Episode 455. BackRoom Shakespeare Backstage

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RSC Managing Partner Austin Tichenor performed with the Back Room Shakespeare Project in their production of The Merchant of Venice in July 2015 at the Radler Bar & Restaurant, and because his roles were relatively (thankfully) small, he roamed the backstage area interviewing actors and audience members about their preparation and expectations. Featuring an audio excerpt of the performance; similarities to tricksy hobbits; navigating the play’s racism and anti-semitism; finding the comedy; conversations with cast members Caitlin Costello, Michael Perez (also an RSC member), and Namir Smallwood (pictured); and the joys and terrors of performing in a riotous pit of bloodthirsty drunks. NOTE: BRSP co-founder Samuel Taylor (who coined the expression embroidered into a sampler by Kate Pitt) discusses the Project’s aims and philosophies in his book My Life With The Shakespeare Cult on RSC Podcast episode 437. (Length 23:57) (Pictured: Namir Smallwood and Carrie Coon in the Steppenwolf Theatre production of Tracy Letts’ Bug, directed by David Cromer. Photo by Lowell Thomas.)

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