PODCAST · performing
Sheldrake on Shakespeare
by James Sheldrake
James Sheldrake, jack of all literary trades, attempts to say something valuable about each of Shakespeare's plays in handy 15-minute instalments.
Episodes
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Hamlet – Rhetoric
In an unprecedented second episode on a play, Sheldrake examines the linguistic DNA of Hamlet and finds three rhetorical techniques that perform what Shakespeare is also doing with the big ideas in this play: Hendiadys, Metonymy and Synecdoche. Podcasting on Shakespeare is a profound pleasure…
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Richard III – Queen Margaret
In an episode dedicated to a great Shakespearean, Mr John Branston, Sheldrake drifts slightly from the one-play-one-idea tagline to focus on one character in this play: Queen Margaret. After her long march through the Henry VI plays, how does she wrest some control of the audience’s perspective...
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Special: Interview with RADA ex-Head of Voice Robert Price
Few people in the world will have spent as many hours working on the delivery and performance of Shakespeare as Robert Price. After a career as an actor, he was the Senior Voice Tutor at RADA 2007-15 and a voice tutor at LAMDA for many years. He therefore has huge experience with and a rare […]
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Hamlet – Is anything original?
In the first of two episodes on this mightiest of plays, Sheldrake compares the plot of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with its sources, uncovering a tremendous amount of ‘literary upcycling’ but also a profound and imaginative tribute to the power of theatre at the play’s core. First preview of Sheldrake…
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Why so popular?
In his return to the airwaves, Sheldrake considers the extraordinary popularity of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and concludes that it is the dark matter in the middle of this festive comedy sandwich that makes the play such a satisfying experience overall. iTunes Amazon Sheldrake on Shakespeare…
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Henry V – The Play, The Myth, The Legend
Henry V: one of the most patriotic characters and plays in all of literature, surely? Not so, says Sheldrake. Henry V and his world are thoroughly morally ambiguous. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Henry IV Part 2 – Learning to Play
How did people learn to act in the Renaissance? Did the texts themselves co-operate in teaching newish actors how to do certain things? Sheldrake thinks so.
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Henry IV, Part 1 – History and Personality
What to say about Henry IV Part 1? In the first of three main episodes, each of which will tackle one play in this Henriad, Sheldrake explores a play about history and personality, focussing on Prince Henry and his rival for glory Harry Hotspur. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Short SoS – Teaching Shakespeare
He claims no monopoly on wisdom in this area, but as an academic year draws to a close and the long vacation heaves into view, Sheldrake reflects on his experiences of teaching Shakespeare. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Troilus and Cressida – Shakespeare’s Ugliest Play
We associate Shakespeare with humanity, warmth, generosity and kindness when he writes about people who have made a wrong decision. Even Richard III at the beginning of his play tells us what a dreadful life he’s had until now. Troilus and Cressida is different. Shakespeare is merciless with his...
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Short SoS -Shakespeare and Evil
Thanks to a couple of nearby anniversaries, we are hearing more than ever not only what great theatre Shakespeare is, but also what a positive influence he is. By and large, this is true. But the commemorative coin has another side, which is Shakespeare’s repeated mobilisation by fascists…
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The Tempest – Infinite Variety
The Tempest is a difficult play to nail down. It is also the most reinterpreted and adapted of Shakespeare’s plays. In this episode, Sheldrake pursues three themes – Love, Power and Art – and examines how they have been reinterpreted over the centuries. Also available on iTunes:...
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Short SoS – Sheldrake on Jonson
Ben Jonson. Rival or friend of Shakespeare? Grumpy old bore or stout moralist? In a typical cop-out, Sheldrake thinks both caricatures are true. Jonson is an awkward playwright at the best of times, but his plays are well worth the seeing. Sheldrake gives you his personal top three. Also…
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The Merchant of Venice – Is it worth it?
We seem to spend much of our lives asking whether things are worth it. Are they worth the money, the time, the effort? Are we getting value for money? Is something worth it? And everybody in The Merchant of Venice seems to be asking that kind of question too. Venice itself seems to be all […]
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Second Thoughts about Measure for Measure @ RADA
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be leading a seminar at RADA on Measure for Measure. In preparing for that seminar I found myself disagreeing with much of what I said in my own podcast episode on the play. So here I rebut and refute many of my earlier claims. One of […]
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Othello – Perspective
It’s difficult to know what, and particularly who, to talk about in Othello. Iago is a distraction, Othello likes to inflate his own sense of himself, whilst Desdemona can seem even less than she is. Which is odd, because the characters too find themselves not quite knowing how to interpret what...
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Short SoS – Falstaff Again
Falstaff will exceed the bounds of whatever box you try to put him in, a truth I found out for myself in the last Short Sheldrake on Shakespeare. I return to complete some unfinished business on this occasion, finishing off some remarks about why Falstaff is so popular in the Henry IV plays and...
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Twelfth Night – Play on
Twelfth Night seems to be everyone’s favourite Shakespeare play. Why is this the case? Could it be something to do with the fact that it is a play about playing? This play is a hymn to the pleasure and virtue of playing and play wins over anti-play, though of course the real motto is that […]
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Short SoS – Why is Falstaff so popular?
Sir John Falstaff is a river who has burst his banks. He has taken on a life beyond Shakespeare’s plays and become a myth in his own right. Anybody who has a thirst for life is described as Falstaffian, he has had operas written for him, actors at the mature height of their comic powers […]
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King Lear and Service
King Lear is a work of obvious genius, so what to say about it in fifteen minutes that can illuminate it? Using the historical idea of service, and the relationship between service and – believe it or not – love, we can get a handle on all sorts of relationships in the play. And Sheldrake […]
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Sheldrake on Shakespeare Special – Amity with Globe Education
Globe Education is launching its new season, a rich array of theatrical and academic events culminating in a two-day conference next April. Sheldrake went along to the Globe to interview Dr Will Tosh to talk about the theme of the season, namely Amity, and some of the upcoming events, including...
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Short SoS – Performance History
We all have an image in our mind’s eye of Shakespearean performance during Shakespeare’s lifetime, but what happened between then and now? Why didn’t the Restoration court like Shakespeare? Who is David Garrick? For answers to all these questions and more, seek no further. Also available on…
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Short SoS – Genre
This is not the first time genre has been used as a critical tool for understanding Shakespeare’s process and plays, but Sheldrake – never one to dismiss an idea merely because it has been heard before – draws together some big ideas about comedy and tragedy and shows the way that Shakespeare...
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The Two Gentlemen of Verona – Reading across plays
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is not a play many people have read. Though were they to read it, they might think they have, because it reads like an anthology of Shakespeare in the 1590s. Sheldrake takes the opportunity to hold the mirror up to comedy by reading in parallel with Romeo and Juliet,...
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Short SoS – Shakespeare the Magpie
Shakespeare nicked stuff from everywhere; prose narratives, history books, other plays. Sheldrake rattles through a few of the old chestnuts and a few of the lesser-known borrowings, showing Shakespeare as a great adapter of stories. Subscribe on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Measure for Measure – A society play
In a resumption of normal service that is perhaps not quite the triumphant return he would like, Sheldrake confesses himself drawn more to the ideas of Measure for Measure than its drama. The discussions of Virtue and Justice in the play are strikingly front and centre, and the social aspects of...
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Short SoS – Shakespeare al fresco
A very great number of Shakespeare performances in Britain are conducted by amateur companies. People gathering together to do Shakespeare for fun. The open-air festival is a particularly popular brand of this. Sheldrake has been involved with the Pendley Shakespeare Festival for some time, and...
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Short SoS – Sheldrake on Marston
Testing the patience of listeners once again by talking about someone who isn’t Shakespeare, Sheldrake investigates the peculiar career of John Marston; satirist, dramatist, tragicomedian. He had some great successes, then there was a bit of a lean patch, then he appears to have thrown in the...
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Short SoS – Sheldrake on Marlowe
Sheldrake decides to put his money where his mouth is regarding Shakespeare’s contemporaries. Why should we care about Marlowe, both on his own terms and in relation to Shakespeare? Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Julius Caesar and the Soliloquy
The soliloquy is one of Shakespeare’s most recognisable and distinctive theatrical devices. It is in no small part responsible for his fame as a dramatist of human psychology. Was Julius Caesar the gateway in Shakespeare’s soliloquising art between the 1590s and the 1600s? Sheldrake takes a close...
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Short SoS – Play Dates
How do we know when Shakespeare wrote each of his plays? Well, there are several methods of dating a play. Sheldrake rattles through them, taking in a couple of 1590s Michael Billingtons along the way. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Sheldrake on Shakespeare Special – Read Not Dead at Shakespeare’s Globe
For many years, Globe Education has been staging performances with scripts of the plays of Shakespeare’s contemporaries in a series called Read Not Dead. They have worked their way through over 200 plays, but the opening of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse means they now have a permanent and splendid...
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Short SoS – Rehearsal and Performance
Attempts to reconstruct the original performance circumstances of Renaissance plays, either literally or imaginatively, have been a constant companion to fascination about the literature. How did these plays actually get put together? What was the process? Would the actors recognise the concept…
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Short SoS – The Drama of the Sonnets
Shakespeare’s Sonnets are things you nearly always read alone. But there is a rich seam of drama and conversation to be mined from them, as Sheldrake found recently when he saw them read aloud at the Royal Festival Hall. Subscribe on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Short SoS – Shakespearean Theatres
Where did the magic happen? We’ve all heard of the Globe, but what did it mean for a play to be written for one playhouse rather than another? And what, for that matter, did it mean for Shakespeare to be attached to the Globe for most of his career? Sheldrake gallops through some answers.…
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The Taming of the Shrew – Sexist drivel or a play for our time?
As social politics continue to change with gathering speed, works of literature have to catch up or fall by the wayside. The plays of Shakespeare, written in a very different age from our own, must be scrutinised. Does this play, a notorious battle of the sexes, pass the test? Sheldrake thinks…
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Short SoS – What use is Shakespeare criticism?
Turning introspective for a moment, Sheldrake considers what value Shakespeare criticism can be said to have. Subscribe on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Richard II – History or Tragedy?
Richard II has grown in fame in recent years, but is hounded by the fact that the central character is brilliant whilst the rest of the play is the usual run-of-the-mill History drama. But is it that simple? By paying closer attention, can we see that the true genius of this play is in its […]
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Short SoS – Venus and Adonis
The poetry of Shakespeare tends to be an “also-ran” in his canon, but Venus and Adonis tells us as much about his development and abilities as any of the plays. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Love’s Labour’s Lost – Four-mality
Form is almost absent from the modern critical radar, which has put Love’s Labour’s Lost on the back burner. In a courageous rear-guard action, Sheldrake tries to demonstrate the formal beauty of Love’s Labour’s Lost, and explains why that formal beauty matters. Also available on iTunes:...
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Timon of Athens – Shakespeare and the City
London was growing up fast in Shakespeare’s day. Whether you’re familiar with Shakespeare or not, Timon of Athens seems a very peculiar play. But armed with some context, its connection with Renaissance finance and city drama become apparent. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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The Merry Wives of Windsor – Words, Words, Words
The Merry Wives of Windsor is devoid of ideas, so let’s talk about language instead. And hear Sheldrake play five parts in fifteen minutes. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Short SoS – Shakespeare at School
If you think Shakespeare was a purely natural genius, the words spilling out from a free spirit of a mind, think again. Shakespeare’s rigorous education at school primed him in all sorts of crucial ways for his later career. Sheldrake explains how at breakneck speed. Also available on iTunes:...
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Henry VIII – Master and Apprentice
Henry VIII is a little known play, but it bears witness to John Fletcher’s apprenticeship to William Shakespeare. And perhaps it’s not that bad a play after all. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Macbeth – On the Construction Site
We are so used to some of Shakespeare’s plays that it can be very difficult to see their shape with clear eyes. Fusing historical context with an analysis of dramatic structure, Sheldrake takes Macbeth apart and puts it back together again, arguing that Shakespeare’s structural courage is what...
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Short SoS – Fast First Folio
Without the First Folio, half of Shakespeare’s plays would be lost. What was the process that led to this miraculous book? And how was it made? Sheldrake explains, briefly. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Romeo and Juliet – Self-Promotion Through Boring Lovers
Romeo and Juliet. Either you love it or you hate it. But might there be a middle road between those viewpoints that reveals the clever structuring of the play? Sheldrake investigates. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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Short SoS – Female Parts
In the first of a series of supplementary podcasts, Sheldrake talks about the boys who created Shakespeare’s female roles on-stage. Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm
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As You Like It – Why Going to the Theatre is Compulsory
As You Like It is liked by audiences, disliked by academics. What then does this tell us about how crucial performance is to the success of the text? Consequently, Sheldrake argues, engaging with the performance of this play and others should be not only a pleasure for the serious Shakespearean,...
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Titus Andronicus – The Shock of the New
Titus Andronicus is rarely read, seen, or heard, but it does not deserve this lack of reputation. Not only does it have much to recommend it artistically, it is also crucial to an understanding of Shakespeare’s development as a writer.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
James Sheldrake, jack of all literary trades, attempts to say something valuable about each of Shakespeare's plays in handy 15-minute instalments.
HOSTED BY
James Sheldrake
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Sheldrake on Shakespeare have?
Sheldrake on Shakespeare currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Sheldrake on Shakespeare about?
James Sheldrake, jack of all literary trades, attempts to say something valuable about each of Shakespeare's plays in handy 15-minute instalments.
How often does Sheldrake on Shakespeare release new episodes?
Sheldrake on Shakespeare has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Sheldrake on Shakespeare on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Sheldrake on Shakespeare?
Sheldrake on Shakespeare is created and hosted by James Sheldrake.
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