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Episode 61 - Shakespeare's Most Famous Plays Aug 24, 2021

Show notes

There were lots of ways we could have looked at the topic of Shakespeare's most famous plays. A deeply analytical examination of what makes some plays rise above others. A detailed case study of a single play, like Romeo & Juliet or Hamlet, that has remained popular over the years. Or even a dismissal of the very idea of popularity.

Instead, we decided on a listicle format. What can we say? We've been moving all week, and we needed to relax and have some fun. We hope you'll have some too as we rank our top five most popular plays - if we were the sole deciders of what is popular.

Notes:

The Shakespeareances list of most often produced plays was our basis for winnowing down the list to the most common productions for establishing our lists.
Our five categories for ranking the popularity-factor (TM pending) of each play were as follows:
- Characters
- Plot/story
- Quotability
- Accessibility
- Relevance

Episode 60 - Macbeth Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

Macbeth may be Shakespeare's second most famous play after Hamlet, and for good measure. The speeches and quotes have been seared into English-speaking culture, the phrase "Lady Macbeth" denotes all sorts of things (depending on your point of view), and it may be our most durable parable for the dangers of too much ambition. It's also one of Shakespeare's shortest plays (and the shortest tragedy), with numerous well-received film adaptations over the years to help keep it in the public consciousness.

We were lucky enough to be joined by returning fellow Shakespeare nerd (and David Lynch fan) Brittany, who brought a much needed third perspective on some of the key themes and character discussions of this play: is Lady Macbeth to be understood as a woman, or a unsexed would-be male competing in a man's world? Are the central pair a good couple? And a return to our old question: what does this play have to tell us about what makes a good king? We talk about all that and more in this episode!

Notes:

We discussed a number of film adaptations, including:

The 2015 Justin Kurzel and Michael Fassbender version
The 1971 Roman Polanski and Jon Finch version
The 1957 Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune adaptation "Throne of Blood"

Ancient Bickering:

Just like your high school English class discussion on this play, we were looking at the timeless question of: "Did Macbeth choose to commit his acts of heinous violence, or was it destiny as foretold by the witches?"

Episode 59 - Shakespeare and Economics Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

It is natural to wonder what Shakespeare was trying to tell us about money. He was, after all, the owner of his own theatre company, a man who made several wise financial decisions involving his land holdings in his later years. He’d grown up around money. Surely we can read into his plays and discover something of the business acumen and economic philosophy of the man, right?

Maybe. Maybe not. All the same, we’re going to look at the various depictions of money and economic concerns within the works of Shakespeare this week on The Bicks Pod.

Ancient Bickerings: If Shakespeare were writing a play based on a modern financial or economic news headline, what story would he choose?

Notes:

- For an interesting look at mentions of money in Shakespeare, check out the aptly titled "Money in Shakespeare" by Fumita Ojima
- Funnily enough, the Watcher YouTube series Puppet History did a hilarious deep dive into the world of 'coin clipping' (and Isaac Newton, who was Master of the Mint from 1699 until his death in 1727) in their episode "Isaac Newton's Nemesis", so if you would like to learn more about this kind of early currency counterfeiting, check it out!
- "This is the Very Coinage of Your Brain: Shakespeare and Money Revisited" by B.J. Cook, a numismatic examination of Shakespeare's work
- If you would like to hear us discuss the modern Shakespeare industry, check out our episode "Selling Shakespeare"
- This 2014 BBC article breaks down the modern day economy of Shakespeare

Episode 58 - Timon of Athens Jul 13, 2021

Show notes

One of Shakespeare's lesser-known plays, Timon of Athens (aka "How to Make Friends and Alienate People") may not be his most engaging yarn -- being co-authored by Thomas Middleton strikes your humble podcasters as one potential reason why -- but that doesn't mean that it can't be relatable and interesting, or that it won't resonate with modern life. On the contrary! A story about an uber-wealthy man who literally gives away the entirety of his fortune to the freeloading Athenians he believes are his friends but who abandon him the moment the going gets tough...feels strikingly modern in this day of growing wealth inequity and the reality of late-stage capitalism.

What a cheery way to start...

Well, join us today for a conversation about misanthropy, greed, and wealth and how it resonates from the Ancient Greeks all the way through to the 21st century via Shakespeare and Middleton's Timon of Athens.

Notes:

- "Shakespeare and Middleton’s Co-Authorship of Timon of Athens" by Eilidh Kane
- BBC Production of Timon of Athens (1981) on iMDB
- The New Yorker article (which is, admittedly, tongue-in-cheek, but which stirred up some discourse on the bird app) "Invoices for Various Recent Acts of Emotional Labor"
- Shakespeare Onscreen's episode about Justin Kurzel's 2015 film version of Macbeth

Ancient Bickerings:

Can money buy happiness?

Episode 56 - King Lear Jun 15, 2021

Show notes

Who has three daughters, two thumbs, and one inheritance to distribute? That guy! *pointing at King Lear* That simple premise becomes the source for one of Shakespeare's most well known and tragic plays. It's also a strangely unsatisfying journey into family dysfunction and moral dilemma, so join us as we chat about the characters, themes, and structure underpinning the tragic history of King Lear!

Notes:

Lindsay was listening to the 1994 BBC radio production of King Lear, available on YouTube.
The quote Lindsay was looking for (from Lear) is: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child!"
"The true chronicle history of King Leir, and his three daughters, Gonorill, Ragan, and Cordella As it hath bene diuers and sundry times lately acted" is the official title of the other Lear play that was contemporaneous to Shakespeare's version, and is available online.

Ancient Bickerings:

Which character gets the ending they deserve?

Episode 55 - Shakespeare in the 90s Jun 01, 2021

Show notes

This is a very special episode dedicated to the era most near and dear to (at least one of) us: the 90s. It was an era that kicked off with parachute pants and Kurt Cobain, and ended with Friends at the top of the ratings chart and Beyoncé still a member of Destiny's Child. In-between there were a whole lot of Shakespeare movies, so we gathered together to ask a few questions.

We were joined in these questions by Brittany, a recent Twin Peaks convert and fellow Shakespeare nerd, who also has fond memories of the 90s and the cultural milieu around it. The three of us dove into some especially pertinent topics like: Why were there so many of these kinds of movies? Do the movies hold up to this day? And what do they tell us about the era in which they were made?

It's a fun chat full of more Britney Spears and N Sync references than we usually manage to fit in. Join us for this one!

Notes:

Our semi-definitive list of 90s Shakespeare movies and adaptations can be found through this Google Doc - let us know if we missed anything!
Shoutout to the Redditors who participated in my question on this topic: why were so many of these movies made?

Ancient Bickerings:

Taking a more lighthearted approach this episode, each of us answered a simple question: which of the 90s Shakespeare movies is your favourite?

Episode 54 - All's Well That Ends Well May 18, 2021

Show notes

Another one of Shakespeare's problem plays, All's Well That Ends Well doesn't really, well... end well. It's a play deeply concerned about gender norms, sex, and lies, with some interesting characters who - like those in other problem plays - defy the typical conventions we usually associate with Shakespeare's better known figures. We talk about these themes and the characters that lay trapped within them, in this episode!

Notes:

As always, the Folger accompanying essay, "All's Well That Ends Well: A Modern Perspective" is a good resource for digging into some of the thornier issues of this play.
The Shmoop guide ain't half bad either!
The BBC version really does rip off the baroque and other famous painters shot-for-shot at times - well worth checking out for that alone!
The film Aidan mentions in the outro is definitely Ran by Akira Kurosawa. not Rain, which is a lesser known film that doesn't sound nearly as good.

Ancient Bickerings:

It's a simple question for this one: is all well at the end of the play? Lindsay says no, Aidan says yes. Aidan is wrong.

Episode 53 - Jealousy in Shakespeare May 04, 2021

Show notes

Shakespeare's ability to write convincing human emotions is one of the reasons why he remains such a popular playwright to this day. His works explore what it truly means to be human -- warts and all. And the warts are what we're talking about in today's episode, in which we take a look at the roots of jealousy in Shakespeare's plays.

From the murderous rage of Othello to the living room comedy of The Merry Wives of Windsor, jealousy gets its hooks into Shakespeare's characters in ways that are both surprising and surprisingly mundane. Whether it's the ridiculous farce of Sir John Falstaff's attempts at cuckolding Masters Ford and Page, the somewhat Oedipal longing underpinning Hamlet's madness, or the shocking descent faced by Othello or The Winter's Tale's Leontes, Shakespeare has a way of making jealousy appear out of nowhere and yet feel like a natural part of the worlds he creates; one might even go so far as to say that the 'green-eyed monster' is its own unique character whenever it arrives.
So join us as we look at the function of jealousy in Shakespeare's plays.

Ancient Bickerings:

Who is Shakespeare's most jealous character?

Notes:

Episode 52 - Othello Apr 20, 2021

Show notes

Jealousy, sex, revenge, racism and outcasts - Othello is a play brimming with emotional themes and characters swayed by those same emotions. We discuss all these themes, try to place them within a bit of context, then discuss how they interact as we look into one of Shakespeare's most beloved and troubling tragedies.

Notes:

As is often the case, Folger's essay, "Othello: A Modern Perspective" gives a good overview of some of the themes in the play in a modern setting, though it doesn't tackle race as directly as the play forces you to.
The 2001 production "O" (here on IMDB) was a surprisingly ok attempt at updating the story for a modern context - consider checking it out if you haven't.

Ancient Bickerings:

The question this episode was a simple one: who is the most jealous character in Othello?

Episode 51 - Comedy of Shakespeare Apr 06, 2021

Show notes

While it's certainly possible to do Shakespeare without any hint of comedy (and lord knows we've seen a few productions, especially on film, that lean that way), it's also possible to have Shakespeare plays that get the audience rolling in the aisles. This episode we talk all about Shakespeare's comedy - not the comedies, but the sense of humour and jokes that have kept people laughing for 400 years. Is Shakespeare's text itself still funny? Or does it rely entirely on the actors to make it work? What parts of comedy are universal among different productions, and which ones need you to keep a 17th century dictionary at hand to get? Find out with this episode all about Shakespeare's funny business.

Notes:

"Shakespeare's Use of Comedy in Tragedy" by Arthur Huntington Newton (from 1906) gives a solid background on the titular topic.
The article about Shakespeare's Holy Trinity bust is quite telling of how Shakespeare may have seen himself.

Ancient Bickerings:

We asked three related questions of one another this time, and we'd love to hear your answers as well. What are Shakespeare's funniest...

Character?
Scene?
Line?

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