Mini: Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet with Katherine Steele Brokaw and Elizabeth Freestone
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 Katherine Steele Brokaw and Elizabeth Freestone, authors of Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet, to talk about their work producing ecological Shakespeare. We discuss what it means to approach Shakespeare's plays through an ecological lens, how that thinking shapes the choices theatremakers make in rehearsal and production, and what inspired them to write a book on the subject. We also explore how Shakespeare's plays can...
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As You Like It: Women and Boys on Shakespeare's Stage
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we look at the women and boys whose performances shaped the depiction of women on Shakespeare's stage. We start in Italy, discussing the real actresses of the commedia dell'arte companies who originated the "diva" archetype, and consider how their influence may have shaped the writing and performance of Shakespeare's characters like Rosalind in As You Like It. We then look at the early modern English stage, where women were barred from performing, and examine...
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Mini: Text Coaching Shakespeare with Emily Jenkins
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 Emily Jenkins, Text Practitioner for Shakespeare's Globe Higher Education and a leading Shakespeare and acting coach for stage and screen. We discuss what a text coach actually does in the rehearsal process, how she works with actors to bring Shakespeare's language to life, and how she found her way into this specialized corner of theatre. We also talk about how she decided to start sharing Shakespeare tips on social media and built a thriving...
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As You Like It: The Ecology of Shakespeare's Forest of Arden
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 the ecology of Shakespeare's Forest of Arden and what the events of As You Like It might have meant to an early modern audience (and a certain playwright) living through real environmental and agricultural change that impacted the real Forest of Arden near Shakespeare's hometown. We look at how shifting agricultural practices in Shakespeare's England shape the play's depiction of land, labor, and pastoral life in the Forest of Arden. We then explore...
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Mini: Shrovetide in Shakespeare's England
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we are digging into the history of Shrovetide in early modern England. We've previously discussed Shrovetide as a possible date for the first production of As You Like It, but what did this holiday mean for the people of Shakespeare's time? We look at Shrovetide's origins as the last hurrah before the fasting and restraint of Lent to the customs that came to define it: feasting, football, cockfighting, pancakes, and festivals. We also look at where Shrovetide...
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As You Like It: A Deeper Look at Shakespeare's Pastoral Satire
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we examine Shakespeare's As You Like It as a piece of satire, one that pokes fun at the pastoral romantic comedy genre and the pastoral ideals so popular in early modern English court. We look at how Shakespeare undermines the tropes of the genre, subverts some of the negative stereotypes about country life that were common in the pastoral tradition, and what that suggests about his own relationship to the genre. We then turn to exploring further evidence that...
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Mini: Music and Songs in 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 week's episode, we explore the role of music and songs in Shakespeare's plays. We look at how songs were woven into the fabric of early modern culture, from tavern ballads to church liturgies to , and consider how this musical culture influenced the music of Shakespeare's plays. We'll also explain how scholars and historians have pieced together bits and pieces of information to discover what we know about which instruments were popular and what the popular music of...
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As You Like It: Touchstone and the Function of Shakespeare's Fools (Episode 150!)
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. In this episode, we turn our attention to Touchstone, the sharp-tongued clown who trades the court for the Forest of Arden. We begin by revisiting what we already know about fools in Shakespeare's plays and the real-life clowns and jesters of early modern England. This sets the stage for us to explore what makes Touchstone stand apart from the rest of Shakespeare's fools. We then dig into how Touchstone functions less as pure comic relief and more as a fun-house mirror for the...
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As You Like It: Stuff to Chew On
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. As we start off another one of Shakespeare's plays, we will first take a look at the themes, motifs, and production history of As You Like It in this Stuff to Chew On episode. This will provide a basis for future conversations as we dive deeper in later episodes. Think about it like As You Like It 101! Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Follow us on Instagram at ...
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As You Like It: Synopsis
Shakespeare Anyone?
Want to support the podcast? or As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you. It's time for our twelfth play! Today we are starting our series on Shakespeare's As You Like It with a synopsis episode. In this episode, we will provide a detailed summary of the plot, breaking down the action of the play scene by scene. Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp. Special thanks to Nat Yonce for editing this episode. Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander. For updates: Follow us on...
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 this wrap-up episode, we reflect on our exploration of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar by watching and discussing three distinct productions. We start with Phyllida Lloyd's ground-breaking 2012 all-female production at Donmar Warehouse, which sets the action of the play within a women's prison. Then, we explore The Bridge Theatre's 2018 production, directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Ben Whishaw and Michelle Fairley, which combined dynamic staging with a contemporary setting. Finally, we will discuss Shakespeare's Globe's 2014 production directed by Dominic Dromgoole and featuring Luke Thompson. As we discuss each of these productions, we will examine how their production choices illuminate the themes and story of Shakespeare's play.
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:
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Digital Theatre, https://www.digitaltheatre.com/watch/vod/37661691/julius-caesar. Accessed 2026.
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. National Theatre Live, https://www.ntathome.com/julius-caesar. Accessed 2026.
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar (2014). Shakespeare’s Globe, 2014, https://player.shakespearesglobe.com/productions/julius-caesar-2014/. Accessed 2026.