Shakespeare Unlimited

"I, that am rudely stamped..." (Richard III, 1.1.16) Shakespeare not only talked about his own times; he also wrote history plays that showed us the past—though it was a past filtered through the politics and prejudices of Shakespeare's present. Questions about this came up recently when a body was found in a Leicester, England, parking lot. That body is now widely believed to be that of King Richard III. Among the many issues raised, along with that body, are questions about who the real Richard III was, versus the dramatic character that we've all come to know from stage and film. In search of that answer, Rebecca Sheir, host of our Shakespeare Unlimited series, talks with an expert on the historic Richard III, David Baldwin, and an expert on Shakespeare's Richard III, Michael Dobson. Meanwhile, historian Retha Warnicke explains the practical challenges of any research into Richard's long-ago time. David Baldwin is a medieval historian who has taught at the Universities of Leicester and Nottingham. His book "Richard III" was published by Amberley in 2012. Michael Dobson is Director of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham in England. Retha Warnicke is Professor of History at Arizona State University. ----------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul; Garland Scott, associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Thanks to Hannah Tucker at the University of Leicester for her help.

"All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players." (As You Like It, 2.7.146-147) In Shakespeare's time, only men appeared on stage, with teenage boys playing the women's parts. Today, women play women and sometimes men—and vice-versa. In this podcast we have gathered some of the best-known actresses in the Folger's home town, Washington, DC—Naomi Jacobsen, Cam Magee, Francelle Stewart Dorn, Victoria Reinsel, Charlene V Smith, and Holly Twyford—to talk about their experiences on stage with Shakespeare. The all-female staging of RICHARD III was produced for Brave Spirit Theater, with Jenna Berk as George, Duke of Clarence. First Murderer was Rachel Hynes; Second Murderer was Tina Renay Fulp. ---------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul; Garland Scott, associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. The music in the piece was composed and arranged by Lenny Williams. We had help gathering material for Shakespeare Unlimited from Amy Arden.

While Nelson Mandela was incarcerated on South Africa's Robben Island, one of the other political prisoners managed to retain a copy of Shakespeare's complete works, which was secretly circulated through the group. At that prisoner's request, many of the others—including Mandela—signed their names next to their favorite passages. As Shakespeare scholar David Schalkwyk, also a South African, explains to interviewer Rebecca Sheir, there is something special about "a book that had passed through the hands of the people who had saved my country." Schalkwyk shares some personal history and reveals what Shakespeare might have meant to the men who signed the Robben Island Shakespeare. David Schalkwyk is Professor of English at the University of Cape Town and, beginning in 2009, has served as Director of Research at the Folger Shakespeare Library and editor of "Shakespeare Quarterly." He is also the author of "Speech and Performance in Shakespeare’s Sonnets and Plays," "Literature and the Touch of the Real," and "Shakespeare, Love and Service." His most recent book, "Hamlet’s Dreams: The Robben Island Shakespeare," was published in February 2013. ---------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul; Garland Scott, associate producer.

“And I hope here is a play fitted.” —A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1.2.63) There's an old Broadway saying (sometimes attributed to Richard Rodgers) that "No one ever walked out of a theater humming the scenery." Nevertheless, costume and scenery designers can be vital to the success of a play. In this episode of the Shakespeare Unlimited series, Steve Martin talks with Denise Walen about the sweeping changes in costumes, scenery, and other staging choices in the 400 years since Shakespeare's time. From elaborate settings and carefully researched costumes that were meant to educate audiences, to modernist stripped-down sets or fanciful reimaginings, Shakespeare productions have long responded to the theater choices of their day. As for the future, Walen is sure: whatever changes lie ahead, Shakespeare's plays will still take the stage. Denise Walen is an associate professor in the Department of Drama at Vassar College. She was the curator of "Here Is a Play Fitted," a Folger Shakespeare Library exhibition. ------------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Written and produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Steve Martin is the former program director of WAMU public radio in Washington, DC.

"Freedom, high-day! High-day, freedom! Freedom, high-day, freedom!" —THE TEMPEST(2.2.192-193) In this second of two podcasts on Shakespeare and the African American experience, "Freedom, Hey-Day! Hey-Day, Freedom!" examines some of the many ways—including, but not limited to, performance—that black Americans have encountered, responded to, taken ownership of, and sometimes turned away from Shakespeare's words. Rebecca Sheir, host of the Shakespeare Unlimited series, narrates this expansive, interview-filled look at the intersection between African American life and Shakespeare, from stage productions to personal and academic encounters with the texts. Kim Hall is a professor of English at Barnard College. Caleen Sinnette Jennings is a professor of theater at American University in Washington, DC. Bernth Lindfors is professor emeritus of history at the University of Texas. Francesca Royster is a professor of English at DePaul University. Shane White is a professor of history at the University of Sydney in Australia. -------------------- From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. Produced for the Folger Shakespeare Library by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. Edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. We had help gathering material for the Shakespeare Unlimited series from Esther French. We also had help from Britta Greene and Anne Marie Baldonado at Fresh Air with Terry Gross, who gave us their 1987 recording of August Wilson. Original music composed and arranged by Lenny Williams. The title of this episode uses an alternate spelling ("hey-day") in quoting Caliban's exclamation; it is "high-day" in the Folger Digital Texts edition of THE TEMPEST.