Authors

Sondheim Life Lessons

Richard Schoch returns to discuss How Sondheim Can Change Your Life, his latest book that offers new insights into the work of Stephen Sondheim, how it was created, how it’s affected audiences for over 60 years, and – yes – what life lessons can be gleaned from his shows. Richard reveals some fascinating inside publishing baseball; reasons for the addition of the song “Something Just Broke” in Assassins; academic backup from Mandy Patinkin; how he makes a close reading of the text so personal and readable; and a surprisingly cogent answer to the facile question of whether Sondheim is our modern Shakespeare. (Length 29:49)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 29:49 — 34.2MB)

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By austin, ago

PC Holiday Stories

Humorist and novelist James Finn Garner returns to discuss his New York Times bestselling collection Politically Correct Holiday Stories and how the holidays represent a deeply personal literary tradition. Jim shares how challenging it was to walk that satirical line between poking fun at holiday cant while still embracing genuine sentiment; how a holiday story was his first published work; how bedtime stories were easier to satirize because everything’s so black and white; how play can be the best form of celebration; how he wants to shift holiday paradigms and sit down to a feast of mutual delusions; and the thing that made a hard-boiled humorist go all soft and squishy inside. (Length 19:22)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:22 — 22.3MB)

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By austin, ago

Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers

Darren Freebury-Jones’s fascinating new book, Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers: How early modern playwrights shaped the world’s greatest writer, contextualizes Shakespeare’s writing and examines how it expands upon and diverges from the other plays being written at the time. In this fun conversation, Darren, a lecturer in Shakespeare Studies in Stratford-upon-Avon, considers alternate ways of identifying Shakespeare’s artistry; dispels the myth of Shakespeare as a solitary genius; likens this kind of early modern study to examining the output of a single band’s music without reference to other bands making music at the same time; and reveals how Shakespeare, as part of a thriving theatrical community, was less an upstart crow than a brilliant magpie. CONTENT WARNING: There will be math(s). (Length 24:28)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 24:28 — 28.1MB)

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By austin, ago

Ring Reduced Remembered

It’s the Podcast’s 18th birthday! Austin Tichenor, Reed Martin, and Adam Long celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Ring Reduced, the RSC’s 1994 film for Britain’s Channel 4 which compressed Wagner’s epic opera Der Ring des Nibelungen into a brief and palatable 24 minutes. Adam, Austin, and Reed share their favorite fun facts about Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung; reveal their inspiration from Anna Russell; speculate on comic directions not taken; confirm that the Reduced Shakespeare Company is completely and utterly responsible for the success of Ted Lasso; disclose how they created the most expensive and complicated gag of the entire shoot; and marvel how for one brief shining moment, they were the Rhinemaidens of all media. (Length 29:09)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 29:09 — 33.5MB)

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By austin, ago

West Texas Weirs

Actor and comedian Stephnie Weir (Mad TV, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) discusses the origins of her one-woman show The West Texas Weirs, which she performs this weekend at Chicago’s IO Theater. Stephnie shares how she grew up on a used car lot; how dealing with a complicated father made her the person she is today; the trick of navigating unconventional relationships with reality; how family vacations were planned around repossessing cars; the potentially NSFW origin of terms like “hunty” and “askholes;” how vowels are expensive; and how a comedic exorcism can help process our feelings about complicated men. (Length 18:06)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:06 — 20.8MB)

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By austin, ago

Updating America (Abridged)

They keep writing American history so we have to keep reducing it! Playwrights Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor discuss how they’ve updated The Complete History of America (abridged), which they wrote with Adam Long back in 1993. Reed and Austin share how Dee Ryan’s recent one-hour production of the script was so helpful; how Reed discovered who the most pivotal figure in American history has been for the last 30 years; the challenges of keeping up just the last two weeks of American history; how the “Special Election Edition” that the RSC performs differs from the published version of the script; why Reed’s heavy teaching schedule prevents him from joining us on the road; and how adjunct professors are doing the Lord’s work (without the benefits). (Length 18:18)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:18 — 21.0MB)

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By austin, ago

Louis Bayard’s Wilde

Novelist Louis Bayard’s new book The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts, depicts the fateful weekend in 1892 that spawned not only the comedy of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest but the tragic downfall of Oscar’s family. Bayard reveals how he walked that tonal line; how he’s been in touch with Wilde’s still-living grandson; how he combined the historical romance of Courting Mr. Lincoln with the suspense and intrigue of The Pale Blue Eye; how it’s easier to depict famous characters through the eyes of their contemporaries; and how Constance Wilde finally glimpsed the flamboyant public persona of her otherwise devoted husband and father. (Length 19:31)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:21 — 24.5MB)

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By austin, ago

Royko: Chicago’s Shakespeare

Writer and actor Mitchell Bisschop discusses his new one-man show Royko: The Toughest Man in Chicago, now running at the Chopin Theater until the end of September (2024). Bisschop shares his inspirations for the show, including talking to Royko’s surviving friends and relatives; how he based his script on Royko’s 34-year career and over 7500 columns; how Royko – like a Shakespearean fool – told truth to power and ended up winning a Pulitzer Prize; how he got to know Royko’s “leg creatures;” and how Mike Royko asked the questions nobody else was asking. (LENGTH 18:20)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:20 — 21.1MB)

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By austin, ago

Alice’s Kindred Spirits

Playwright Alice Scovell (The Rewards of Being Frank) discusses her new comedy Kindred Spirits, a sequel to Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit now having its world premiere at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (and featuring our own Austin Tichenor as Charles Condomine, whose late wives Elvira and Ruth return once again to stir up trouble). Scovell talks about how she gave Oscar Wilde’s characters from The Importance of Being Earnest the seven-year-itch; how she’s played around in the STU – the Shakespeare Theatrical Universe – through her sequel to Love’s Labor’s Lost; the challenges and rewards of negotiating with an author’s estate; and how a life of theatergoing has led to a new life of theatre making. (Length 21:36)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:36 — 24.8MB)

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By austin, ago

Anne Curzan Says

Linguistics professor and podcast host Anne Curzan talks about her new book Says Who? A Kinder, Funner Usage Guide for Everyone Who Cares About Words, which is exactly what it says: A fun and lively conversation about language and the kinds of rules that helpful, and the kind you can ignore. Anne reveals how she came to study language and its history; how she values reducing ambiguity and promoting clarity; the importance of knowing your audience; how to approach new words and usages like a birdwatcher; and how she can assist in the epic struggle between your inner “wordie” and your inner “grammando.” (Length 18:47)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:47 — 21.6MB)

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By austin, ago

The Bard’s Book

Ann Bausum, the author of The Bard and the Book: How the First Folio Saved the Plays of William Shakespeare From Oblivion, discusses how she first discovered the story of Shakespeare’s First Folio and why she decided to share it with young readers. Bausum reveals her Shakespeare origin story; the delight of seeing different generations respond to Shakespeare’s plays; wildly inappropriate metaphors for turning kids on to history and literature; a massive shoutout to the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin; gratitude to playwright Lauren Gunderson and the Folger Shakespeare Library; and how children’s literature, like children’s theatre, is the best training for effective communication. (Length 18:09)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:09 — 20.9MB)

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By austin, ago

Liz Allen’s ‘Mother’

Improviser, improv coach, and “ensemble whisperer” Liz Allen discusses her one-person show Tonight, I Am My Mother, her darkly comic exploration of her mother’s alcoholism, in which Liz plays multiple roles (seamlessly). Liz talks about moments of discovery in her childhood; reveals her script’s inspiration; shares stories of working with comedian Mike Birbiglia on his film, Don’t Think Twice; marvels over her show’s Shakespearean levels; confesses the importance of taking creative license; and celebrates the rewards of bringing a complicated family member back to life. (Length 24:39)

Podcast: Download (28.3MB)

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By austin, ago

Screwed-Up Teenagers

Scott Bailey’s new book Romeo, Juliet, and Other Screwed-Up Teenagers: An Irreverent Guide to Introducing the World’s Most Staggeringly Inappropriate Play to a Classroom Full of Confused Freshmen is a funny and frank look at Shakespeare’s arguably most popular play, and a great resource for educators, students, and even professional actors. Scott reveals his Shakespeare background, both onstage and for almost 30 years in the classroom; how his Renaissance Faire origin story coincides with the early days of the RSC; the surprise of taking a year off and discovering you have a book in you; and finally, the wonder of constantly discovering new things about a 400-year-old play. (Length 22:47)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:47 — 27.4MB)

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By austin, ago

Michelle’s ‘Green World’

Michelle Ephraim – a Professor of English and (with Caroline Bicks), the cohost of the Everyday Shakespeare podcast and the co-author of Shakespeare, Not Stirred: Cocktails for Your Everyday Dramas – joins us this week to talk about her frank and funny new book, Green World: A Tragicomic Memoir of Love & Shakespeare. Michelle reveals she discovered Shakespeare surprisingly late; how “fun” is a a perfectly fine description of her sometimes fraught memoir; the shared curse of meeting hero Stephens; how Shakespeare became a source of both pain and solace in the wake of a parent’s death; how her relatively cushy job became surprisingly hazardous; and, finally, how Shakespeare – a dead European white man – became a very relatable force for inclusion. (Length 19:31)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:31 — 22.4MB)

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By austin, ago

Visiting ‘Shakespeare’s House’

Richard Schoch discusses Shakespeare’s House: A Window Onto His Life and Legacy, his wonderful new history of not only the building in Stratford-upon-Avon that William Shakespeare was born in, but how that building survived and became ground zero in the Shakespeare tourism industry. Schoch reveals how he discovered the dual focus of his book; how it took almost 200 years for people to realize the treasure that still stood in their midst; the shenanigans played by people who first depicted Shakespeare’s birthplace; the important distinctions between restoring a house and remaking it; the trick of hitting that sweet spot between writing an academic history and a popular one; and how the most important person in Shakespeare’s birthplace is not Shakespeare but the visitor. (Length 18:52)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:52 — 21.7MB)

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By austin, ago

All Our Yesterdays

Joel H. Morris discusses his debut novel All Our Yesterdays – no, not the penultimate episode of Star Trek: The Original Series – which tells the compellingly plausible story of the events that lead up to William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Morris reveals his multiple inspirations, both literary and personal; how investigations into the actual historical couple Shakespeare based his play on informed his novel; the ways in which writing is a process of discovery; how he balanced the political and the personal, the natural and supernatural; how he summoned the courage to explore one of literature’s most famous characters; and the wonderful inability to let go of characters that won’t let you go. (Length 22:56)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:56 — 26.3MB)

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By austin, ago

Writing ‘Tragedy Averted’

Washington Post humor columnist Alexandra Petri discusses her Shakespearean summer camp comedy Tragedy Averted, now having its midwest premiere at the IO Theatre in Chicago. Tragedy Averted showcases four Shakespeare heroines – Juliet, Cordelia, Desdemona, and Ophelia – who bond at summer camp while struggling with romance, friendship and difficult dads. In conversation with the production’s director Dee Ryan, Alexandra shares the origins of her humor; the depth of her nerdery; inspirational messages from W.H. Auden and T.H. White; the comfort of knowing she always wanted to be a writer; spoileriffic exegesis; her firm belief that any crisis can be addressed head-on, Hamlet-like, by writing a play about it; and how fan fiction means you love the source text but have a significant bone to pick with it. (Length 19:14)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:14 — 22.1MB)

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By austin, ago

Mark Larson’s ‘Working’

Mark Larson, the author of Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theatre, returns to the podcast to talk about his newest book, Working in the 21st Century: An Oral History of American Work in a time of Social and Economic Transformation, a powerful and insightful collection of interviews that gives a megaphone to some important but quiet voices. Mark reveals how this latest book is timed to the 50th anniversary of Studs Terkel’s classic oral history Working; the joys of serendipity; how subjects reveal themselves to interviewers; the important work of giving a megaphone to quiet voices; and the path towards making this new Working a classroom staple (and maybe a Broadway musical). (Length 18:02)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:02 — 20.7MB)

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By austin, ago

Stick-Figure Hamlet

For our landmark 900th episode, Mya Gosling and her pocket dramaturg Kate Pitt discuss the epically comic A Stick-Figure Hamlet, Mya’s hysterical and surprisingly rich retelling of Shakespeare’s play from the creative mind behind GoodTickleBrain, the internet’s greatest (and possibly only) Shakespearean webcomic. Mya and Kate reveal the Hamlets they have known and loved; the marvelous elasticity of the comic form; whether Hamlet is legitimately a great play or merely an influential one; the fun of going behind the scenes of the play; how artists can transform the source material; the importance of bringing Ophelia to the fore; having a place to put all your favorite Hamlet Fun Facts; completely bonkers 19th-century productions of the play; and the immense value of taking not only Shakespeare’s play but the conversations about the play off their hifalutin pedestals. (Length 23:14)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 23:14 — 0.0KB)

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By austin, ago

Harpo And Chico

Reed Martin has written Harpo and Chico and Bill, a new comedy about Harpo Marx, his son Bill, and Harpo’s brother Chico as they try to put one final live stage show together late in their careers. Written during the pandemic, Reed’s play is is now having its world premiere (under his direction) at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. Reed discusses how the script came to be, how it’s evolving with his all-student cast, and where it might go from here; how he got to meet Harpo’s son Bill; how Reed exaggerated the drama (but only a little); how you can’t find a single person who has a bad word to say about Harpo; the importance of family both onstage and off; and how Reed’s performing the public service of introducing a new generation to classic comedians and timeless bits. (Length 22:16)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:16 — 25.6MB)

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By austin, ago

Dominic’s Debut Novel

The RSC’s own Dominic Conti has published his debut novel Your Book Club, a weird and compelling character-driven mystery that explores madness and “reexamines the art of reading and the postmodern experimental meta novel.” Dominic reveals his unconscious influences; a few mild spoilers; the difference between writing a play and a novel; the perfect director for the film adaptation; inspiration from both Stephen King and Ken Kesey; the significance of one specific proper name; unreliable narrators; and the vital importance of continuing to write so you can discover what you have. Your Book Club – the perfect choice for your book club! (Length 21:42)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:42 — 24.9MB)

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By austin, ago

Banning “The Bible”

Last week was the tenth anniversary of “The Kerfuffles,” that time when our performance of The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) was banned by conservative politicians and then UNbanned when an international media storm arose. Co-authors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor, and Matt Croke – the show’s original cast (pictured above) – reminisce about the creation of the script, how it developed in workshop performances, and how the controversy was handled. Featuring the show’s big Broadway musical ending; conscious comic and commercial decisions; lost scenes and cut props; and the importance of always heeding the wisdom of former dean of Ringling Brothers Clown College Steve Smith. (Length 24:28)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 24:28 — 28.1MB)

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By austin, ago

Measuring The Laughs

On the eve of our upcoming tour of The Complete History of Comedy (abridged), co-authors and RSC co-artistic directors Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor talk about measuring the success of a production, and how it’s easier with a comedy but not so much with a drama. Reed and Austin reveal how comedy opens up the heart; how laughs preceded by quiet moments are usually stronger; their greater willingness to go on a comic journey than a tragic one; a shout-out to George Saunders’s book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain; their feelings about whether Chekhov’s plays are actually funny; their ability to take their own notes about slowing down; how not all laughs are created equal; a special appearance by half an EGOT winner “Weird Al” Yankovic; the complete song, “I Laughed Till I Cried;” and the ultimate challenge of wondering whether a quiet audience is enthralled or simply bored. HEAR HERE! (Length 20:36)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:36 — 23.7MB)

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By austin, ago

Favorite Shakespeare Lines

For this first podcast of 2024, father and son authors David Crystal and Ben Crystal share their (many!) favorite quotations they’ve collected in their handy and handsome book, Everyday Shakespeare: Lines for Life. The two Crystals reveal they combined their perspectives as practitioner and linguist, and share how they’ve explored the corners of the canon and found gold; the satisfaction of breakfast-time rituals; how words and their meanings – and their pronunciations! – have changed over the centuries; and the wonder of discovering the diversity of Shakespeare’s voices and characters. (Length 20:05)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:05 — 23.1MB)

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By austin, ago

Muppet Christmas Carol

Author Ethan Warren (The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha) has written the definitive argument that The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best film adaptation of Dickens’s classic novella for the website Bright Wall/Dark Room. Warren – both a nerd about and expert on all things Christmas Carol – explains how the Muppets perfectly capture Dickens’s authorial voice and shares his thoughts on Scrooges he has known and loved (and loathed). Having viewed every existing film version multiple times for his Christmas Carol Advent Calendar™ video essays, Warren now yearns for a Muppet Hamlet and Muppet Wuthering Heights and reaches the inescapable conclusion that Charles Dickens was the very first Muppet. (Length 20:09)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:10 — 23.2MB)

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By austin, ago

Marley’s Christmas Carol

On its 20th anniversary, actor and playwright Tom Mula discusses the stage adaptation of his book Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, which is available to license via Dramatists Play Service. Mula reveals how Marley helping with Scrooge’s redemption inspired Tom to help with Marley’s; how A Christmas Carol remains an enduring personal myth; how, like Scrooge himself, he too was haunted by Jacob Marley; how he helped settle two ghosts; how cartoonist Nicole Hollander helped him get published; his complicated feelings about having a resting Scrooge face; his fear about living up to the set design; and the beautiful art of surviving a demanding role and how it can inform your future work. (Length 17:08)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 17:08 — 19.7MB)

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By austin, ago

Hot Santa Extravaganza

Artist and author Gary Andrews (Finding Joy; Daisy the Littlest Zombie) has created the new holiday classic Hot Santa and the Twelve Days of Christmas, his “sumptuously illustrated novella” which sends his incredibly buff St. Nick on a time-traveling quest to gather all the items mentioned in the famous song. Gary reveals the origins of his Hot Santa character via his #DoodleADay diary; the benefits of finding sleep incredibly overrated; his brilliant contribution to the canon (which explains how Santa’s able to get around the world in just one night; a possible crossover sequel; and how making the most of our one crack at life is an wonderfully meaningful holiday message. (Length 19:04)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:04 — 21.9MB)

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By austin, ago

Everyday Shakespeare Lines

Ben Crystal and David Crystal – authors of multiple works, including Shakespeare’s Words and The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary – discuss their new book Everyday Shakespeare: Lines For Life, a collection of overlooked gems plucked from the canon, organized by monthly themes, and suitable for many situations and every reader. The Crystals share how they selected each quote (and how they wanted to avoid the famous ones); how when you pan for Shakespeare gold you find more than you expect; how their unique approaches to Shakespeare reflect their approaches to life; the variety of places they plant their geek flags; the wonderful realization that the more you dig into the words, the more the author recedes; and the surprising beauty of getting hit in the heart rather than the head. (Length 26:41)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 26:41 — 30.6MB)

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By austin, ago

Daisy the Littlest Zombie

“Some zombies are big
Some zombies are small
But Daisy’s the littlest zombie of all…”
So begins Daisy the Littlest Zombie, the sing-songy coming-of-age tale for children of most ages written by Austin Tichenor and illustrated by Gary Andrews (and published by Sordelet Ink). Austin and Gary reveal how this tale of the undead was brought to life; their love of mashing up genres; how darkness can be cathartic; why it’s sort-of Shaun of the Dead for kids; the joy of including (and discovering!) Easter eggs; inspiration from a performance of Completely Hollywood (abridged); their decision to follow up on the massive success of their award-ignored web series Drawing on Shakespeare; their shared experiences of being a dad to a brother and sister raised in theaters; and how they found meaning and humor in combining profundity and silliness. Now available on all digital platforms and in a handsome hardcover edition! (Length 20:57)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:57 — 24.1MB)

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By austin, ago

Adapting Kurt Vonnegut

Award-winning playwright and Lifeline Theatre ensemble member John Hildreth wrote an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical sci-fi novel Cat’s Cradle, now enjoying a spectacular revival at Lifeline through October 22, 2023. John discusses the origins of his adaptation and reveals the sources of his inspiration (including and especially the great comic actor Paul Lynde); how director Heather Currie not only “gets it” but is able to communicate it; the value of ignoring the passage of time; the shared experience of navigating multiple theatre worlds; and how his adaptation of Vonnegut’s novel about the fictional inventor of the atomic bomb achieves a perfectly-timed Barbenheimer level of synergy. (Length 19:19)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:19 — 22.2MB)

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By austin, ago

Playwright Sarah Ruhl

Award-winning playwright, author, and professor Sarah Ruhl discusses her playwriting philosophy and influences ranging from Ovid to Alice in Wonderland and beyond. Sarah shares her reluctance to categorize her plays and reveals how her theatre heart lives in the mix of comic and tragic modes; opens up about the origins of her popular version of Eurydice; discusses how she wants to put the “play” back in “playwriting;” expounds on her wonderful book, 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write; graciously puts up with impertinent questions; and talks about her journey from poet to playwright, her discovery that plays can be three-dimensional poems, and her strong feeling that Chicago is her artistic home. (Length 15:30)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 15:30 — 17.8MB)

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By austin, ago

Something More Wonderful

Jeffrey Sweet, the author of Something Wonderful Right Away, returns to the podcast to discuss the brand-new second edition of this granddaddy of all improv books. Jeff shares how his book had an impact over and above what he ever imagined; how the second edition features new interviews with Keegan-Michael Key and the founding mother of improv Viola Spolin; how improvisation shares so much with games; his many inspirations (including TJ and Dave and Lanford Wilson); and the similarities between improvisation and playwriting. (Length 18:35)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 18:35 — 21.4MB)

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By austin, ago

More Bard’s Rest

Novelist Jessica Martin returns to her fictional town of Bard’s Rest, NH, for her second Shakespearean romcom, The Dane of my Existence. Her first book, For The Love of the Bard, focused on the character of Miranda Barnes, but the new book focuses on Miranda’s sister Portia, a high-powered lawyer who’s about to land the role of her dreams: becoming the youngest managing partner in her law firm’s history. But during her summer sabbatical at her family’s annual Shakespeare festival in Bard’s Rest, she encounters hunky hotshot developer Benjamin Dane, and hilarity, romance, and legal hijinks ensue. Jessica talks about how a single book has become a series; the importance of puppies in romantic fiction; how to construct a compelling romance while adding a soupçon of John Grisham; the difference between enemies and rivals; how fully fleshed-out all the supporting characters are, and which ones may get their own books; unintentional echoes of Taming of the Shrew; adjusting the amount of steam and the danger of writing non-gross sex scenes; and the important lesson of making room next to the work you love for the people you love. (Length 19:21)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:21 — 22.2MB)

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By austin, ago

Who Wrote Shakespeare?

Don’t know your Bacons from your Marlowes, your deVeres from your Rutlands? Fear not. We addressed the so-called “Authorship Question” in our 2006 book, Reduced Shakespeare: The Complete Guide for the Attention-Impaired (abridged), outlining all the major candidates and computing the odds that someone other than Shakespeare actually wrote his keen plays and nifty sonnets. The answer may surprise you! This episode features the entire text of Chapter Five, “Who Wrote This Stuff?”, and offers iconoclasm and mischief-making, scandalous scholarship, wild supposition, equally unlikely possibilities, and a little thing we like to call “logic.” (Length 29:34)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 29:34 — 33.9MB)

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By austin, ago

Dee Ryan’s ‘Broadguess’

Actor, improviser, and playwright Dee Ryan has written Broadguess, her one-person comedy in which a hard-boiled Elsinore detective gets too close to some mysterious deaths amongst the Danish royal family and gets transferred to…Verona. As Detective Broadguess discovers murders most foul in Italy and Scotland, she uncovers the sick mind responsible and investigates what kind of man creates this level of carnage. Ryan, a Jeff nominated Second City alum, talks about the origins of the piece; how it was inspired by her Shakespeare book club; its debut as part of Flatwater Shakespeare Company’s “UnShaken Festival;” how she’s recreating Shakespeare’s connection to a broad (!) audience; her gratitude to Jeff Award-winning director Barb Wallace; and how her very funny comedy is a dee-construction of both Shakespeare’s canon and Shakespeare the Man. (Length 20:04)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:04 — 23.1MB)

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By austin, ago

Shakespeare’s ‘Star Wars’

Author Ian Doescher wrote William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope and others in the Quirk Books Pop Shakespeare series (The Taming of the Clueless, Much Ado About Mean Girls, Get Thee Back to the Future), which imagine popular movies adapted into plays as they might have been written by William Shakespeare. Ian discusses his Jane Austen/zombie inspiration; how his bar idea transformed into an actual best-selling series; figuring out how Yoda speaks in Elizabethan English; his personal connection to Shakespeare; how film action translates to the stage; the delight of inserting deep cut Easter eggs into the narrative; and the huge fun of embracing limitations and visualizing theatricality. (Length 20:54) (Skywalker Hamlet image by Nicolas Delort.)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:54 — 24.0MB)

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By austin, ago

Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Villette’

Playwright Sara Gmitter (In the Garden: A Darwinian Love Story) returns to Chicago’s Tony-winning Lookingglass Theatre for the world premiere of her adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s novel Villette – and returns to the Podcast to discuss how the production came to be and why the novel isn’t as famous as Brontë’s other work, Jane Eyre. Sara talks about the challenge of channeling Brontë’s voice (in both language and staging); who to credit (or blame) for this adaptation; the joy of working with characters that demand to be brought to life; gratitude to directors and designers who help visualize the story; how the relationship between the protagonist and audience mirrors the one between an author and reader; the undeniable fact that Charlotte Brontë is funny; and the unassailable right of an unreliable narrator to keep some things to herself. (Length 20:35) (PICTURED: Debo Balogun, Mi Kang, Ronald Román-Melendez in the Lookingglass Theatre production of Villette, written by Sara Gmitter, directed by Tracy Walsh. Photo by Sandro Miller.)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:35 — 23.6MB)

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By austin, ago

Lamb’s 20th Anniversary

Christopher Moore returns to talk about his wise comic novel Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in this year of our Lord 2022. Chris discusses how wanted to create a tale of friendship and ended up getting taught in divinity schools; the rewards of swinging for the fences and wading through Thomas Aquinas; getting the facts and theology right when not getting it wrong on purpose; the secret of what actually went on during Jesus’ rumspringa; the challenge of not having conversational Aramaic; and constant vigilance against the ever-present danger of losing your reader. (Length 29:57)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 29:57 — 34.4MB)

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By austin, ago

Adrian’s Alan Adaptation

Two-time Olivier Award winning actor Adrian Scarborough has written The Clothes They Stood Up In, an adaptation of the novella of the same name by Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George, Talking Heads, The History Boys, and The Lady in the Van), about a mild-mannered couple (played by Adrian and Sophie Thompson) who return home from the opera one evening to find their flat completely bare and every single item they own stolen. What happens next is the action of this very funny play, which opens this week at the Nottingham Playhouse, and Adrian talks about about how his adaptation came to be, and how many versions he’s had to learn; the challenges of wearing both his actor and playwright hats; his successful preview at The Berko Speakeasy; finding (and imitating) Bennett’s voice; the value of getting microphones in the toilet; the privilege of getting to sit on the other side of the table; and the enormous satisfaction of challenging one’s self to come up with the goods. (Length 21:38)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:38 — 24.8MB)

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By austin, ago

Where We Belong

Madeline Sayet’s one-woman show Where We Belong tells the story of her journey from discovering Shakespeare as a child to studying him in England and directing him (and others, and opera) around the world. Madeline is a director, educator, and writer, a member of the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut, and she discusses her play’s origins; how different audiences react to it; how Shakespeare became a part of her normal childhood fairy-tale world; the sometimes thorny challenge of adapting personal relationships to accommodate the art; an uncomfortable reminder about how history works; possible sequel titles; how everybody wants to be in the play now that it’s a success; the art – and importance – of loving a thing and still being able to criticize a thing; and how theatre can also be good medicine. Where We Belong ran at the Goodman Theatre and will play Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in August 2022, Seattle Repertory Theatre and New York’s Public Theatre in the Fall of 2022, and Portland Center Stage and Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2023. (PHOTO: Madeline Sayet in Where We Belong. Photo by Liz Lauren.) (Length 21:33)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:33 — 24.8MB)

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By austin, ago

Celebrating Anne Hathaway

(No, not that one.) This weekend is the 399th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway, and to commemorate the occasion we talk to Dr. Katherine Scheil, author of Imagining Shakespeare’s Wife: The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway. Dr. Scheil discusses what drew her to Hathaway as a subject for study; how Hathaway is almost always portrayed in relationship to Shakespeare; what to make of the “second best bed” she received in Shakespeare’s will; the wonderful democratization and liberating opportunities of biofiction; how sex is frequently the default source of Shakespeare’s “inspiration;” a discussion of the relative merits of the films Shakespeare In Love and All Is True, the TV series Upstart Crow, and the novel Hamnet; and ultimately, how biofiction can be a more insightful way of understanding historical figures, and even how sitcoms can reveal greater story and character nuance than drama. (Length 25:59)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 25:59 — 29.8MB)

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By austin, ago

Counting ‘Zero Zebras’

Children’s book author (Great Estimations, The Beastly Feast) Bruce Goldstone discusses his new book Zero Zebras: A Counting Book About What’s Not There, an adorable way of introducing the idea of nothing (and everything!) to a young audience…and maybe even you. Bruce explains how zero’s possibly the most powerful number, and shares inspirational childhood delight from Hughes Mearns’ “I met a man who wasn’t there;” how divisions and categorization are our enemy; a previous collaboration with the world’s most famous (and surprisingly talkative) mime; his fondness for the absurd; the theatrical nature of children’s picture books; mixing classics with vaudeville; how he’s introducing children to the concept of seeing and imagining things that aren’t there; and how – as in jazz – it’s all about the zebras you don’t count. (Length 19:22)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:22 — 22.3MB)

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By austin, ago

Summertime Shakespeare Rom-Com

“To go for it, or not to go for it?” That is the appealing question that drives For the Love of the Bard, the debut novel from author Jessica Martin, which is being published just in time to go to the top of your summer reading list, especially if you’re a Shakespeare nerd. The story involves our heroine Miranda Barnes returning to her hometown of Bard’s Rest, New Hampshire, and helping to run the theater festival run by her parents. But once there, Miranda struggles with her feelings for Adam, the hunky veterinarian who spurned her in high school but also looks great with his shirt off. Martin discusses an early pumpkin-related success led to her passion for writing; how writing gets easier only by doing it; how the book’s fantasy works on so many levels; the surprisingly tricky aspects of writing urban fantasy; how she started writing, how she came to Shakespeare, and how she came to write about Shakespeare; shout-outs to both Robertson Davies’s Tempest-Tost and the Hogarth series of Shakespearean novels; and how people who don’t like Shakespeare puns are sad and to be pitied. (Length 17:32)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 17:32 — 20.2MB)

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By austin, ago

Jackie & Me

Louis Bayard’s new novel Jackie & Me tells the story of the courtship of Congressman John F. Kennedy and Jackie Bouvier from the point of view of Kennedy’s oldest friend, a closeted gay man named Lem Billings. It’s a charming and moving imagining of how these events played out that takes us inside the heads and hearts of these real people, and Lou discusses how writing about recent Presidential romance is different from writing about 19th-century Presidential romances; how he embraces the multiverse (and who actually invented it); the fun of Googling while reading; a fascination with closeted love; some great jacket copy; how the types of mysteries he writes about has changed; and an irreverent yet perfect celebration of Pride Month. (Length 25:19)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 25:19 — 29.1MB)

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By austin, ago

Christopher Moore’s ‘Razzmatazz’

Christopher Moore’s latest comic novel Razzmatazz is a sequel to his 2018 novel Noir, a wonderfully funny and satisfying novel of reinvention that depicts San Francisco’s seedy but fabulous underbelly in post-war 1940s San Francisco. Chris discusses how Razzmatazz came out of the research he did into the history of San Francisco for Noir; how he manages to find the funny in serious subjects; the fun of jumping around in time; the importance of following Shakespeare’s example by adding comic relief to serious subjects; giving readers a win; the ah-ha! moment of realizing a secondary character in Noir can become a protagonist in Razzmatazz; how not to get bogged down in a consistent point of view; which characters got moxie and which characters don’t; the surprisingly long wait for the perfect synopsis; and the origin (and surprising new definition) of the title. (Length 25:35)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 25:35 — 29.4MB)

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By austin, ago

Thing Of Darkness

What if Shakespeare didn’t die on April 23, 1616, and instead sailed to the New World? Novelist Allan Batchelder (the Immortal Treachery series) dives into speculative historical fiction to investigate this very question in his new novel This Thing of Darkness, which imagines the aging playwright creating a new family of outsiders amidst tension between their fellow English settles, the suspicious Powhatans, and a creature out of legend. Allan discusses his novel’s origins; how much of the historical record fuels his imagination; how he dives into and refutes various Authorship theories; how spite is a powerful motivator; how his experience as an actor, educator, former stand-up comedian and Girl Scout (!) influences his writing; how he navigates the dangers of writing from on-high; and the fun of positing a different kind of a relationship between William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. (Length 20:13)

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By austin, ago

Austin’s Sondheim Tale

Attend the tale!! In 2016, The Sondheim Review published an article by our own Austin Tichenor that discussed the similarities between the Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt musical The Fantasticks and the James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim collaborations Sunday in the Park with George and Into The Woods – and Mr. Sondheim was sorely displeased. What follows is a tale of honest curiosity; genuine repentance; possible projection; extreme umbrage; high dudgeon; missed fact-checking; lack of graciousness; sincere regret; and everlasting gratitude. CLICK THROUGH TO READ THE CORRESPONDENCE AND JUDGE FOR YOURSELF. (Length 15:54)

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By austin, ago

Grownup Tiny Tim

Louis Bayard’s novel Mr. Timothy, a sort-of sequel to Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol, imagines what happens to Tiny Tim as a grownup. It’s a moving literary thriller, with its own sort of redemption and set in and around the Victorian London underworld, and author Bayard discusses the book’s origins and creation; how A Christmas Carol is a surprisingly angry book; how he realized that Bob Cratchit is not the most reliable narrator; the ways in which Tiny Tim is a Rorschach test; the desperate need to find your own narrative; the struggle of being seen as a symbol, not a person; the importance of purging and exorcizing your demons; not having a good answer to the question of where this sh1t comes from; identifying at least one Dickens descendant (who you may recognize from Game of Thrones); the importance of keeping multiple plates spinning; the fun of finding the story that’s already there; and inside scoop on the upcoming film adaptation of Lou’s novel The Pale Blue Eye, starring Christian Bale. (Length 19:43)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:43 — 22.7MB)

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By austin, ago

Adam Felber: Memoirist

Improviser, novelist, TV writer, podcast host, panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me, and now memoirist Adam Felber is the co-author, with Charles Band, of Confessions of a Puppetmaster: A Hollywood Memoir of Ghouls, Guts, and Gonzo Filmmaking, and he discusses the extraordinary life he’s helped document; how he makes sure his writing is entertaining; his foray into the multi-podcast-verse; how his career has progressed in ways he didn’t anticipate; the futility of thinking one can “win” showbiz; the rewards of jamming with local dads; his ongoing adventures in writing for television; and, ultimately, how a bullshitter knows a bullshitter. FEATURING: a special appearance from Mr. Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me himself, Peter Sagal! (Length 17:09)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 17:09 — 19.7MB)

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By austin, ago

Depicting William Shakespeare

It’s William Shakespeare’s Birthday Week! On this milestone 750th episode (!), Nicole Galland discusses the fun and intimidating challenge of making Shakespeare a character in her new novel Master of the Revels, and the chutzpah required to put words in the great poet and playwright’s mouth. Nicole shares which parts of the novel are autobiographical (and to what degree), and how even a genius like Shakespeare had gatekeepers; how Edmund Tilney (Queen Elizabeth I’s master of the revels) was both censor and showman; understanding metrics of success (and then ignoring them); how even the greatest writers — maybe especially the greatest writers — walk around in a daze, lost in thought, figuring out story elements and language choices; and how her novel is, ultimately, a celebration of the countless unsung behind-the-scenes champions of playwrights and artists. PLUS: A special appearance by Gary Andrews, author of Finding Joy, and the artist behind the extraordinary portrait above.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:26 — 23.7MB)

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By austin, ago

Supporting Independent Bookstores

Robert McDonald is the director of special events at The Book Stall in Winnetka, IL, and tell us exactly why supporting independent bookstores — and all small businesses, including theater companies! — is not only a good but an important idea. Featuring changing landscapes; romantic notions of bookstores, and the ways in which those notions are true (and not); ways to pivot; the importance of learning new skills and finding individuality; parental warnings and regrets; who the true essential workers are (aside from the obvious ones); important social niceties; who Bookshop.org is genuinely helping; and finally, how to measure convenience, and how Amazon is really not convenient and is probably doing more harm than good. (Length 21:39)

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By austin, ago

The Revels Master

Master of the Revels is Nicole Galland’s sequel to her New York Times best-selling novel The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O., and picks up right where that fast-paced adventure takes off. It’s a thrilling tale of time-travel, witchcraft, and Shakespeare, and Nicole describes how the novel came to be; how she dipped into Shakespearean fiction before with her memoir I, Iago; some twisted love letters; how characters evolve from one novel to another; a climax at the very first public performance of Shakespeare’s Scottish Play; and how a years-long passion for Edmund Tilney has resulted in an extraordinary new novel. With a special appearance by (speaking of Shakespeare’s original productions) Ben Crystal. (Length 19:42)

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By austin, ago

Another Day’s Begun

Author, journalist, and theater advocate Howard Sherman talks about his new book, Another Day’s Begun: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in the 21st Century, a fascinating oral history featuring conversations with over a hundred theater artists talking about productions of this seminal work from Chicago to Miami, from off-Broadway to the UK, and from professionals to students to Kate Powers’ transformative production at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Featuring the two plays that framed World War II; how Howard’s opinion of Our Town changed during the writing of this book; how every production is telling its own story to its own community; how the play prompted dramatic new considerations about the American criminal justice system; and how the community of Grover’s Corners is always populated anew by the community of actors and audience members coming together at every performance. (Length 28:07)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 28:07 — 32.5MB)

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By austin, ago

Anthony Clarvoe’s ‘Living’

Anthony Clarvoe’s play The Living takes place in London during the plague year of 1665, and its echoes to our current moment are unmistakable. Anthony discusses how The Living (written in 1990) was inspired by the AIDS crisis of the 1980s; how he discovered his primary play’s sources; how he was galvanized by Daniel Defoe’s 18th-century novel A Journal of the Plague Year; moving descriptions of empty streets; the value of current events; being simultaneously both intimate and epic; loving group protagonists; celebrating the father of population statistics; sharing themes, actors, and a director with Tony Kushner’s Angels in America; how you can order both physical and digital copies; and reference to an ancient and obscure research technology known as “a card catalogue.” (Length 22:06)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:06 — 25.6MB)

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By austin, ago

Miranda In Milan

Author Katharine Duckett talks about her new novella Miranda In Milan, which explores what happens when Prospero’s daughter from The Tempest returns with her father to Milan after the events in Shakespeare’s play. Katharine talks about her influences; how she draws on not only Shakespeare but Mary Shelley; how the novel came out of her reading of the play and found its eventual form; dominant storytelling forms; investigating the unresolved tension of the play; her shared Shakespearean instincts; pronunciation controversies; and her own origins story as a writer. (Length 15:45)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 15:45 — 18.4MB)

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By austin, ago