Mini: English Nobility and Titles in Shakespeare's Time
Release Date: 02/12/2025
Mini: Shakespeare in the Borderlands with Dr. Katherine Gillen and Ruben Ramirez of Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. Each year, in recognition of the National Day of Mourning/Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, we examine how British colonialism is irrevocably intertwined with Shakespeare. Over the past four years, we explored this topic through close reading of Jyotsna Singh's Shakespeare and Postcolonial Theory. After completing our episodes on Shakespeare and Postcolonial Theory, we wanted to turn to highlighting and amplifying the work of artists, activists, and...
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The Tempest: Wrap-Up
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we conclude our exploration of The Tempest by examining three distinct interpretations of Shakespeare’s final solo play. We begin with Julie Taymor’s 2010 film adaptation, featuring Helen Mirren as Prospera, and reflect on the criticism of it we read about in our episode, The Tempest: Patriarchy, Gender, and Power in Shakespeare’s Play. We then turn to The Globe’s 2013 stage production, directed by Jeremy Herrin, to discuss how its traditional staging...
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Mini: Interview with Ana Davis on My Keen Knife, a Young Adult Dark Fantasy Retelling of Macbeth
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we sit down with Ana Davis to discuss her debut novel, My Keen Knife. Set in a Portugal-inspired country, My Keen Knife follows three teenagers as they strive to achieve their foretold fates. We discuss Ana's inspirations for My Keen Knife, her writing process, and how her background in International Affairs influenced the world of her novel. We also discuss how Shakespeare's Macbeth weaves throughout the plot and the Macbeth Easter eggs she's hidden...
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The Tempest: Grimoires, Alchemy, and the Making of Prospero’s Art
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we begin by exploring how Prospero’s magic in The Tempest reflects early modern grimoire traditions—a form of ritual magic rooted in books, incantations, and precise ceremonial practice, especailly as compared to the types of magic we discussed in our Macbeth episodes. We examine how Shakespeare's depiction of Prospero's art, Prospero's relationship with Ariel, and the creation and disappearance of the masque parallel descriptions of grimoire magical...
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Mini: Shakespeare for Young Audiences with ML Roberts, Sean Patrick Nill, and Elyse Sharp of B Street Theatre’s NEVER FEAR, SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this mini-episode, we sit down with actor ML Roberts and co-playwrights Sean Patrick Nill and Elyse Sharp to talk about NEVER FEAR, SHAKESPEARE—a brand new Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) play premiering at Sacramento’s B Street Theatre. B Street is well known for its Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) programming, which brings high-quality, professional productions to children, families, and schools, making theatre accessible to the next generation. We dive into B...
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The Tempest: Caliban’s Legacy of Race, Class, and Colonialism
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. This episode explores Caliban’s role in The Tempest and the ways his character has been shaped by and interpreted through race, class, and colonialism. We begin with a close look at “the pinch” and unpack how Shakespeare’s audience would have understood its connections to resource scarcity and punishment. We then chart Caliban’s performance history from the 19th century to the early 1980s, revealing how shifting portrayals reflected cultural attitudes. We end...
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Mini: Court Masques and How They Shaped Shakespeare’s Plays
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this mini-episode, we explore the world of the Court Masque, a form of entertainment that flourished in the Tudor and Stuart courts. From its roots in medieval pageantry and music to its height as a vehicle for royal celebration and political display of wealth, the masque became a defining cultural event during Shakespeare's time. While Shakespeare never wrote a Court Masque, we will explore how Ben Jonson’s Hymenaei may have influenced Shakespeare's choices for...
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The Tempest: Patriarchy, Gender, and Power in Shakespeare’s Play
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we explore how The Tempest reflects—and at times challenges—patriarchal power structures in Shakespeare’s world and in its performance history. First, we examine how Prospero’s control over Miranda, Ariel, and Caliban reflects early modern ideas and debates about gender, political authority, and service. Then, we look at how changing the gender of Prospero reshapes the play’s dynamics, how productions across stage and screen have used gender...
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Mini: Making Shakespeare Accessible with Mike and Steph Crugnola of Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this mini episode, we’re joined by Mike and Steph Crugnola of Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project to talk about their mission to make Shakespeare more accessible—for both audiences and artists. We dive into the company’s flexible and innovative production models—including one rehearsal performances, collaborative directing, site-specific stagings, and immersive experiences—and how these approaches open up new ways of engaging with Shakespeare’s work. Steph and Mike...
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The Tempest: Travel Narratives, Cultural Encounters, and Shakespeare’s Inspirations
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. Did Shakespeare write The Tempest in response to a shipwreck, or was something bigger at play? In this episode, we explore the early modern travel narratives that many scholars believe inspired Shakespeare’s final solo play. We begin with lesser-known travel accounts that focus on cultural encounters in Russia, Southwest Asia, Central America, and India—narratives that shaped how early modern England imagined the world beyond Europe. Then we turn to one of the most...
info_outlineWant to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.
In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about early modern English nobility. Shakespeare’s history plays are about monarchs and royal lineages, and the world he was writing in was organized by ranks and degrees. So, we think it's important to talk about these pivotal ranks from kings to landed gentry.
And we want to acknowledge that this mini-episode is strictly focusing on the social ranks from the Crown down to the landed gentry. We will be discussing additional ranks and social classes of England in forthcoming episodes.
Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.
Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.
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Works referenced:
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "baron". Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 May. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/baron. Accessed 9 February 2025.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "duke". Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/duke. Accessed 9 February 2025.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "earl". Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 Jul. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/earl-title. Accessed 9 February 2025.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "marquess". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Sep. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/marquess. Accessed 9 February 2025.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "peerage". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Dec. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/peerage. Accessed 9 February 2025.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "viscount". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Jun. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/viscount. Accessed 9 February 2025.
Debrett’s, The Editors of. “The Baronetage.” Debretts, Debretts, 10 Dec. 2024, debretts.com/peerage/the-baronetage/.
Debrett’s, The Editors of. “Debrett’s Guide to the Ranks and Privileges of the Peerage.” Debretts, Debretts, 10 Dec. 2024, debretts.com/peerage/the-peerage/ranks-and-privileges-of-the-peerage/.
Debrett’s, The Editors of. “The Knightage.” Debretts, Debretts, 10 Dec. 2024, debretts.com/peerage/the-knightage/.
Ruggiu, François-Joseph . "Nobility and Gentry in the Early Modern Atlantic World". In obo in Atlantic History. 9 Feb. 2025. <https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199730414/obo-9780199730414-0408.xml>.
Wikipedia contributors. "Landed gentry." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 17 Jan. 2025. Web. 9 Feb. 2025.
Wikipedia contributors. "Social class in the United Kingdom." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Jan. 2025. Web. 9 Feb. 2025.
Zelazko, Alicja. "British nobility". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Jul. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/British-nobility. Accessed 9 February 2025.