The Shakespearean Shrew

Did Shakespeare actually write a couple that isn’t a dumpster fire? Miriam Worley and Dalten Hall are very convincing in their depiction of opposites-attract lovers Miranda and Ferdinand in OSP’s upcoming production of The Tempest. We dig into how to build chemistry on the stage and how, sometimes, bonding is as easy as complimenting a water bottle. Join us as we get amazing insights into these characters, the play as a whole, and perhaps a view of Shakespeare at the end of his career through the lens of Prospero and his relationship with the other characters in the play. Make sure you listen until the end for some amazing advice from Miriam as she prepares to head to LA after graduating from OU and Dalten as he prepares for his senior year at UCO and grad school. The Tempest opens June 11th and runs through the 28th. You are not going to want to miss this production or supporting these amazing actors. Synopsis (credit to OSP)Exiled sorcerer Prospero conjures a mighty storm to bring his usurping brother to the shores of his enchanted island. There, spirits, lovers, clowns, and conspirators collide in a world shaped by illusion and desire. As Miranda and Ferdinand discover first love, Ariel yearns for freedom, and Caliban plots rebellion, Prospero must choose between vengeance and forgiveness.Shakespeare’s final solo play weaves together magic, mischief, and reconciliation, guiding audiences toward a luminous ending where old wounds heal and new futures emerge.The arts are under attack, and buying theater tickets and books is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Tickets for OSP’s: The Tempest PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Intro/Outro Music: “Tangled”  by Nihilore: Creative Commons MusicThank you to our guests: Miriam Eleanor Worley and Dalten Hall Miriam Eleanor Worley (she/her) graduated with her BFA in Acting from the University of Oklahoma in May, where she was named the Van Heflin Award recipient, the Drama program's award for an outstanding senior. She is thrilled to be making her debut with Oklahoma Shakespeare following that accomplishment! Recent OU credits include: Body Awareness (Joyce), Waiting for Lefty (Florence), and The Realistic Joneses (Pony). She recently traveled to Austin, TX, for a featured role in the upcoming feature film, Dead Calm: The Movie! She is thankful to her family back in Philadelphia for their support of her dreams and to her professors at OU for instilling in her the confidence and competence to take on her first Shakespeare project and the professional world.Dalten Hall is currently portraying Prince Ferdinand in The Tempest at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park. He is a senior theatre major at the University of Central Oklahoma, and a long term Shakespeare fanatic. He believes everyone should come and see The Tempest if they can!

Romance is having a moment – and OSP is joining the ranks. Join the Brew Shrew, Michelle Coffman, as she returns to OSP to talk with Erin, Charli, and Jimmy about a brand new production How To Write A Regency Romance. They will be talking about what it means for the cast and audience  to “choose your own journey” and how this play will tell a story of a story. The actors talk about how this play as a reading is SLIGHTLY less terrifying as there is a prospect of many different routes that the play might take - what happens when the audience takes control and the actors must play it “as they like it”? They will talk about experimental theater and the importance of interaction between actors and audience. Buy Tickets for OSP’s: How to Write a Regency RomancePLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Intro/Outro Music: “Tangled”  by Nihilore: Creative Commons MusicThank you to our guests: Erin Woods, Charli Mai Henn, and Jimmy PikeErin Woods is a director, playwright, actress, and graphic designer with over 25 years’ experience in Oklahoma Theatre and beyond. Directing credits include Art for Oklahoma City Theatre Company, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Uncle Vanya for Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, and Pride and Prejudice, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Women, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses for Reduxion Theatre Company. As a playwright, Erin has written adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Tom Jones, and a holiday play often produced by Oklahoma Shakespeare: Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker. Charli Mai Henn (Millicent Gracestone) They/them. Charli is a Junior BFA Acting major with minors in Lighting and Directing at Oklahoma City University from Richardson, TX, and they are thrilled to be returning to OK Shakespeare! Recent credits include Hurricane Diane (Renee), Puffs (Megan Jones), Bellwether (Doll), Let The Right One In (Eli), June, July, August (Female Swing), & A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Slinky Boi). Enjoy the show!Jimmy Pike (Lord Henry Herbert 3rd Earl of Carnarvon, Mr. Snodgrass, Bartholomew Rudely, Him) was last seen on the garden stage in Shakespeare’s big 3 comedy M’s; Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Perhaps it’s in the cards to branch out of the alliterative alley he’s found himself in. Who’s to say? Playing teachers, preachers, and sometimes creatures, he is happy to have a home at Oklahoma Shakespeare; So happy in fact that he serves as a member of the board of directors. He is also a proud dad and an electrician.

What do you do when your superpower is writing sadness? Lean in! I had the delightful opportunity to talk with Chicagoan Mark Benson after reading his debut YA novel Isaac and the Sky. This novel is an exploration of the stars and grief, bridging together two worlds with the  telescope of Isaac’s murdered mother. It’s a novel full of authentic and imperfect characters that will keep you wondering if Isaac and Halley can ever escape their loss or if, like a black hole, they will get sucked into it. Mark likes Disney, NASA, talking about writing, Broadway musicals, animals, and Shakespeare - we are now best friends (he just doesn’t know it yet). We discuss NASA legends (two of whom he KNOWS) and how his life experiences have impacted his writing. In this episode, Mark gives us some important advice about writing (he’s written 12 - or maybe 13 - books–you know it’s impressive when you’ve lost count), tells us about his process (which is amazing and a method I have never heard of before), and talks about how to make important connections with other writers. Who else will understand when your characters mutiny? We discuss the publishing industry and the complexities within, which is important for every aspiring author to understand. He also explains why we should NEVER take advice from Yoda. This is a conversation you are not going to want to miss. The arts are under attack, and buying theater tickets and books is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Isaac and the Sky and follow Mark Benson on Instagram: waysidewriter Buy Tickets for OSP’s: How to Write a Regency RomancePLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Intro/Outro Music: “Tangled”  by Nihilore: Creative Commons MusicThank you to our guest, Mark Benson Mark Benson grew up in Chicago’s south suburbs before heading to Marquette University, with the hopes of becoming a doctor. Turns out, he’s no good at the medical sciences.He became an English major, fell in love with writing and editing, and has been doing both ever since. After a couple decades running the family business — the World’s Largest Laundromat in Berwyn — he decided to bet on himself: he’s now a travel advisor specializing in Disney vacations and a restaurant host. But despite multiple career paths (including as a USPTA tennis instructor and a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador), he’s always found his way back to writing.He’s passionate about emotional stories, and loves writing novels and stage plays. Check out all of his books.Today, he lives with his wife and kids in Forest Park, Ill.

Today I am joined by two amazing women: Margaret Upchurch and Naomi Love as they prepare for their upcoming performance of Aphra Behn’s The Rover. What’s it like to be the first professional female playwright? To have to make up a husband in order to have some kind of social standing? To kill off said fictional husband in the plague? Meet Aphra Behn. There are many mights and maybes surrounding the mythical Behn but the certainty is that, as Virginia Wolf said, “All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, which is, most scandalously but rather appropriately, in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” And while I do suggest that pilgrimage, for those who would like to stay closer to home, there is no better way to pay your respects than to go support her work and the work of other women. What’s it like to be a woman in the theater industry? To face a shortage of substantive roles? To be cast not only on your performative abilities but your body type, your hair style, your height? Does this happen to men too? Of course, but today, as Aphra Behn dictates and I second, it is about the women. We talk about finding opportunity or, as Aphra Behn did, creating their own. We discuss the politics imbedded in academic institutions and the hard lessons these women have learned along their journey. We talk about taking on roles where that push them out of their typical roles and comfort zones. Support Aphra Behn’s work - ESPECIALLY if you have never heard of her - and support these two amazing women as they grace the OSP stage as the leading ladies, Hellena, the anti-nun, and Florinda, who none of us can believe doesn’t want to become a nun by the end of the play. OSP is hosting a performed reading of Aphra Behn’s The Rover with a limited showing April 10th-12th. It’s an intimate, indoor theater so get your tickets soon!The arts are under attack, and buying tickets and books is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Tickets for OSP’s: The RoverPLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Intro/Outro Music: “Tangled”  by Nihilore: Creative Commons MusicThank you to our guests, Naomi Love and Margaret UpchurchNAOMI LOVE (Hellena) is excited to return to Oklahoma Shakespeare for her second performance! AT OSP: Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker. OTHER THEATRE: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, Oklahoma Children's Theatre; Pillar of Fire, Theatre Crude Fringe Festival; Be Aggressive, Being Enough, Play in a Day, Oklahoma City University. FILM: 10 Weeks, Red Not Blue, The Ghost of Methodist Hall, Pace Yourself. ADDITIONAL CREDITS: Scare Actor, Dead Mans Crossing Haunted Attraction. Character Actor, Fairytale Balls 2024-26. She is a Junior Acting major at OCU, currently working towards a B.F.A. Follow Naomi’s acting on TikTok and IG @naomi.ie.loveMargaret Upchurch (Florinda) is looking forward to making her Oklahoma Shakespeare debut in The Rover! She is currently a Sophomore BFA Acting student at OCU. Previous work at OCU includes When We Were Young and Unafraid (Penny, Out of the Box) and The Children’s Hour (Karen/Mary Swing, Studio Series). She would like to thank her family and friends for their consistent support and love, and God for His guidance. She hopes you enjoy the show!

Spoiler Alert! This week we are once more talking to fabulous director and professor Lance Marsh as he takes on a performed reading of Aphra Behn’s The Rover with a limited showing April 10th-12th. We will talk about what the reading will entail,  the maybes and possibilities of Aphra Behn, her position as the first professional female playwright, and the women she wrote in The Rover, and the similarities between the productions and personas of Behn and Shakespeare. We will talk about her adaptations from Thomas Killigrew’s unpublished work and March’s adaptations for the upcoming production at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park. It’s 1985 Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale and things are gonna get wild. We also talk about cuts (this was after all a two part play when it was first published) and how to cut while still maintaining authorial intent. We will be talking about the plot of the play AND *trigger warning* the four instances of assault within the play. Note: Marsh cut the severity of those scenes so, viewers, the reading should not be triggering. This is a comedy by a woman about women and the monetization of women in the 17th century. It’s going to get real. Synopsis: Watch as sisters, Florinda (wife to be) and Hellena (nun-to-be), fight the patriarchy and religion(archy), to find their own paths amidst, and within, the upheaval of Carnival (or Spring Break), and have to define themselves amongst the blanket categorization of women as virgins or whores. They will have to navigate between the honorable men (stay gold, Belvile) and the flavors of bad (bad boys, controlling family members, to real POSs - and the lines are squidgy!) to find the guy that will allow them the life they choose. Remember, it’s the 17th century, even Aphra Behn had to make up a husband. The arts are under attack, and buying tickets and books is a great way to show your support and fight back. As promised, here is a link to Siouxsie and the Banshees’ song https://music.apple.com/us/song/cities-in-dust/1443842139 and the playlist is AMAZING. Buy Tickets for OSP’s: The RoverPLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Intro/Outro Music: “Tangled”  by Nihilore: Creative Commons MusicThank you to our guest, D. Lance Marsh. D. LANCE MARSH (he/him/his) is proud to be serving in his seventeenth year as an Associate Artistic Director for Oklahoma Shakespeare and in his twentieth year at TheatreOCU, where he serves as a Professor and Head of Performance (and briefly as an Acting Associate Dean). For OSP, he has acted in Hamlet, Emma and Blythe Spirit, and The Merry Wives of Windsor and directed Misalliance, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Merchant of Venice, A Comedy of Errors, The Seagull, Othello, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, Blythe Spirit, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, GB Shaw’s You Never Can Tell, and Much Ado About Nothing. A proud member of Actors Equity, he has performed in the City Rep productions of Our Town, Hay Fever, Moonlight and Magnolias, August: Osage County, Much Ado About Nothing and as Mark Rothko in Red and in Peter and the Starcatcher. His most recent projects include playing the role of Sam Byck in Assassins, Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, and Ebeneezer Scrooge (twice) in A Christmas Carol at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.

Do you ever wonder what it takes to be an author? Do you want to find out? Join me this week as I talk with author Luke Swanson about a few of his books and what it has taken to get his work from the idea to the published page. We’ll talk about how social media and AI impact writers and the hidden  cost of writing. We also get to discuss metatextuality, so be prepared to throw that term at some unsuspecting victim and why we, as writers and readers, tend to return to the stories we love. We talk quite a bit about The Other Hamlet Brother because….Shakespearean Shrew, and we’ll discuss anachronisms (concepts out of their time), the amalgamation of characters from all of Shakespeare’s plays, and what Shakespeare would have thought of this beautiful bastardization of his works. As a Shakespearean, I admit, I started the book with some hesitance but it constantly surprised me (and made me snort hot tea), so give it a shot and I’m sure it will do the same for you! Below are links to a few of Luke Swanson’s books discussed in the episode. The Other Hamlet BrotherSpectators of WarCurtains on A Christmas CarolReminders: **Just a reminder that you have one more week to complete the challenge from our first episode to win a signed copy of Kestral Gaian’s The Boy From Elsewhere. This is the last weekend to see The Importance of Being Earnest at OSP ending March 1st. The arts are under attack, and buying tickets and books is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Tickets for OSP’s: The Importance of Being Earnest — Oklahoma ShakespearePLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Intro/Outro Music: “Tangled”  by Nihilore: Creative Commons MusicThank you to our guest Luke Swanson. Luke Swanson was raised on a steady diet of stories. He is the author of full-length fiction as well as a handful of published short stories. Each of his novels has dabbled in a new genre: murder mystery, fantasy adventure, action thriller, dystopian satire, and cozy mystery…so far. He has also adapted three of his works in screenplays, one of which was a finalist in two online festivals. He lives with his wife in Oklahoma City.

**Clarification: these ladies are not cousins and nor do they kiss. Today we get to talk to Amanda Kohutek and Ella Martin about their experiences as best friends being double cast as Gwedolen in The Importance of Being Earnest, their concerns with the current obstacles confronting the arts, and their way of overcoming those obstacles. And what happens when you end up kissing your cousin?! We’ll talk about energy between cast members, what they learned from the more experienced members of the cast, and the different approaches they took towards call backs. Get ready to get some insight into the production, cast, changing locations, and secrets of the stage. The Importance of Being Earnest is running at OSP from February 19th to March 1st. If you are looking for a Valentine’s Day present that sparkles, look no further than this romantic comedy. Also, with two different casts, you can see the same (but very different) show twice! Synopsis: Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated comedy sparkles with wit, charm, and razor-sharp satire. The Importance of Being Earnest follows two young gentlemen, Jack and Algernon, who create elaborate double lives to escape social obligations and pursue romance. But when their deceptions collide, the result is a whirlwind of mistaken identities, outrageous revelations, and Wilde’s trademark epigrams that still dazzle over a century later.Audiences are treated to a delightful romp through Victorian society, where cucumber sandwiches, handbags, and the pursuit of “earnestness” become hilariously entangled. Beneath the laughter lies Wilde’s clever critique of class, marriage, and the absurdities of social convention.The arts are under attack, and buying tickets and books is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Tickets for OSP’s: The Importance of Being Earnest — Oklahoma ShakespearePLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Intro/Outro Music: “Tangled”  by Nihilore: Creative Commons MusicThank you to our guests: Amanda Kohutek and Ella F. MartinElla Martin (Gwendolen) She/her. Ella is a senior BFA Acting major with a minor in Digital Film and Media at Oklahoma City University from Fort Worth, Texas. Recent credits include The Children’s Hour, Bellwether, and Shakespeare’s Other Women.Amanda Kohutek (Gwendolen) she/her. Amanda is a senior BFA Acting major with a minor in Directing at Oklahoma City University, and is from Arlington, Texas. Recent credits include Feline Fighters (OCU), Charlotte's Web (OCT), and She Stoops to Conquer (OCU). 

Let’s get Wilde – Oscar Wilde! (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.) This episode allows me the opportunity to talk to amazing director, actor, and human Lance Marsh as we delve into directing not one cast but TWO in the co-production of The Importance of Being Earnest. We discuss the difference between directing and acting in a production, why Marsh is directing The Importance of Being Earnest once again and why he decrees it the all-time funniest play. We talk about the tragic history of Wilde and how it might impact Wilde’s comedy and our reception of the play. We discuss the similarities and differences between Shakespeare and Wilde, the outrage of a society when you take them out of their comfort zone, and maybe even talk about a certain halftime show. **Listen up as Head of Performance from Oklahoma City University gives some important advice to all our auditioning actors out there on how to get the part - especially when returning for call backs. This show is running at OSP from February 19th to March 1st. If you are looking for a Valentine’s Day present that sparkles, look no further than this romantic comedy. Also, with two different casts, you can see the same (but very different) show twice! Synopsis: Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated comedy sparkles with wit, charm, and razor-sharp satire. The Importance of Being Earnest follows two young gentlemen, Jack and Algernon, who create elaborate double lives to escape social obligations and pursue romance. But when their deceptions collide, the result is a whirlwind of mistaken identities, outrageous revelations, and Wilde’s trademark epigrams that still dazzle over a century later.Audiences are treated to a delightful romp through Victorian society, where cucumber sandwiches, handbags, and the pursuit of “earnestness” become hilariously entangled. Beneath the laughter lies Wilde’s clever critique of class, marriage, and the absurdities of social convention.The arts are under attack, and buying tickets and books is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Tickets for OSP’s: The Importance of Being Earnest — Oklahoma ShakespearePLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Intro/Outro Music: “Tangled”  by Nihilore: Creative Commons MusicThank you to our guest, D. Lance Marsh. D. LANCE MARSH (he/him/his) is proud to be serving in his seventeenth year as an Associate Artistic Director for Oklahoma Shakespeare and in his twentieth year at TheatreOCU, where he serves as a Professor and Head of Performance (and briefly as an Acting Associate Dean). For OSP, he has acted in Hamlet, Emma and Blythe Spirit, and The Merry Wives of Windsor and directed Misalliance, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Merchant of Venice, A Comedy of Errors, The Seagull, Othello, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, Blythe Spirit, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, GB Shaw’s You Never Can Tell, and Much Ado About Nothing. A proud member of Actors Equity, he has performed in the City Rep productions of Our Town, Hay Fever, Moonlight and Magnolias, August: Osage County, Much Ado About Nothing and as Mark Rothko in Red and in Peter and the Starcatcher. His most recent projects include playing the role of Sam Byck in Assassins, Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, and Ebeneezer Scrooge (twice) in A Christmas Carol at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.

Welcome back! Season three is under way and we are starting out with a bang with British author Kestral Gaian, novelist, playwright, poet and professional over thinker. Join us as we discuss Gaian’s new book The Boy From Elsewhere and their poetry from their collection, Tubelines, along with genre, the politics of language, time (and how the construct almost changed completely), and authentic LGBTQ+ characters. Is kissing a political action? Is someone’s identity an attack on someone else? We’ll talk about the human propensity to put words and people in boxes - the human need to define the undefinable. How are you defined? Who defines you? How would you redefine yourself? There is a challenge in this episode that can win you a signed copy of Kestral Gaian’s new book The Boy From Elsewhere so listen up, post the challenge, you can just post it on social media OR email it to us at [email protected], and tag three people who you think would want to complete the challenge. Find out more about Kestral Gaian’s work at: https://kestr.al/Purchase The Boy From ElsewherePurchase TubelinesThe arts are under attack, and buying tickets and books is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Tickets for OSP’s: The Importance of Being Earnest — Oklahoma ShakespearePLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Intro/Outro Music: “Tangled”  by Nihilore: Creative Commons MusicThank you to our guest: Kestral Gaian Kestral Gaian is an author, poet, and playwright whose work refuses to sit neatly inside a box. Their writing inhabits the places where genres overlap and come undone: the personal and the political, the digital and the human, the soft and the furious. Kestral’s work is defined by a deep belief that stories can help us practise being better humans. Or at least weirder, kinder ones.Kestral's background is wide ranging, from psychotherapy to technology to community activism, and this diversity infuses their art. Audiences and readers often describe being moved not just by what Kestral writes, but by how it feels to inhabit the worlds they create: playful, thoughtful, deeply human.Whether writing poetry, plays, lyrics, or fiction, Kestral Gaian is committed to work that challenges, delights, and endures. Their voice is one of defiance and tenderness, of systems questioned, and of humanity held close.

Why bother saying something if it’s impossible to understand? Join me as I talk to Mitch Laman, poet and academic, as he explains mediums, language, and genre and why we should push boundaries in the disciplines we work in and perhaps even the spaces in society that we inhabit. Find out how the conditions and creation of our language impacts our everyday lives. So let’s take a look at the edge of things.Find Mitch’s work on Instagram: @mitchpoetics Send me and Mitch your weird, impossible poetry or just write it and keep it for yourself! #writeyourweirdThe arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Tickets: Jane Austen's Christmas Cracker — Oklahoma ShakespearePLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guest: Mitch LamanMitch Laman is a poet and professor based out of Norman, Oklahoma. Instagram: @mitchpoetic

Join writer and director Erin Woods and improv and music director Amanda Lee along with Brew Shrew Michelle Coffman as we talk coffee, ice cream, improv, and holiday traditions. This conversation is quite the romp so come frolic through the conversations with us and join us at OSP from the Jane Austen Christmas Cracker from December 4th through the 21st. There is also a Brunch with Jane Austen and friends on December 14th before the matinee show to celebrate Jane Austen’s 250th birthday.  In the comments, please let us know which Disney or Austen character you would be or meet. ORWhat is your favorite smutty book? We need recommendations….The arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Tickets: Jane Austen's Christmas Cracker — Oklahoma ShakespearePLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests: Erin Woods and Amanda Lee Erin Woods is a director, playwright, actress, and graphic designer with over 25 years’ experience in Oklahoma Theatre and beyond. Directing credits include Art for Oklahoma City Theatre Company, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Uncle Vanya for Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, and Pride and Prejudice, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Women, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses for Reduxion Theatre Company. As a playwright, Erin has written adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Tom Jones, and a holiday play often produced by Oklahoma Shakespeare: Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker. Look for a workshop of her upcoming work: on a new play (not an adaptation!) based on her favorite book genre called How to Write a Regency Romance coming in 2026. (Bridgerton fans are gonna love it!)Amanda Lee worked as a performer all over the country and the world for 10 years before settling down in 2014 in Norman, OK near her hometown of Noble. She can now be seen onstage with Whodunit Dinner Theater and occasionally at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park where she also directs and music directs for various productions. Amanda has a degree in music theater from the University of Central Oklahoma which has somehow also garnered her entry into the world of broadcasting as she can currently be heard in the mornings on KJ103 as a co-host on the show TJ, Amanda, and JRod In the Morning. Amanda also runs a Facebook page called The Central Oklahoma Theatre Calendar where she updates her followers on which shows are playing on which stages all over the central Oklahoma region. She is passionate about supporting theater and the arts. 

Join David Weber, friend, clown, professor, director, and amazing human, and the Shrew as we talk about not only the stages of a play but the stages of recovery in terms of sobriety and surgery. What does it take to heal? What does it take to push past our own boundaries? Can we even push the boundaries when we are in debt to our jobs, to the economy, and socially indebted? What happens to our communities when the clown cannot afford to push back? We will discuss the inherent discomfort that is part of life and the hope that audiences and students alike will play along. So when David Weber asks, “Shall we dance?” Do yourself a favor – get up and dance! So join David Weber for 70 minutes of joy, laughter, and redemption in An Actor’s Carol: One Clown’s Dickensian Marathon Towards Redemption on November 28th or 29th at 8pm at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park. Just maybe you will walk away with your why. Maybe you will walk away just a little braver. The arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. Buy Tickets: An Actor's Carol — Oklahoma ShakespearePLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guest DAVID WEBERDavid Weber is an actor, director, and acting teacher.  He was last seen on stage in Merry Wives of Windsor at Oklahoma Shakespeare as Master Ford and this winter he will once again take his acclaimed one man show, “An Actor’s Carol: One clown’s Dickensian marathon towards redemption” on a national tour this November and December 2025.  He has been on the artistic and educational staff at Stagedoor Manor for three years, and he loves teaching and directing for that community.  He is also a proud member of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers and has an MFA in Acting from California State University Long Beach where he studied acting pedagogy under the direction of Alexandra Billings, Hugh O’Gorman, Ezra LeBank, Dr. Shanti Pillai, and Andrea Caban. David is on the performance faculty at Oklahoma State University as an Assistant Professor of Performance where he teaches BFA Acting, BFA Musical Theatre, and BA Theatre students Acting levels, Auditions, Special topics in Comedy, Movement for the Actor, and Contemporary Performance Techniques. www.davidrweber.com  #gopokes

Are you an author? Do you want to be? Listen up for tips and how to find a writer community as we talk with Charles Martin about his new book and the foundation and future of Literati Press. With a dismal education ranking, Oklahoma can feel like a literary desert but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Oklahoma City has become a bookstore oasis for book lovers with many independent bookstores each with an identity of its very own. And now, we can boast the first bookstore in the state that is publicly owned by a co-op of writers and readers. Charles Martin, founder and creative director of Literati Press, is stepping aside as owner to promote the legacy and longevity of the beloved Paseo bookstore. As both an avid reader and writer, Martin will still be a big part of Literati. In fact, he just published a new novella In a Town Where All Things Are Possible. This book is a delightful mystery filled with hope and, of course, possibility, but possibility comes with a price. If you are looking for all the answers, keep looking. True to life, this book brings more questions than answers, but they are questions that are worth pondering and stories that continue on long after the last page. If you are looking for a present, preparing for the holidays, or just love a great book (and love it even more when it’s signed), signed books will always be the way to a book lover’s heart. Charles Martin will be signing his magical book during the Paseo First Friday event THIS Friday, November 7th and next month on December 5th. The arts are under attack, and buying books from independent bookstores is a great way to show your support and fight back. Learn more about Literati: https://www.literatipressok.com/PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guest CHARLES MARTIN.

Keeping it all in the family, yeah, always a creepy aspect of royal families, but how does a fraternal relationship off stage impact a familial relationship on stage? Is the competition real, an act, or something in between? How do actors find camaraderie and community in spite of, or perhaps because of, the fierce competition for roles? Find out in this episode as we sit down to talk with fan (and shrew) favorite Justin Marlow, and bright, shiny, and new faces to OSP and seniors at OU, Ethan Walker and Granger Lusk. We’ll also talk about the sibling dynamics in The Lion in Winter: the momma’s boy, his father’s son, and of course, the middle child. Each of these actors learned under Alissa Branch, our queen, so we’ll get the inside scoop into what it’s like transitioning from student to peer. Please come see The Lion in Winter at OSP opening October 9th and closing the 19th. See the links below for tickets to the show, Tim Grimm’s #1 Folk song “Broken Truth,” and tickets to Theatre Crude’s performances playing through the 11th. The arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. Broken Truth by Tim GrimmBuy Tickets — Oklahoma Shakespeare: The Lion in Winter Theatre Crude TicketsPLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests ETHAN WALKER, GRANGER LUSK, and JUSTIN MARLOW. Ethan Walker is a BFA Performance major at the University of Oklahoma's Helmerich School of Drama. Previous credits include: Julius Caesar, Waiting for Lefty, Radium Girls, and Marie Antoinette (University of Oklahoma) Lascaux, D.D.M.C. (Co.llective Arts Productions) and Twelfth Night (Shakespeare Everywhere). Ethan is thrilled to be making his Oklahoma Shakespeare debut, and wants to thank his family and his friends for their unwavering support and love!Granger Lusk is an Actor and Educator from Houston, TX. He is currently pursuing his BFA in Acting from the University of Oklahoma and cannot wait to graduate in May '26. Some of his previous works include William, As You Like It; Joe, Waiting for Lefty; and Adrian, oh, to be pure again (collegiate premier) at the University of Oklahoma. You can see him next as the director of The Effect by Lucy Prebble this spring at OU. Granger would like to thank his family and friends for their constant support. As well as the cast, crew, and creative team for this amazing opportunity. BOOMER SOONER! @grangerluskJustin Marlow: Originally from Los Angeles, California. Graduate from the University of Oklahoma with a BFA in drama. Credits include Oklahoma Shakespeare: Born with Teeth, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Much ado about Nothing, Midsummer Night’s dream, Christmas Cracker, Hamlet, Emma, and Shakespeare in Love  University: Burn This, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Great Expectations, and Red Bike Film: Ultraviolet, The Squatter, Waiting on You, and, Unkind Insta: @Justinmichaelmarlow

Two husband and wife duos in a row! This episode we talk to actor Tiffany Tuggle and Wil Rogers, actor and writer of MacDeath. (Yes, those are their real names - I asked.) We talk about balancing family and acting, relationships on and off the stage, superstition on the stage. Warning: Do not say Macbeth in front of Wil in the theatre or you’ll be spinning outside the theatre, spitting, cursing, and begging for reenterance. So, let’s see what it looks like when you “screw your courage to the sticking place” and mess with Mackers. The arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. See the links below for tickets to MacDeath’s performances in coordination with Theatre Crude. Thursday, October 2 at 7:00pWednesday, October 8 at 10:00pFriday, October 10 at 8:30pSaturday, October 11 at 4:00pAt 3rd Act Theatre CompanyThe Shoppes at Northpark12000 N. MayOKC, OK 73120Please come see The Lion in Winter at OSP opening October 9th and closing the 19th.Theatre Crude TicketsBuy Tickets — Oklahoma Shakespeare: The Lion in Winter PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests Wil Rogers and Tiffany Tuggle. Wil Rogers is a writer and theatre artist based in Oklahoma City. He will soon finally be a Theatre minor graduate of the University of Central OK, where years ago he was in a KC/ACTF 1st Alternate to Nationals production of Nicky Silver's Pterodactyls. Among many short plays, he also wrote an adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin, and an OK Museum of Art commissioned play The Beginning of Rome, all for OK Children's Theatre, where he acted and directed for 10 years. Favorite directing credits include Into The Woods, Godspell Jr, Barefoot in the Park, The Complt Wrks of Shkspr (Abridged) '14 & '16 (a show he's acted in 3 times), and Sam Shepard's Savage Love & Tongues. Favorite roles include Oklahoma Shakespeare: 19 seasons in roles like Antony, Benedick x3, Pertruchio, Mercutio, Malvolio, Enobarbus, a few Dukes, Demetrius, Lysander, Oberon, Bottom, d'Artagnan, Malcolm, Le Bret, Willoughby, Claudius, Lady Davenant et al in Or, by Liz Duffy Adams, Saturninus, Master Ford, Longaville, and many years in one mainstage production and touring versions as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol - which inspired a one-man staged-reading version that he tours to libraries, assisted living, and retirement villages for the past three years. He's trained in stage combat, including fencing and gun safety from many years in a wild west stunt show and a touring production playing Hamlet.Tiffany Tuggle has worked with theatres all over the metro. Shakespeare audiences might remember her as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream or Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing. Fresh off her run as Maggie in Tennesee William's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Jewel Box Theatre, you can currently catch her at The Boom playing Janet in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. She has also been seen in numerous musicals and shows such as Laughter on The 23rd Floor at The Pollard Theatre in Guthrie, where for several years, she's played roles in A Territorial Christmas Carol. Tiffany has a Bachelors in Theatre from SWOSU.

Is acting like riding a bike? Like doing yoga after not stretching for a few years? In this episode, I get the opportunity to talk with Alissa Branch and Tim Grimm, two amazing actors, artists, and humans who haven’t tread the boards in a few years and see what their comeback really feels like as they prepare for The Lion in Winter opening October 9th at OSP. We also discuss collaborative efforts on the stage and as a married couple, the impact of art across mediums, and the consequences of technology reliance on art. Please come see The Lion in Winter at OSP opening October 9th and closing the 19th. See the links below for tickets to the show, Tim Grimm’s #1 Folk song “Broken Truth,” and tickets to Theatre Crude’s opening performances. The arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. Broken Truth by Tim GrimmBuy Tickets — Oklahoma Shakespeare: The Lion in Winter Theatre Crude TicketsPLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests Tim Grimm and Alissa Branch. ALISSA BRANCH is a theatrical and visual artist based in Norman, OK, where she serves as Associate Professor of Acting in the Helmerich School of Drama. Favorite directing credits include Oklahoma Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet(2023), Pride and Prejudice (2022); Phoenix Theatre: The Circumference of a Squirrel; Butler University: The Dreaming of The Bones (with subsequent tour of Southern Ireland). OU University Theatre: Twelfth Night, Arcadia, Summer and Smoke, Clybourne Park, Mary Stuart, Julius Caesar; OU Lab Theatre: Proof (2023), Miss Evers’ Boys (KCACTF Region 6 Director’s Choice Award, and Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa), Anna in the Tropics; 9 Parts of Desire (KCACTF Region 6 Director’s Choice Award). Alissa also directed the regional premiere of the new play Shakespeare’s Other Women, which received Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 6 awards for Outstanding Work with Heightened Text, and Excellence in Ensemble Acting. Alissa recently created and released a 12-episode video master class for The Great Courses Plus called “Shakespeare: From Page to Stage.” Alissa is also a painter. She and her partner, singer-songwriter Tim Grimm, share a small visual art gallery called Black Chalk Studio. Visit www.alissabranch.com to learn more.Tim Grimm is a bit of a Renaissance man in the performing arts world, forging a rich and varied career that blends his love of songwriting, travel, and acting in theatre, film and television. For most of his 25-year career as a storytelling balladeer in the tradition of John Prine, Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan, Tim has written primarily about community, history, family, and social issues - often framed by his strong sense of place and the many years he spent on the family farm he built in rural Indiana. His songs are filled with rural characters and landscapes, written and sung with vivid warmth and intimacy.  

In a political war rife with ugly rhetoric, Alix Golden brings a “new” weapon to the table: song. In this episode, we are talking to actor and writer of the new show Belters–where the broads of Broadway take on Fascism. Join us as we talk about the importance of theater, music, immigrants, religion, and divorce. Listen to how Alix wrote this production from the inside out - being part of the production as she is creating it, and finding the external pressure to fight against the powers of procrastination. And be on the look out for Alix’s next show, There’s a Penis in There Somewhere. Just kidding…maybe…Alix, make it happen. So everyone, go see Belters this October at 3rd Act Theater:October 4th: 5:30pmOctober 5th: 1pm October 10th: 5:30pmOctober 11th: 2:30pm And let me know how many shows you get to on the Theatre Crude list! Get tickets here: Theatre Crude TicketsThe arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guest Alix Golden. Alix Golden (Writer/Zsa Zsa) is a graduate of Classen SAS where she studied theatre with Terry Veal and Michael Payne. She attended Adelphi University to earn her BFA in theatre. As a student, she co-wrote and directed This is What We’ve Got So Far. Recent acting credit: She Kills Monsters (Carpenter Square Theatre), Mother Road, Lyric’s A Christmas Carol (Lyric Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare in Love (Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park), Inherit the Wind (3rd Act Theatre), The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Jewel Box Theatre, Gem Winner). She is so excited to share this play with you. 

When we think “women gone wild,” we tend to think of wet t-shirt contests. That is not these women. These women (and one man, sorry, Caylor Peterson - they love you and spoke of your glory) have gone off the beaten track (this play is being performed in Yellow Dog Coffee Company), co-produced by three individuals, directed as a company, and are performing a play that pushes the boundaries of actors and audience alike. In this episode, Laura Burguete, Anna Halza, Hannah Haddad, Katy Kendall, and Isabella Woodson talk about some of the restrictions of university theater and making this opportunity for themselves has pushed their knowledge of themselves as actors and forced them out of their comfort zones as they take on characters that would never be brought to stage in a university setting (university politics are real). These women are as delightfully unapologetic as the play; as they say in this episode, “you either get it or you don’t.” This play has a history; it’s a protest piece;  it’s been fought for in the courts, and now it’s coming to Norman. So come see this show; come support these amazing actors, and be part of the history (and maybe even the performative protest). The show is September 12th, 13th, and 14th at 8pm and there is a matinee on Saturday the 13th at 2pm. Students (all students) can get discount tickets! The arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. Tickets for The Secretaries: www.isabellawoodson.com PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests Laura Burguete, Anna Halza, Hannah Haddad, Katy Kendall, and Isabella Woodson!Laura Burguete is a Mexican-American actress from San Antonio, TX currently pursuing a BFA in Acting from The University of Oklahoma. Her most recent onstage appearance was Sage in Go. Please. Go. directed by Madison Neiderhauser. She is currently playing Peaches in The Secretaries.Anna Halza is an actor, writer, and theater maker based in Texas and Oklahoma. She is currently pursuing her BFA in Drama at the University of Oklahoma. Her most recent projects include the role of Sarah in Hadley Shipley's Camp Contrition, produced by SheDFW, and co-authorship of How To Smoke Three Cigarettes at Once, produced by Co.Arts Theater Company. The play has just received its fringe debuts at Kansas City Fringe and Omaha Fringe. She is currently playing Susan in The Secretaries.Hannah Haddad is an Assyrian-American actress from Texas, currently pursuing her BFA in Acting at the University of Oklahoma. She recently appeared as Decius in Julius Caesar directed by Livy Scanlon in Prague, the Stenographer in Waiting for Lefty directed by Seth Gordon, and is currently playing Ashley in The Secretaries.Katy Kendall is a junior acting major at the University of Oklahoma from St. Louis, Missouri. Her most recent roles include Voice in the Crowd #2 (Waiting for Lefty—Weitzenhoffer Theater), and Celia (As You Like It—Divadlo Bez zábradlí). She is currently playing Patty in The Secretaries.Isabella Woodson (she/her) is an Oklahoma and Texas based director, producer and actor. She is currently pursuing her B.F.A in Drama at the University of Oklahoma. Recent Credits: Waiting for Lefty (Assistant Director), Another Beginning (Director/Co-Producer), Dearly Departed (Production Dramaturg). She is currently playing Dawn in The Secretaries.

S2 Ep 19: You had questions; we have answers! Cast Q&A: Love’s Labour’s Lost Hello all! You came up with some amazing questions so, in the shortest introduction ever, here are the cast and director’s answers! Thank you all for your questions - on to the roll call!  Erin Woods: PLAY DIRECTOR AND MARKETINGBen Kahre: BEROWNEOlivia Akers: KATHERINE / ASST. DIRECTOR / PROPS DESIGNTeegin Hacker: LONGAVILLE / DULLAriana Sanchez: MARIA Jimmy Pike: DUMAINE / SIR NATHANIEL / MUSIC DIRECTORJessa Schinske: ROSALINEThomas Chavira: DON ADRIANO DE ARMADOLily Marsh: JAQUENETTACorey Whaley: BOYETElla Howard: MOTH / MARCADEPlease come see Love’s Labour’s Lost at OSP; this is the final weekend (August 14th-17th)! It’s an amazing show and cast with a fabulous soundtrack. See Shakespeare mix it up with the musical works of Alanis Morisette, The Doors, and more. And if you are looking to get a little creeped out, don’t miss GRŒNLAND: Stalked by dark and mounting horrors, an isolated religious colony must survive until spring. GRŒNLAND runs at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City on August 15th, 16th, and 17thThe arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Tickets for Love’s Labour’s Lost opening August 7th: Love's Labour's Lost TicketsTickets for GRŒNLAND: GRŒNLAND by Chip Keebaugh — Co.ArtsPlease donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to the director and cast! 

When everyone else has gone mad, the fool alone is left with reason. Welcome to a look at Costard in Love’s Labour’s Lost and Denton Meehan, the actor who is taking him on in OSP’s upcoming production. (It opens tomorrow, August 7th, get your tickets - go, go, go!)  In this episode, Denton and I discuss the history of the fool, the balance fools bring to the world (and why we cannot afford to get rid of them), the difference between a clown and fool, and why we laugh. Please come see Love’s Labour’s Lost at OSP; it’s running August 7th through August 17th. It’s an amazing show and cast with a fabulous soundtrack. See Shakespeare mix it up with the musical works of Alanis Morisette, The Doors, and more. And if you are looking to get a little creeped out, don’t miss GRŒNLAND: Stalked by dark and mounting horrors, an isolated religious colony must survive until spring. GRŒNLAND runs at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City on August 15th, 16th, and 17thThe arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Tickets for Love’s Labour’s Lost opening August 7th: Love's Labour's Lost TicketsTickets for GRŒNLAND: GRŒNLAND by Chip Keebaugh — Co.ArtsPlease donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guest: Denton MeehanDenton Meehan is a recent graduate from Oklahoma City University, from Kansas City, MO. This is his third show at OK Shakes. Recent credits include A Midsummer Nights Dream, Life Sucks, and Legacy of Light. Special thanks to friends and family.

In this episode we will be talking to Alleese Eldridge and Paxton Kliewer about the challenges and rewards of teaching OSP’s summer camp, what theater does for us as actors and audience, the importance of play, and how yo-yos are the ultimate Brooklyn ice-breaker. Hear about their final productions in OKC (for now) before this dynamic duo heads off to NYC to pursue greatness (even though we would argue that they are already AMAZING). So get your tickets to Love’s Labour’s Lost and Grœnland. This is your last chance to get their autographs and say you knew them when. Please come see Love’s Labour’s Lost at OSP; it’s running August 7th through August 17th. It’s an amazing show and cast with a fabulous soundtrack. See Shakespeare mix it up with the musical works of Alanis Morisette, The Doors, and more. And if you are looking to get a little creeped out, don’t miss GRŒNLAND: Stalked by dark and mounting horrors, an isolated religious colony must survive until spring. GRŒNLAND runs at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City on August 15th, 16th, and 17thThe arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Tickets for Love’s Labour’s Lost opening August 7th: Love's Labour's Lost TicketsTickets for GRŒNLAND: GRŒNLAND by Chip Keebaugh — Co.ArtsPlease donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests: Alleese Eldridge and Paxton KliewerAlleese uses performance as a site for community organizing and uplifting ideas of collective prosperity. Alleese Eldridge is a founding member of Co.Arts, a company dedicated to producing and developing new works, and currently serves as their Co.Artistic Director. Previous Credits: Men on the Line (Co.Arts, Director), The Great Leap (OKC Rep, Asst. Director), Much Ado About Nothing (OSP, Production Dramaturg). “Every act of art brings us one step closer to our collective liberation.”- Kelli ShermeyerPaxton is an actor from Bethany, Oklahoma. He received his BFA in Drama with an emphasis in Acting from the University of Oklahoma in 2020. His credits include Jaxton-The Thanksgiving play-OKCREP, Captain Wentworth-Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker!-Oklahoma Shakespeare, Laertes-Hamlet-Oklahoma Shaspeare in the Park, Banquo-Macbeth-Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, Oberon/Theseus-A Midsummer Night's Dream-Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, Sebastian-Twelfth Night-Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, Captain Georg Von Trapp-The Sound of Music: Interactive-Lyric Theatre, Dr. Capt. Kaw-Thee Hidden Claw-Louisiana Art Station,Paul Bratter-Barefoot in the Park-Jewel Box Theatre.

What role does music play on the stage? Can music make theater more accessible? Can it change the roles of players? Find out the answers to these questions and more as we talk to Ella Howard and Lily Marsh who are both performing in OSP’s upcoming production of Love’s Labour’s Lost. We discuss the different music that director Erin Woods has brought into the production and listen all the way to the end for a jaw dropping performance from these amazing actors and musicians as they sing “Hi Lili Hi Lo” - I cannot get it out of my head and I don’t want to. You want to get to know these actors because they haven’t even graduated from college yet and they are already astound. Keep an eye on them; I have a feeling we will see them on many more stages in the decades to follow.  Please come see Love’s Labour’s Lost at OSP; it’s running August 7th through August 17th. It’s an amazing show with a fabulous soundtrack. See Shakespeare mix it up with the musical works of Alanis Morisette, The Doors, and more.  The arts are under attack, and buying tickets is a great way to show your support and fight back. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Tickets for Love’s Labour’s Lost opening August 7th: Love's Labour's Lost TicketsPlease donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests: Ella Howard and Lily Marsh Ella Howard (she/her/hers) is a rising third year acting student at the University of Oklahoma in the Helmerich School of Drama. This is Ella’s third year working with Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, and Love’s Labour’s Lost is her on-stage debut! Her previous theatre credits include As You Like It, Oklahoma!, and Waiting For Lefty. Ella would like to thank her friends and family for their constant encouragement and support. Lily Marsh (she/they) is a rising junior at Oklahoma City University, pursuing a BFA in Acting with a double minor in Directing and Dramaturgy. Her recent university credits include Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Emily u/s) , Gross Indecency (Carson & Others), Puffs (Swing), and Romeo & Juliet (Swing). She is delighted to be working with OSP again, following her previous work in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Assistant Director), Macbeth (Lennox), and Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker (Elinor Dashwood).

For so long we have lauded the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as the healthiest relationship amidst an an unhealthy plot, but Lady Fenton and Anne Page topple the Macbeths in Merry Wives of Windsor and OSP shows that, in Windsor (as should be everywhere), everyone gets a seat at the table. Join me as I talk with Kit Rasmussen in his debut role as Lady Fenton (yes, you read that correctly) and Bell Reeves, a very familiar face and voice in this podcast, in her role as Anne Page as we talk about gender, strong women, and blurring the lines. Shakespeare ascribed his players many traditional parts, but he often mocked them as quickly as he assigned them. Join us in this episode in a traditional mocking of our “parts.” Don’t forget that this is the last week of Merry Wives at OSP so get your tickets and join us from the 12th through the 15th. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Tickets for Merry Wives of Windsor opening June 5th: Merry Wives of Windsor — Oklahoma ShakespearePlease donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests: Kit Rasmussen and Bell Reeves Kit Rasmussen (Fenton, Pistol) is an Oklahoma-based artist who recently graduated from Wichita State University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Performance. This is their first show with OSP. Previous credits include Prentiss in Peter and the Starcatcher (WSU) and Valvert in Cyrano de Bergerac (Kechi Playhouse) Bell Reeves is an Oklahoma based actor, and founding member of the Emerging Artists Collective. She is passionate about Theatre's ability to ignite change and foster impactful conversation.  Originally from Houston, Bell graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with an Acting Emphasis Some of her OSP credits include Twelfth Night (Viola) Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Much Ado about Nothing (Hero),and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena).

**This is a fun and raucous interview so choose your volume accordingly! For this episode we are going to talk size - no, not that kind of size - though there will be some talk of “eggplant emojis” in this episode. I mean the size of the role versus the impact of the part. Join us as we talk with Jimmy Pike, Denton Meehan, and Lucas Schrantz who are well-versed in playing many parts (sometimes within one play or even a single scene!). These actors (and their characters) will literally muscle their way into your hearts with their sword flourishes and straining biceps. We will talk about conveying different persons through physicality and voice, audience engagement (the good and the bad),  advice to those of you who are pursuant of something against parental (or random stranger’s) advice, and why Merry Wives is a perfect introduction to Shakespeare’s works. It’s mostly prose, people! He left the verse at home. So join us to talk about Merry Wives and come see it at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park in the Paseo. It opens June 5th and closes June 15th so bring some chairs, blankets, and a picnic worthy of a knight. Also, at the end of the episode, we will tell you about some opportunities to see Merry Wives for FREE. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Tickets for Merry Wives of Windsor opening June 5th: Merry Wives of Windsor — Oklahoma ShakespearePlease donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Jimmy Pike has been working with Oklahoma Shakespeare since 2005. He’s been seen on the OSP stage as Slender in Merry Wives of Windsor, Carbon de Castel-Jaloux in Cyrano, Snug and Snout in Midsummer Nights Dream, Friar Francis in Much Ado About Nothing, and many more. He currently serves on the Board of Directors. Jimmy is a father to Gigi and SamLucas Schrantz (Slender, Host, Servant) is a mama’s boy who has been doing theatre since the wee age of ten. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2022 and has been acting around the state since. This will be the third time he is performing at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park. Recent roles include Plankton in Pollard Theatre’s SpongeBob Squarepants the Musical and Lysander in Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park’s Midsummer Nights Dream. He would like to thank his parents, all five of his siblings, and partner for supporting him.Denton Meehan is a recent graduate from Oklahoma City University, from Kansas City, MO. This is his second show at OK Shakes. Recent credits include A Midsummer Nights Dream, Life Sucks, and Legacy of Light. Special thanks to friends and family.

The Merry Wives of Windsor is one of the lesser known and lesser performed plays of Shakespeare - but that certainly doesn’t make it less than. Join Lance Marsh as John Falstaff, and our Merry Wives - Lindsey Rollins as Mistress Ford and Denise Hughes as Mistress Page - as we discuss why this play is under performed and the big characters (emphasis on big - like fat suit big), big ideas, and big personalities that make this play a BIG deal. Women and women’s friendship take center stage, and for once, in Shakespeare, we get more than a messy marriage - we get a happy ending. So get ready for chaos to hit the stage and spill right into the audience; join us for Merry Wives opening Thursday, June 5th. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Tickets for Merry Wives of Windsor opening June 5th: Merry Wives of Windsor — Oklahoma ShakespearePlease donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠D. Lance Marsh (he/him/his) is proud to be serving in his sixteenth year as an Associate Artistic Director for Oklahoma Shakespeare and just finished his nineteenth year at TheatreOCU, where he serves as a Professor and Head of Performance.  For OS, he has acted in Hamlet, Emma and Blythe Spirit and directed Misalliance, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Merchant of Venice, A Comedy of Errors, The Seagull, Othello, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, Blythe Spirit, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, GB Shaw’s You Never Can Tell, and Much Ado About Nothing.  Lindsey Rollins is thrilled to be returning to the OK Shakespeare Garden stage. Other recent credits include Twelfth Night (2019 & 2024), Jane Austen’s A Christmas Cracker (2019, 2022, & 2023), Hamlet, As You Like It,Sense & Sensibility, and A Midsummer Nights Dream (Oklahoma Shakespeare); Medea, Outward Bound, The Wonder (3rd Act Theater Company); Matilda the musical (KidsAlive! Theater); Beauty & the Beast (Sooner Theater); The Addams Family: A New Musical (2022 & 2018), King Lear, Little Women: the Musical (Rose State College); and Is He Dead? (Carpenter Square Theater).  Lindsey is an associate professor of Voice at Rose State College, teaches music at Messiah Lutheran School, and is the Director of Music at Messiah Lutheran Church. Lindsey would like to thank her biggest fan, her mother, for her constant support and love and her canine true love, Bullwinkle, for listening to her when no one else would.Denise Hughes (Mrs. Page) is excited to make her Oklahoma Shakespeare Gardens debut! Favorite shows include “Sweet Delilah Swim Club” and “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” (Jewel Box Theatre), “Heartbreak House” and “Hamlet” (3rd Act Theatre), “The Women” (Reduxion Theatre) and “The Library” (Carpenter Square). Directing credits include “On Golden Pond”, “Rumors” and “Arsenic and Old Lace” (Jewel Box Theatre) and “Damaged Goods” (3rd Act Theatre). Denise is the owner of Bella Voce voice studio in Edmond and a member of the band Everybody Else’s Girl as well as Bella Voce chamber choir. She is also a performer with Character Connection Co. She wants to thank Kris for trusting her with this character. She would also like to thank her husband David, for his love and support of her “play time” and God, for the gifts He has given her.

How do you play yourself while playing another actor while playing characters across Shakespeare’s 37 plays? Let’s find out! Join me as I talk with Kris Kuss, M. Smith Fraser, and Holly McNatt as we discuss how these actors survive this fast paced, high energy, whirlwind of a play, The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) (Revised) (Again). We’ll discuss acting outside your comfort zone, messing with the Bard (with love), and messing with the audience. As Kris Kuss says, “Theatre is at its best when it’s messy, sweaty, and explodes all over the stage.” So, yeah, you’re not going to want to miss this show. This is the last weekend so get your tickets for April 24th, 25th, 26th, or 27th! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Tickets for Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) opening April 17th: ​​https://www.okshakes.org/complete-works-abridgedPlease donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠ Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests: Kris Kuss, M. Smith Fraser, and Holly McNatt Kris Kuss teaches Acting and Dialects for Oklahoma City University's School of Theatre. Kris is a director, fight director, actor, and educator from Niceville, FL. He received his MFA in Directing from the University of Southern Mississippi and BAs in Theatre Performance and Philosophy from the University of Mobile. He is committed to supporting and developing the performing arts within our community, having worked with Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Painted Sky Opera, and 3rd Act Theatre Co. Kris has worked for regional theatres and universities around the country as an actor, director, fight director, intimacy choreographer, and dialect coach on productions including Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, The 39 Steps, Blood Wedding, Newsies, The Tragedy of Carmen, She Kills Monsters, Les Misérables, and Young Frankenstein. Kris is a member of Dueling Arts International and the Society of American Fight Directors. He has also trained extensively with Theatrical Intimacy Education.M. Smith Fraser is an Actor, Director and Fight Choreographer originally from Minnesota. He holds the position of Visiting professor of Acting at Oklahoma State University. He is also the Fight Director for Viking Encampment and is a Certified Teacher with Dueling Arts International.Holly McNatt has returned to the OSP stage, where she performed her first ever Shakespearean role as Miranda in The Tempest. She was last seen at OSP (many moons ago) as Anne in The Three Musketeers. Some other favorite Shakespearean turns include playing Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream & Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost (Reduxion Theatre). Last year, Holly paid homage to the Bard in her original show “Bromeo & Juliet” at Theatre Crude. She’s coming up on her 20th year as a local performer & loves to see the OKC scene thrive. If you know anyone nice, Holly is single and looking to mingle. On socials @thelilfox.

Once again, I’m giving up the microphone as my student, Frederick Turner, takes over the show. He is talking to director, actor, and amazing human David Weber about his upcoming production of Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged Again taking place at OSP. They will talk about how to turn comedy to laughter and the importance of props, costumes, and actors with synergistic energy to create the fast paced and ridiculously delightful show (emphasis on the ridiculous). We will talk about how this bastardization of Shakespeare’s works might be truer to Shakespeare’s style than you might first think. Join us as we explore the madness of putting all of Shakespeare’s known plays on the stage at the same time.

Join me in a conversation with owners Kathryn Lynn and Britni Brecheen of Second Story Books in OKC, Steve "Echo" Gooch, owner of The Floating Bookshop in Automobile Alley, and Kim Mieda, owner of The Lore, in Norman. We are going to talk about the historical connection between coffee (and beer) and books, discuss how locations dictate the books and customers, options when trying to separate asshole authors from their works, and how to join us for the Central Oklahoma Independent Bookstore Crawl on April 25th, 26th, and 27th: Central Oklahoma Independent Bookstore Crawl (@centralokbookstorecrawl) • Instagram photos and videos.  Each bookstore will be offering deals and prizes and collectively you can win additional prizes, and you just might find a golden ticket (which means 12 free audiobooks from Libro.fm). Please join us, and if you see the Shakespearean Shrew in the wild, stop me, and if you are the first to do so,  you will get yourself a Shakespearean Shrew mug to add to your swag. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Tickets for Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) opening April 17th: ​​https://www.okshakes.org/complete-works-abridgedPlease donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests: Kathryn Lynn and Britni Brecheen, Steve “Echo” Gooch, and Kim Mieda

Join me with educator and game master Brook Bullock as he shares with us the history of RPG and the social and psychological implications of “playing” different roles. We’ll learn about “the satanic panic” and how RPG has been brought out of the dungeon/basement and into the light - enhancing empathy and understanding our history through fantasy. Is RPG a new kind of improv? With the game master cast as the director, they shape the experience and allow their players agency. What do we do with the choices afforded us? Does it matter if the choice is real or just an allusion? Who thought RPG would take us this far down the rabbit hole? But like the Queen of Hearts asks Alice, “Do you play?” PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guest: Brook BullockBrook has taught English for over 30 years, served as an Advanced Placement Consultant for the College Board since 1997, and has played D&D since the 1980s.  He grew up in a small OK town, giving him a chance to experience a “little bit of everything” when it came to extracurriculars as well as the ability to travel between different social cliques with relative ease - a skill he now uses to move between professionalism and whimsy. Currently married for 20 years, Brook enjoys trips with his wife and family, riding motorcycles, and reading into the wee hours of the night, usually in preparation for the next RPG podcast episode or classroom lesson.On the Socials at @BrookBullock.bsky.social 

For my Lynyrd Skynyrd fans out there, you’ll have to watch on YouTube if you want to know how to sign “free bird”. Watch or listen; either way, you don’t want to miss the hilarity that ensues. Join a pair of marvelous guests (and guest hosts) as we discuss ASL accessibility in theater! Actor Amanda Lee meets with actor and translator Michaela McCall to discuss the nuances of signed translation after their recent ASL-translated performance of Penelope at OSP. This episode is also guest hosted by two of my students, so get ready for some new faces (or voices, depending on your preferred medium). Make sure you catch the end of the episode on YouTube to see Amanda perform a segment of the song “Drunk Iliad” with live translation from Michaella: https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew The one-woman musical Penelope is showing at OSP until March 2nd, and this is not a show to be missed. The link for tickets is below! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! ⁠www.theshakespeareanshrew.com⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available ⁠here!⁠ Please donate to OSP: ⁠https://www.okshakes.org/donate⁠Thank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠⁠Thank you to our guests: Amanda Lee and Michaela McCallAmanda Lee worked as a performer all over the country and the world for 10 years before settling down in 2014 in Norman, OK near her hometown of Noble. She can now be seen onstage with Whodunit Dinner Theater and occasionally at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park where she also directs and music directs for various productions. Amanda has a degree in music from the University of Central Oklahoma which has somehow also garnered her entry into the corporate world of experiential marketing where she currently holds the position of Field Marketing Producer for the New York City-based firm JetFuel. Amanda also runs a Facebook page called The Central Oklahoma Theatre Calendar where she updates her followers on which shows are playing on which stages all over the central Oklahoma region. She is passionate about supporting theater and the arts and is a proud member of Actors Equity.Michaela McCall is an Oklahoma City born and bred American Sign Language interpreter. At 19 years old she earned her Oklahoma QAST certification (level III/III) one month before graduating from OSU-OKC with a degree in ASL interpreting. She also earned an Associate of Arts in Theatre from Oklahoma City Community College at the age of 17. While at OCCC, she was heavily involved in the theatrical department, both on stage and behind the scenes. She then transferred to Oklahoma City University where she is currently a Junior working towards her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. She has had a passion for both theatre and linguistics since childhood, and is always stoked when they crossover!

Join us as we talk with Brenna Wickstrom, theater educator, director, and founder of Storyteller Theater in OKC. We talk about accessibility of theater and how Storyteller Theater doesn’t have a physical space but pops up in CitySpace in the OKC Civic Center and the Harn Homestead Museum. Much like Elizabethan theater, these productions come to you! Currently, they are producing Julius Caesar in the CitySpace March 7-16th (link below!), so we had to talk about politics in theater and how to handle such a male dominated cast in a theater that focuses on accessibility, equity, and opportunity. It turns out that one story can be told many ways - so listen to how and why Storyteller doublecasts Cassius, challenges the classic perspectives of Portia and Calpurnia, and changes the game while maintaining the integrity of the play. Hear what director Brenna Wickstrom looks for in terms of casting and how casting can change everything and advice on what actors can bring to the table and the role that directors can (and maybe should) play in creating a project. Brenna talks about the “necessary” aspects of talking politics - but we’re going to the 70s. Where are my flower children? We will talk about following the leader (or not) and recognizing that we cannot follow anyone blindly; we talk about the lack of heroes in Shakespeare and the surplus of humanity. No one is going to save the day in this episode. You are going to have to find your own way. Julius Caesar Tickets: https://www.okcciviccenter.com/events/detail/julius-caesarPLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is available here! Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donateThank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠Thank you to our guest: Brenna WickstromBrenna Wickstrom has over 15 years of experience as an actress, theatre educator, artist, director, and writer. Most recently, her varied expertise led her the honor of being an integral part in the rebirth of the nearly 100 year old Players Centre in Sarasota, Florida as their Director of Education. Her position in Florida gave her the opportunity to rebrand their theatre arts studio, implement fresh theatre programming, and consult on projects like the Storybook Walk for Sarasota libraries, and arts integration enrichment for Florida's Early Learning Coalition.However, her home and heart is here in Oklahoma where she has had the privilege to educate over 2,100 students for amazing local theatres such as Oklahoma Children's Theatre, Kismet Arts Studio, the former Bethany Stage, Wilson Elementary, and Edmond Fine Arts. While working at Wilson, she had the neat opportunity to receive training from the Kennedy Center's arts integration program.As an actor, she has worked for the Poteet Theatre, the former Bethany Stage, Carpenter Square Theatre, Upstage Performing Arts, and the University of Central Oklahoma. In 2019, she excitedly traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland for the infamous FRINGE Festival where she performed with incredible actors from UCO in their original and collectively written play,"Oklahoma, U.S.A!". Some of her favorite roles include Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at Poteet, Lady MacDuff in Macbeth at UCO, and Lizzie Borden/Bridgette in Blood Relations at Carpenter Square.When she isn't writing the scripts for a Storyteller Season, she's loving and chasing after her three beautiful kiddos-- Noah, Harrison, and Ellie. In her spare time, she loves reading kid lit, historical fiction, and biographies.

Welcome to storytime with Amanda Lee, actor in OSP’s one woman and five musician show,Penelope, showing from February 20th to March 2nd. The link for tickets is below! This is the first musical in OSP’s 41-year history, so, of course, we are talking about musicals. Buckle up and get ready to hear about some wild adventures in life, acting, and directing. We’ll talk about how Penelope is actually a compounded tale of heartbreak: stories of the past and present. How does an actor use their experiences without getting lost in them? What does it mean to be a lazy actor and why might it not be the worst thing to be? This episode is a wealth of knowledge wrapped in stories. Actors, wait until the end; there is some advice you won’t want to miss. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!www.theshakespeareanshrew.com https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrewTikTok: @theshakespeareanshrewThe new season of shows for OSP is availablehere! Please donate to OSP:https://www.okshakes.org/donateThank you for listening!Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen FeinerCo-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle CoffmanCover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠Thank you to our guest: Amanda LeeAmanda Lee worked as a performer all over the country and the world for 10 years before settling down in 2014 in Norman, OK near her hometown of Noble. She can now be seen onstage with Whodunit Dinner Theater and occasionally at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park where she also directs and music directs for various productions. Amanda has a degree in music from the University of Central Oklahoma which has somehow also garnered her entry into the corporate world of experiential marketing where she currently holds the position of Field Marketing Producer for the New York City-based firm JetFuel. Amanda also runs a Facebook page called The Central Oklahoma Theatre Calendar where she updates her followers on which shows are playing on which stages all over the central Oklahoma region. She is passionate about supporting theater and the arts and is a proud member of Actors Equity. 

*Please keep in mind that we are talking about staged violence. It gets a bit graphic, but please do not try any of these elements out without a fight choreographer present to assure that everything is being done safely.* First rule of Fight Club? Talk about Fight Club! Matthew T. Smith, fight choreographer, actor, director, and professor of choreography, talks with us about accuracy in theater. How does time period impact fight choreography? What about costumes? Class?  How have the audience’s sensibilities altered over time? How do fight choreographers and directors walk the line between making something realistic and making someone in the audience vomit?  How does posture impact character and conflict? Do you lead with your head, your chest,  your stomach? What does it say about you? Smith will answer all these questions and more as we romp through history and productions to see what has been done and what can be done in the exploration of movement.  We’ll also discuss what happens when actors get too immersed in a character and some of Matthew’s tips for how to leave the difficulty and trauma of a character in the rehearsal space and not take that character, and their many issues, home. These tips are good for LIFE. So, take a listen, and if you try any of them, let us know how it goes! Now, of course, we cannot talk about fighting without discussing dying - so we’ll end the podcast with a discussion of how to die on the stage.  Listen to the end for some invaluable acting advice and best fight scenes. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew The new season of shows for OSP is available here!  Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest: Matthew T. Smith  Matthew T. Smith is an Actor, Director and Fight Choreographer originally from Minnesota. He holds the position of Visiting professor of Acting at Oklahoma State University. He is also the Fight Director for Viking Encampment and is a Certified Teacher with Dueling Arts International.

Join us in a follow up with director and professor Collin Andrulonis and “Bottom,” senior Cole Shoemaker, performing in UCO’s upcoming production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream February 6-9th at UCO. Link to production information below! We’ll get the director perspective from Collin in terms of leaning into the fear and taking chances, how to find the best cast for your performance, and what is going on in the mind of directors as they figure out what comes next.  With Cole, we address his role as Bottom and how he won the part and what comes next for him as he prepares to graduate. We will talk about comedic choices and the relationship between director and actor that allows for the best comedic results. And as an emerging director, we discussed the six months of (p)research for any production before rehearsals even start. We’ll discuss absurdist productions, the audience's discomfort (hey, sometimes it’s good to get out of your comfort zone!) and what dictates the choices a director makes in terms of production, performance, and tech. There is more to this director business than meets the eye - so join us as we dive in.    https://calendar.uco.edu/fine-arts-design/event/8598-theatre-arts-a-midsummer-nights-dream PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew The new season of shows for OSP is available here!  Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guests: Collin Andrulonis and Cole Shoemaker Collin Andrulonis (he/him/his) is a national-award-winning theatre educator who is thrilled to begin his fourth year as a professor and the Head of Theatre Education at the University of Central Oklahoma. Collin attended college at UCO where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Theatre Education and his Master's Degree in Secondary Education. He taught middle school theatre for 12 years, and spent 8 of those years building one of the premier middle school theatre programs in New York City. Collin has won numerous awards for his teaching, directing, and playwriting. He continues to direct productions all over the state, most recently including Into the Woods at Poteet Theatre,  August: Osage County at the University of Central Oklahoma (which received nine Kennedy Center ACTF awards), and Clue at Carpenter Square Theatre. Many thanks to all of his wonderful students and colleagues, as well as his family and wonderful wife, Erin. Cole Shoemaker is a senior theatre performance major at The University of Central Oklahoma. He has done many a play as both an actor and director. He has had wonderful time playing Nick Bottom and would like to thank his family, friends, and the entire Midsummer time for the constant support. If you ever see Cole on the street feel free to tell him a little joke, but not a riddle because those deeply confuse and scare this poor young man.

Welcome to one of my very first podcast recordings. I’m dreaming of warmer weather and fun with friends so join me in a conversation this summer past in San Diego at the Old Globe with the amazing Jake Millgard, an actor, director, fight choreographer, acting teacher, and much, much more. We will be talking about the levels of accessibility to Shakespeare, the Old Globe as they finished producing ALL of Shakespeare’s plays this summer (a rare and amazing feat), the histories (as the red-headed stepchildren of Shakespeare’s works), and locating outsiders in Shakespeare’s plays. We will discuss some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays and characters, and Jake will give some advice to actors that you don’t want to miss!  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew The new season of shows for OSP is available here!  Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest: Jake Millgard Jake Millgard is an actor with over 15 years of professional experience.  He worked in New York City before moving to San Diego to pursue his MFA in acting from The Old Globe/USD Shiley Graduate Acting Program, one of the most prestigious MFA programs in the country. Jake continues to work regularly as a member of Actor's Equity and SAG/AFTRA. As an acting coach, Jake helps an individual find their unique voice rather than fitting them into a box and has worked with many clients (both adults and children) who regularly book TV, film and theatre.

According to award winning director and professor Collin Andrulonis, if you aren’t at least a little scared, you’re doing it wrong. We will be talking about teaching theater, teaching the next teachers, the obstacles that teachers face, and what makes it worth it. We will also be taking a look at the director's side of life. Do you want some insights on how productions are chosen, how actors are cast, and the surprises that emerge along the journey from conception to production? Then take a listen to this episode as we mash classy and trashy and join Collin on his journey to realizing the reality TV version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream - coming to the stage February 6-9th **date change from the dates noted in the podcast** at UCO. Link to production information below! https://calendar.uco.edu/fine-arts-design/event/8598-theatre-arts-a-midsummer-nights-dream PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew The new season of shows for OSP is available here!  Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest: Collin Andrulonis Collin Andrulonis (he/him/his) is a national-award-winning theatre educator who is thrilled to begin his fourth year as a professor and the Head of Theatre Education at the University of Central Oklahoma. Collin attended college at UCO where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Theatre Education and his Master's Degree in Secondary Education. He taught middle school theatre for 12 years, and spent 8 of those years building one of the premier middle school theatre programs in New York City. Collin has won numerous awards for his teaching, directing, and playwriting. He continues to direct productions all over the state, most recently including Into the Woods at Poteet Theatre,  August: Osage County at the University of Central Oklahoma (which received nine Kennedy Center ACTF awards), and Clue at Carpenter Square Theatre. Many thanks to all of his wonderful students and colleagues, as well as his family and wonderful wife, Erin.

What does the yo-yo and a mega mouth (and I mean that as a compliment) have in common? They are some unsuspecting tools of the acting trade. Join me as I talk to Paxton Kliewer about finding the tools that work for you and dealing with the critics. Paxton will show us techniques for learning lines, finding the meaning in Shakespeare’s language, and for becoming embarrassment proof. Find your Kyle Kruchmer! We’ll talk vulnerability and where the Paxton glow comes from. And the question is, with Love’s Labour’s Lost being announced in this season’s OSP lineup, will Paxton get to play his dream role of Berowne? Thankfully, the Shakespearean Shrew will not be directing, but I guarantee that both shrews will be in the audience. If you want to see Paxton’s amazing Yo-Yo skills and my complete lack of Yo-Yo skills, head to YouTube.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest: Paxton Kliewer Paxton is an actor from Bethany, Oklahoma. He received his BFA in Drama with an emphasis in Acting from the University of Oklahoma in 2020. His credits include Jaxton-The Thanksgiving play-OKCREP, Captain Wentworth-Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker!-Oklahoma Shakespeare, Laertes-Hamlet-Oklahoma Shaspeare in the Park, Banquo-Macbeth-Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, Oberon/Theseus-A Midsummer Night's Dream-Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, Sebastian-Twelfth Night-Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, Captain Georg Von Trapp-The Sound of Music: Interactive-Lyric Theatre, Dr. Capt. Kaw-Thee Hidden Claw-Louisiana Art Station,Paul Bratter-Barefoot in the Park-Jewel Box Theatre. 

Episode 25 on the first day of 2025: Happy New Year! Join us as the Shakespearean Shrew (Karen Feiner) and the Brew Shrew (Michelle Coffman) answer some questions about ourselves, Shakespeare, the podcast, and beer, and make some arroz con leche. This is going to be a journey of rant and ramble as we make our way into the new year.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Karen Feiner received her PhD from Purdue University and is an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Oklahoma. She recently started the podcast The Shakespearean Shrew and loves being able to talk to others and hear their stories – and then broadcast them into the Shrewniverse. Growing up between a Southern Lebanese Catholic family and an East Coast Jewish Ukrainian family, as essentially a Lebanese Jew (one of three that she knows of - the other two being her sisters), she know what it is to be told who and what you are; she knows what it is like to live between communities rather than within a community. Theater was her community growing up (and books), and it is in theater (and books) that she always finds her way home.  Michelle Coffman was born in San Diego and moved to Oklahoma in 2004. She is a Special Investigator for a large insurance carrier, has a bachelor in Sociology w/ emphasis on criminology from OU. (Boomer!) She is married with man child and her hobbies include travel, snowboarding, reading, drinking beer, working out, and golf.  Mexican Arroz Con Leche Recipe (And yes, 7 cups of water is the correct amount!) Ingredients: 7 cups water 1 cup long-grain white rice One 4-inch cinnamon stick One 12-ounce can evaporated milk One 14-ounce can condensed milk 1 cup whole milk 3/4 cup of dates Put the water, rice, and cinnamon stick in a medium-size heavy saucepan set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered, and cook until the rice is tender, about 18 minutes. Strain out the liquid, discard the cinnamon and reserve the rice. Return the rice to the saucepan. Stir in the evaporated milk, condensed milk, and whole milk. Continue cooking over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick, about 20 minutes. https://belaya.info/mexican-arroz-con-leche.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2FI3cCpGP9NQQFO0gaaj1xpPdAeuZhhJzIsPJjAylzrG4vSEwb06jx46M_aem_FVI56iiREj-A_m33-73SVA

Okay, this is an episode that you are going to want to SEE, so please feel free to go to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew The marvelous Michaela McCall, a junior at OCU majoring in ASL and theater, will talk to us about the ASL community, how we can embrace an amazing community that is often overlooked, and how interpreting is performative and often an exercise in improv. She is also going to sign some of my favorite Shakespearean insults - so, if you want to learn how to sign “foot-licker” and “not so much brain as ear wax” then watch us on our youtube channel and see.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate The Jane Austen Christmas Cracker runs at OSP until the 22nd. Put it on your calendars, buy your tickets, and come be part of a magical night of dancing, deserts, and delight. https://www.okshakes.org Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest: Michaela McCall  Michaela McCall is an Oklahoma City born and bred American Sign Language interpreter. At 19 years old she earned her Oklahoma QAST certification (level III/III) one month before graduating from OSU-OKC with a degree in ASL interpreting. She also earned an Associate of Arts in Theatre from Oklahoma City Community College at the age of 17. While at OCCC, she was heavily involved in the theatrical department, both on stage and behind the scenes. She then transferred to Oklahoma City University where she is currently a Junior working towards her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. She has had a passion for both theatre and linguistics since childhood, and is always stoked when they crossover!  Fun fact: Michaela is naturally ambidextrous, but signs left-handed!

As you think about what to buy your friends and family this holiday season, maybe it’s time to think big. No, not a car with a red bow on it. (Stupid commercials. Who buys someone a car?) Think books. Something that will change the way they see the world - how Dickensian is that? I have some great, local places for you to shop and some bookstore owners you need to know. I am joined by owners Kathryn Lynn and Britni Brecheen of Second Story Books in OKC, Charles Martin, creative director of Literati Press in Paseo Arts District, and Jason Daniels, co-owner of The Banned Press Bookshop, a bookshop that might pop-up when you least expect it. We are going to talk about the why, the how, and the where of opening a bookstore, some of their book recommendations, and why buying from indy bookstores can change your community more than you might realize.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate The Jane Austen Christmas Cracker runs at OSP until the 22nd. Put it on your calendars, buy your tickets, and come be part of a magical night of dancing, deserts, and delight. https://www.okshakes.org Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guests: Kathryn Lynn, Britni Brecheen, Charles Martin, and Jason Daniels

Time for some girl talk with Jane Austen (Kalie Sloan), Elizabeth Bennett (Charli Henn), Lydia Bennett (Naomi Love), and Marianne Dashwood (Bethany Woemmel). Let’s talk crushes - Lizzie Bennett was number one with a bullet amongst the ladies, Darcy, unsurprisingly, enters the conversations, and Bingley, and his authenticity, cannot be ignored. We’ll dissect the characters and what makes each lady stand up and stand out in their respective stories and relationships. We talk about the characters we love, the characters we want to shake, and the characters we relate to. We’ll “put the mirror up” and look at why we cringe.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate Tonight is the only night!! “An Actor’s Carol: One clown’s Dickensian marathon towards redemption” at 7:30. All proceeds go to OSP! Get your tickets here: https://www.okshakes.org/an-actors-carol The Jane Austen Christmas Cracker runs at OSP until the 22nd. Put it on your calendars, buy your tickets, and come be part of a magical night of dancing, deserts, and delight. https://www.okshakes.org Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guests: Kalie Sloan, Charli Henn, Naomi Love, and Bethany Woemmel Kalie Sloan is attending Oklahoma City University as a Junior BFA Acting major. Some recent production credits include John Proctor is the Villain, Influenced, She Stoops to Conquer, and Peter and the Starcatcher. She is so excited to work alongside such a talented group of artists. A special thank you to her family and friends who support her in all her endeavors!  Charli Henn (Elizabeth Bennet) They/them. Charli is a Junior BFA Acting major with minors in Lighting and Directing at Oklahoma City University from Richardson, TX, and they are thrilled to be making their OK Shakespeare debut! Recent credits include Hurricane Diane (Renee), Puffs (Megan Jones), Bellwether (Doll), Let The Right One In (Eli), June, July, August (Female Swing), & A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Slinky Boi). Enjoy the show! Naomi Love (Lydia Bennet) She/her. Naomi is a sophomore BFA Acting major at Oklahoma City University, originally from Round Rock, TX. She is so excited for her first show at Oklahoma Shakespeare! Recent credits include Being Enough, Be Aggressive, and Pace Yourself. Special thanks to her family and friends for all of their support and traveling to see the show. She would like to give an extra shoutout to her friend Lily for encouraging her to audition and helping her with the process, her “little” Kylie for going with her to the audition, her roommate Hannah for giving her a ride to the callback, and her friend, neighbor, and honorary big sister Olivia for giving her rides to rehearsals. Bethany Woemmel is thrilled to be working with Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park on Jane Austen's Christmas Cracker! She studies at Oklahoma City University as a senior BFA Acting major. During her time there, she's had the opportunity to be apart of productions such as Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy as Renfield and A Midsummer Night's Dream as ensemble.

Hey y’all! Join us for a cup of tea as I talk to some of Jane Austen’s leading men: Colonel Brandon (Jimmy Pike), Captain Wentworth (Paxton Kliewer), Edward Ferrers (Karam Alkhatib), Fitzwilliam Darcy (Corban Melder). We’ll talk about beautiful women, beautiful men (there is a mathematical equation), and the things that are hard to say in literature and life. We’ll talk the line between performing coldness and passion and gender positions playing out on the stage. Come fall in love with Austen’s men (again) and join us for the experience of a Christmas Cracker.

What questions should we ask of the literary relationships we love? Let’s sit down, drink some tea, and share some tea with Marriage and Family Therapist Danyelle Kuss. Let's talk function and dysfunction in Jane Austen’s amazing relations. We’ll talk about the first recorded experience of ghosting (okay, that’s an assumption but it MIGHT be true) and what makes a great relationship versus throwing yourself down the mountain of a relationship (you’ll hear what I mean).  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate “An Actor’s Carol: One clown’s Dickensian marathon towards redemption” is in Oklahoma City for one night only - December 11th at 7:30. Get your tickets here: https://www.okshakes.org/an-actors-carol The Christmas Cracker is coming up at OSP running from December 5th to the 22nd. Put it on your calendars, buy your tickets, and come be part of a magical night of dancing, deserts, and delight. https://www.okshakes.org Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest Danyelle Kuss.  Danyelle Kuss is a Marriage and Family Therapist who earned her master's degree at the University of Southern Mississippi. She has spent the majority of her career working with individuals, families, and couples struggling with substance abuse and addiction. Most recently she has transitioned to public mental health education to support positive youth development. She comes to us from a long geek background spanning from a love of Jane Austen's works all the way to Dungeons and Dragons. 

Laugh until you cry and cry until you laugh (yes, we do both in this episode) as I talk with actor, director, and acting teacher David Weber about his critically acclaimed Christmas Carol adaptation: “An Actor’s Carol: One clown’s Dickensian marathon towards redemption.” We talk about regrets, redemption, and one of the most powerful and dangerous things in the world: hope. So let’s talk clowns, fools, and f*ck ups and the windows or mirrors they create to the mess that is humanity. So, cheers! Here’s to being human and a glorious mess.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate “An Actor’s Carol: One clown’s Dickensian marathon towards redemption” is in Oklahoma City for one night only - December 11th at 7:30. Get your tickets here: https://www.okshakes.org/an-actors-carol The Christmas Cracker is coming up at OSP running from December 5th to the 22nd. Put it on your calendars, buy your tickets, and come be part of a magical night of dancing, deserts, and delight. https://www.okshakes.org Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest David Weber.  David Weber is an actor, director, and acting teacher.  He was last seen on stage in Hamlet at Oklahoma Shakespeare as Claudius and Hamlet’s Ghost and this winter he will take his acclaimed one man show, “An Actor’s Carol: One clown’s Dickensian marathon towards redemption” on a national tour this November and December 2024.  He is scheduled to direct The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged to open the 41st season of Oklahoma Shakespeare and later this winter he will direct “Small Mouth Sounds” by Bess Wohl for Oklahoma State University’s Department of Theatre.  He has been on the artistic and educational staff at Stagedoor Manor for two years, and he loves teaching and directing for that community.  He is also a proud member of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers and has an MFA in Acting from California State University Long Beach where he studied acting pedagogy under the direction of Alexandra Billings, Hugh O’Gorman, Ezra LeBank, Dr. Shanti Pillai, and Andrea Caban. David is on the performance faculty at Oklahoma State University as an Assistant Professor of Performance where he teaches BFA Acting, BFA Musical Theatre, and BA Theatre students Acting levels, Auditions, Special topics in Comedy, Movement for the Actor, and Contemporary Performance Techniques. www.davidrweber.com  #gopokes

Erin Woods, playwright, director, actor, and artistic designer, breaks down how she adapted Jane Austen’s beloved characters and joined them together for the Jane Austen Christmas Cracker and how playwrights adapt their works to the needs and abilities of the stage. You will learn which characters will grace this year’s performance (and which leading man we fangirled over - sorry, Tyler). We talked about the many roles Erin has played and the very different social elements of each role - the seclusion of the playwright and the immersion of the director, actor, and designer. Erin Woods is a woman of the theater who can play many parts - and Shakespeare would be proud.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate The Christmas Cracker is coming up at OSP running from December 5th to the 22nd. Put it on your calendars, buy your tickets, and come be part of a magical night of dancing, deserts, and delight. https://www.okshakes.org Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest Erin Woods.  Erin Woods is a director, playwright, actress, and graphic designer with over 25 years’ experience in Oklahoma Theatre and beyond. Directing credits include Art for Oklahoma City Theatre Company, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Uncle Vanya for Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park, and Pride and Prejudice, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Women, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses for Reduxion Theatre Company. As a playwright, Erin has written adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Tom Jones, and a holiday play often produced by Oklahoma Shakespeare: Jane Austen’s Christmas Cracker.

Join me in Seoul, South Korea with Executive Director, actor, and artist Joongwon Charles Jeong, and board member, director, and actor Jason Lane Cutler from Seoul Shakespeare Company. We’ll be talking reputations of the Bard, difficulties of translation, and funding. We’ll go into the beauty of community behind the scenes and in the audience but also the emerging boundaries between making the audience happy and challenging them. And you will find out who the 16th century literary torturer is for students in South Korea.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate The Christmas Cracker is coming up at OSP running from December 5th to the 22nd. Put it on your calendars, buy your tickets, and come be part of a magical night of dancing, deserts, and delight. https://www.okshakes.org Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guests Charles Jeong and Jason Lane Cutler.  Charles Jeong is the artistic director of Seoul Shakespeare Company. He is committed to the company’s goal of presenting Shakespeare’s works to audiences in Korea by producing shows, translating the plays, designing graphics, and making subtitles. His biggest passion for Shakespeare, however, lies in acting the characters. As an actor, he has performed in numerous productions in both English and Korean. His former roles include Chiron in Titus Andronicus (2014), Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing (2016), Autolycus in The Winter's Tale (2017), Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice (2018), Edgar in King Lear (2019), and Lucio in Measure for Measure (2023). Jason Lane Cutler is an actor and tutor from the United States and the Managing Director of Seoul Shakespeare Company. For SSC: Angelo in Measure for Measure; Montresor in Demon in My View; Kent in King Lear; Lancelot/Tubal/Jailer in The Merchant of Venice; Brandon in Garage(also a co-writer); First Lord/Jailer/Shepherd in The Winter’s Tale; and Borachio/Friar in Much Ado About Nothing. For Haeboma Theatre Company: Young William/Reporter in Hello, My Friend!. For Probationary Theatre: Andrew in Becky Shaw; Doctor Rank in A Doll’s House; and Declan in Goucho. Korean film roles include Rutherford Alcock in Birth and First Sergeant Greg in Swing Kids. Voice acting jobs have run the gamut of games, advertisements, museum guides, narration, reality shows, AI tutors, test preparation, and education.

Happy Halloween and welcome to our Halloween episode of The Shakespearean Shrew. Did you know that, in addition to the witch trials that we are so familiar with, there were also werewolf trials? Neither did I!  Today we are joined from Seoul, South Korea by Joe McPherson, owner of the Zen Kimchi Experience, and Shawn Morrisey, a heritage researcher with a focus on folklore. We will talk about how monsters and traditions have changed and faded over time (or stood the test of time - great job, Santa).  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate The Christmas Cracker is coming up at OSP running from December 5th to the 22nd. Put it on your calendars, buy your tickets, and come be part of a magical night of dancing, deserts, and delight. https://www.okshakes.org Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guests Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrisey.  Joe McPherson is the founding editor of ZenKimchi.com, the longest running Korean food blog. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Roads & Kingdoms, Plate Magazine, 10 Magazine, The Korea Herald, SEOUL Magazine, Newsweek Korea, JoongAng Daily and others. He has also consulted for CNN's Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain, National Geographic, The Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, and the PBS documentary The Kimchi Chronicles. He has been an expert source for The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Lonely Planet, and The Los Angeles Times. He has appeared on international TV (Far Flung with Gary Mehigan, National Geographic's Chef on the Road, Hotels & restos d’exception) and Korean TV (Running Man, Star King, You Can Cook, MasterChef Korea). He hosted a travel show for Arirang TV and ran a weekly food segment for Arirang's morning show "Korea Today." He regularly appears on Korean radio programs. The author has given speeches for TED and TEDx, the Jogye Order of Buddhist, and other organizations in Korea. He runs food tours and Korea’s only ghost tour through Zenkimchi.com. Korean lore is full of blood and gore. Heritage researcher Shawn Morrisey has authored Volume One and Two of the beautifully illustrated Weird Tales from Korean Lore and is on a podcast with Joe McPherson called The Dark Side of Seoul. 

Free Shakespeare!  What does it mean to a community to have access to affordable or even, dare I say it, free Shakespeare? What is the cost of keeping Shakespeare free? Join me in a conversation with Melissa Chalsma, artistic director and producer of the Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC) in Los Angeles, as we discuss the financial, social, and directorial struggles of the stage.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate As You Like It runs October 11th through the 20th. Get your tickets for this amazing show.  https://oufinearts.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=LII&linkID=okfa&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode= Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest Melissa Chalsma.  Under Melissa’s leadership, Independent Shakespeare Co. (ISC) created the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, which has grown into the largest theater event of its kind in Los Angeles. All of ISC summer events are admission-free, and attract the largest, most diverse classical theater audience in Los Angeles. Drawing on her experience as an educator, she has guided the company in the development of educational and outreach programming, reaching many corners of Los Angeles through partnerships with other municipal and non-profit organizations. Melissa directs and acts in many ISC productions. Her directing includes Pericles, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titus Andronicus, Measure for Measure, Richard III, Twelfth Night, and Romeo & Juliet. She has performed in theaters across the country, on Broadway (including the American premiere of Harold Pinter’s Moonlight), and in the UK. In her years as a college faculty member she taught at Moorpark College, Pepperdine University, and California State University, Northridge. Melissa received her MFA from The Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Delaware.

Let’s continue talking As You Like It with Los Angeles actor Daniel DeYoung who played Amiens and Corin this summer in LA’s free Shakespeare in the Park with the Independent Shakespeare Company. We’ll be talking about community engagement in terms of comprehension, comedy, music, and cost, what it means to be the outsider in Shakespeare’s works, and if anyone actually knows what mimesis really is or how to pronounce it.  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate As You Like It runs October 11th through the 20th. Get your tickets for this amazing show.  https://oufinearts.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=LII&linkID=okfa&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode= Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest Daniel DeYoung.  Daniel DeYoung is a born-and-bred Angeleno with a passion for performing and music. After earning his degree and taking the long, winding road across the country performing mostly Shakespeare, Daniel returned to his hometown to continue his artistic adventures. Along the way, he’s had the pleasure of working with companies like The American Shakespeare Center, Arkansas Shakespeare Theater, The Rubicon, and The Guthrie Theater. Oh, and did we mention he co-founded the Sonoma Valley Shakespeare Company, because why not? Currently, you’ll find Daniel playing double duty as an actor and musician with The Independent Shakespeare Company, where he's been rocking the stage (and his mandolin, bass, or guitar) for the last decade. If you look closely, you might spot him on TV—he's nabbed roles in HBO's Winning Time, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and—wait for it—he was Brad Pitt’s stand-in on Dave. No big deal. When he’s not in front of the camera or on stage, Daniel spends his time coaching young actors, teaching yoga, and hanging out in the heart of LA with his wife and their dynamic six-year-old daughter, who keeps him on his toes.

I am talking with Alissa Branch, director of OU’s upcoming production of As You Like It, which opens this week October 11th and goes until the 20th. Get your tickets because this is going to be a show where you, dear audience, might just end up in the Forest of Arden. In As You Like It where “all the world’s a stage,” Alissa seems to be leaning in and making all the theater a stage. It’s going to get up close and personal. We’ll also talk gender, fools, outsiders and what happens when all the cool kids end up on the outside - does that make the outside “in”? Get ready for a fun conversation and a show you will not want to miss!  PLEASE SUBSCRIBE! www.theshakespeareanshrew.com  https://www.youtube.com/@ShakespeareanShrew  Please follow us on Instagram: @theshakespeareanshrew TikTok: @theshakespeareanshrew Please donate to OSP: https://www.okshakes.org/donate As You Like It runs October 11th through the 20th. Get your tickets for this amazing show.  https://oufinearts.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=LII&linkID=okfa&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode= Thank you for listening! Host/Shakespearean Shrew: Dr. Karen Feiner Co-Creator/Brew Shrew: Michelle Coffman Cover Art Creator/Artistic Shrew: Katie Kimberling ⁠⁠www.halfmaverick.com⁠⁠ Thank you to our guest Allisa Branch.  ALISSA BRANCH is a theatrical and visual artist based in Norman, OK, where she serves as Associate Professor of Acting in the Helmerich School of Drama. Favorite directing credits include Oklahoma Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet(2023), Pride and Prejudice (2022); Phoenix Theatre: The Circumference of a Squirrel; Butler University: The Dreaming of The Bones (with subsequent tour of Southern Ireland). OU University Theatre: Twelfth Night, Arcadia, Summer and Smoke, Clybourne Park, Mary Stuart, Julius Caesar; OU Lab Theatre: Proof (2023), Miss Evers’ Boys (KCACTF Region 6 Director’s Choice Award, and Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award, National Arts Festival, Grahamstown, South Africa), Anna in the Tropics; 9 Parts of Desire (KCACTF Region 6 Director’s Choice Award). Alissa also directed the regional premiere of the new play Shakespeare’s Other Women, which received Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region 6 awards for Outstanding Work with Heightened Text, and Excellence in Ensemble Acting. Alissa recently created and released a 12-episode video master class for The Great Courses Plus called “Shakespeare: From Page to Stage.” Alissa is also a painter. She and her partner, singer-songwriter Tim Grimm, share a small visual art gallery called Black Chalk Studio. Visit www.alissabranch.com to learn more.