Ides of March Madness 2026 (Part 2)

After shocking upsets in last week's Rounds of 64 and 32, our Ides of March Madness tournament continues with a Sweet 16 consisting of Nick Bottom vs. Richard III, Beatrice vs. Sir John Falstaff, Juliet vs. Cassius, Marc Antony vs. Margaret, Aaron vs. Hamlet, Emilia vs. Prince Hal/Henry V, Lady Macbeth vs. Caliban, and Paulina vs. Viola. Judges DeeDee Batteast, Nate Cohen, Elizabeth Dennehy, Gregory Linington, and Austin Tichenor call it the way they see it and reveal how some unjustifiable seeding gets exposed when characters go head-to-head; how “the noblest Roman of them all” fares against a teenage girl from Verona; how Queen Margaret begins as Juliet; Aaron’s aristocratic origins; how the possibility of playing these characters with the Back Room Shakespeare Project became an important contributing factor; several come-from-behind victories when the outcome looked obvious; and how characters who appear across multiple plays have a decided(ly unfair?) advantage. Who will win the crown of Shakespeare's Best Character? Hear here! (Length 52:41) The post Ides of March Madness 2026 (Part 2) appeared first on Reduced Shakespeare Company.