Short SoS – Shakespeare at School

If you think Shakespeare was a purely natural genius, the words spilling out from a free spirit of a mind, think again. Shakespeare’s rigorous education at school primed him in all sorts of crucial ways for his later career. Sheldrake explains how at breakneck speed.

Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm

Henry VIII – Master and Apprentice

Henry VIII is a little known play, but it bears witness to John Fletcher’s apprenticeship to William Shakespeare. And perhaps it’s not that bad a play after all.

Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm

Short SoS – Costume Matters

The scarcity of scenery on Shakespeare’s stage does not mean that there were no impressive visual effects. One way of awing an audience was with fine costume. As a primer to the full Henry VIII episode next week, Sheldrake describes the impact of costume in two scenes from that play.

Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm

Macbeth – On the Construction Site

We are so used to some of Shakespeare’s plays that it can be very difficult to see their shape with clear eyes. Fusing historical context with an analysis of dramatic structure, Sheldrake takes Macbeth apart and puts it back together again, arguing that Shakespeare’s structural courage is what makes this play so electrifying.

Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm

Short SoS – Fast First Folio

Without the First Folio, half of Shakespeare’s plays would be lost. What was the process that led to this miraculous book? And how was it made? Sheldrake explains, briefly.

Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm

Romeo and Juliet – Self-Promotion Through Boring Lovers

Romeo and Juliet. Either you love it or you hate it. But might there be a middle road between those viewpoints that reveals the clever structuring of the play? Sheldrake investigates.

Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm

Short SoS – Female Parts

In the first of a series of supplementary podcasts, Sheldrake talks about the boys who created Shakespeare’s female roles on-stage.

Also available on iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm

As You Like It – Why Going to the Theatre is Compulsory

 

As You Like It is liked by audiences, disliked by academics. What then does this tell us about how crucial performance is to the success of the text? Consequently, Sheldrake argues, engaging with the performance of this play and others should be not only a pleasure for the serious Shakespearean, but also a duty.

Now available on iTunes : http://tinyurl.com/ndhzfxm

Titus Andronicus – The Shock of the New

Titus Andronicus is rarely read, seen, or heard, but it does not deserve this lack of reputation. Not only does it have much to recommend it artistically, it is also crucial to an understanding of Shakespeare’s development as a writer.