The First Folio has been called “incomparably the most important work in the English language.” Published in 1623, seven years after William Shakespeare’s death, and purportedly assembled by members of his theater company, the First Folio is t

Poet Ape, A Plagiarist Among the Playwrights

Dec 16th, 2012 57m 53s

Episode 6 with Sabrina FeldmanBen Jonson and other writers of Shakespeare’s time satirized a social-climbing playwright-actor who stole their words and passed them off as his own.In epigrams, stories, and plays they attacked this pretentious p

The Comedy of Othello: Commedia dell’Arte and Shakespeare the Genre-Bender

Sep 21st, 2012 57m 6s

Is Othello a comedy gone wrong? Richard Whalen reveals the surprising connections between Shakespeare's Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice and Commedia dell'Arte, the energetic, improvised street theater from 16th century Italy. Stock figur

The Apocryphal William Shakespeare: Episode 4 with Sabrina Feldman

Aug 2nd, 2012 56m 13s

What are the Shakespeare Apocrypha? And how do we explain the close ties between some of these plays and the works universally accepted as Shakespeare’s? Dramas like Locrine, The London Prodigall, the superhit Mucedorus, and others were attribu

Midsummer Monsieur - The French Court in Shakespeare

May 7th, 2012 1h 3m

Could A Midsummer Night's Dream contain allegorical references that satirize Queen Elizabeth's long & melodramatic courtship with the Duc of Alencon?Join Earl Showerman as we visit the court of Queen Elizabeth I in the 1570s. Statesmen, nobles

The Law in Hamlet

Dec 12th, 2011 1h 26m

Themes of law in Hamlet and Shakespeare's other plays and poetry. Can the intricacies of Elizabethan Law shed new light on the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark? In this fascinating interview with attorney Tom Regnier, we look at how Shakes

Where There's A Will

Oct 3rd, 2011 1h 1m

A look at William Shakespeare's Last Will & Testament. What what can we learn about what he owned, who he remembered, what he cared about? The most personal document remaining from the life of William Shakespeare is his Last Will & Testament.

Rate