Bonus Episode: Interview with Kent Lehnhof on Voice and Ethics in Shakespeare’s Late Plays
Release Date: 06/04/2025
Bonus: Twelfth Night Wrap-up Redux
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. Back in 2021, we recorded our second ever wrap-up episode for our second play series: Twelfth Night. We both watched two versions of Twelfth Night: Trevor Nunn's 1996 film and She's the Man, then we also each watched an additional version. Kourtney watched the The Globe's 2012 production starring Mark Rylance, and Elyse watched National Theatre's 2017 production featuring Tamsin Greig. But then, tragedy struck when Kourtney went to edit the episode! The audio...
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Bonus: Revisiting Henry V and The Tempest
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. At the end of each year, we revisit the Shakespeare plays we covered over the past twelve months. We've gone back and re-read both Henry V and The Tempest, and we will discuss what has changed in our readings of these plays after completing our research as well as what we would like to see more (or less) of in future productions or research relating to these two plays. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is...
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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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In this bonus episode, we’re joined by Dr. Kent Lehnhoff to talk about his new book, Voice and Ethics in Shakespeare’s Late Plays. Together, we explore how Shakespeare uses the concept and qualities of human voice in The Tempest, Cymbeline, King Lear, Pericles, and The Winter’s Tale, how he writes for and about the voice, and beyond that, how embracing the unique voice of each character (and actor) can create a more ethical, inclusive theatre.
About Kent Lehnhof
Kent Lehnhof earned a BA from Brigham Young University and a PhD from Duke University. He is Professor of English at Chapman University, where he specializes in early modern literature and culture, especially the works of William Shakespeare. Dr. Lehnhof has published two dozen scholarly articles, has co-edited two essay collections, and is coming out with a new book in October titled Voice and Ethics in Shakespeare’s Late Plays. In this book and in many of his articles, Dr. Lehnhof treats Shakespeare’s plays like lively enactments of ethical philosophy. He believes that one of the things that makes Shakespeare’s work distinctly Shakespearean is its interest in exploring what it’s like to be in relation—what it’s like to be tied to other people, some of whom love you, some of whom hate you, and some of whom pay you no mind at all.
At present, Dr. Lehnhof is finishing a guidebook for Arden Shakespeare called Understanding Shakespeare’s Plays: A Candid Companion to All the Drama. This book goes through all the play, one by one, giving an overview of each and offering insights and analysis as to what it offers. Dr. Lehnhof only has six plays left to do, which means he’s getting down to the deep cuts. Timon of Athens, anyone?
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:
Lehnhof, Kent. Voice and Ethics in Shakespeare’s Late Plays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025. Print.