are enemies of the future."
Just sayin'.....
To support (and give us money) on Patreon, go here:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true
To visit our website go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com
To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!
Episode Sources:
Greenblatt, Stephen: Tyrant, W. W. Norton, 2019
Bloom, Allan and Jaffa, Henry V.: Shakespeare's Politics, The University of Chicago Press, 1964
Altschuler, Bruce E. and Genovese, Michael A.: Shakespeare and Politics, Paradigm, 2014
Shapiro, James: Shakespeare in a Divided America, Penguin Press, 2020
Asquith, Claire: Shadowplay, Public Affairs, 2005

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Film Shakespeare - Part 3 - Macbeth! Oct 02, 2020

Show notes

Sent us a text, you dicks!!

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes....." (and in some cases, it's the way the text of Macbeth is bastardized - feh!!)
One of the greatest dramatic plays ever written about the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake, we deep dive into the many versions of the Scottish Play available on film.
Can you smell the blood still???
You will, rabbit, you will.........
Like us?!? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!
To give us money on Patreon, go here!!
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true
To visit our website go here!!
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com
To donate to an awesome charity, go here!!
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
Episode Sources:
Shakespeare: Script, Stage, Screen: David Bevington, Anne Marie Welsh, Michael L. Greenwald
A History of Shakespeare on Screen - A Century of Film and Television: Kenneth S. Rothwell
The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film: Russell Jackson
www.IMDB.com
www.Wikipedia.com

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Gendered Shakespeare Sep 18, 2020

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Sent us a text, you dicks!!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a..................
No, wait... is that a male or female Desdemona?!?!???
In this episode, we go down the rabbit hole of gender in Shakespeare plays. Join us as we discuss some of the greatest cross-dressing "actoresses" of the Bard, as well as what the text of Shakespeare reveals about the differences between guys and gals (and we're not talking anatomy here folks - well, okay, but just a little).
To support (and give us money) on Patreon, go here:
https://www.patreon.com/user?u=35662364&fan_landing=true
To visit our website go here:
https://www.thebardcastyoudick.com
To donate to an awesome charity, go here:
https://actorsfund.org/help-our-entertainment-communiity-covid-19-emergency-relief
Like us? Leave us a five-star rating AND a review wherever you get your podcasts!!
Episode Sources:
Lucas Garcia, Gender on Shakespeare’s Stage: A Brief History, writerstheatre.org
shakespeare-online.com /sonnets/20detail

McManus, Clare: Shakespeare and gender: the ‘woman’s part’ - The British Library
Sobhan Hota, Hitachi Vantara: Gender in Shakespeare: Automatic Stylistic Analysis of Shakespeare's

Borrow, Justin: Shakespeare, Sexuality and Gender, thetheatrereader.com
Shapiro, James: Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell US About Our Past and Future

Luckyj, Christina: ‘A Moving Rhetoricke’: Gender and Silence in Early Modern England

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