Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast

One of the Top Ten Podcasts for Theatre Fans, according to Broadway World. And The Telegraph (UK) called it “a bright, breezy, and entertaining affair, well stocked with interviews, features, and excerpts from the shows!” when it named the RSC Podcast one of its Best Comedy Podcasts. Backstage drama. Touring trauma. Famous Guests. Infamous quests. Literary analysis. No urinalysis. All this and less – on the Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast. Find old podcast episodes here. It’s “All Things Reduced” every Monday – and it’s free!

Episode 575. Northern California Fires

Lifelong Sonoma, California resident Reed Martin was forced to evacuate his home in October, along with his family and thousands of others, because of the devastating wildfires that destroyed almost 250,000 acres, killing at least 44 people and hospitalizing at least 185. Reed discusses what it was like to be surrounded by the seventeen separate wildfires that raged through six counties and threatened property, people, animals, and businesses, such as the famous Sonoma and Napa wineries, and reveals what one does when faced with sudden and oncoming danger, the feeling of constantly (still!) being on high alert, how you can help our actor Dodds Delzell, and trying to look on the bright side of future wine harvests. (Length 15:51) 

Podcast: Download (Duration: 15:51 — 18.3MB)

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Episode 574. The Stupidest Angel

’Tis the season! Christopher Moore, the author of Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal; Fool; The Serpent of Venice; Sacre Bleu; The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove: and the upcoming Noir, talks about his “heart-warming tale of Christmas terror” The Stupidest Angel, how it came to be written, how it fits with the rest of his oeuvre, and also what’s coming next. Featuring a return to Pine Cove, the fun of playing with existing characters, purposely misleading cover art, inclement weather, writing the thing you want to read, the secret to writing moving or funny novels, and how one creates a wonderful celebration of — and antidote to — our favorite winter holiday. (Length 22:45)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:45 — 26.2MB)

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Episode 573. Heminges & Condell

In her new play The Book of Will, Lauren Gunderson imagines what Shakespeare’s fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condell had to accomplish to publish the First Folio, the first collection of Shakespeare’s plays. In the Northlight Theatre production in Chicago, actors Jim Ortlieb (a veteran of Broadway, TV, and film) and Gregory Linington (whose stage, film, and TV credits across the country include 12 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland) play John and Henry and share insights into what it’s like to create these roles. Featuring research, textual clues, King’s Men actors defined by NBA analogies, the difference between real life and art, the anticipation of 19th century actor/managers, the trick of getting across information, and the absolute fundamental Disney-related difference between these two literary saviors. (Length 22:27) (Jim Ortlieb as John Heminges (left), Dana Black as his daughter Alice, and Gregory Linington as Henry Condell in the Northlight Theatre production of Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will. Photo by Liz Lauren.)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:27 — 25.9MB)

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Episode 572. The Shakespeare Magazine

Pat Reid, the creator, editor, and publisher of Shakespeare magazine, talks about how the magazine began, why it briefly stopped, and how it has risen again. Download all the issues here, then hear Pat discuss how his love of Shakespeare led to this passion project, the complexities of publishing, the importance of fandom, the ironies of branding, the shock and surprise at immediate positive feedback, the glorious idea of treating a 400-year-long gone author as if he’s still alive, the time his love’s labour was almost lost, and how it seems that all’s well has indeed ended all well. (Length 17:05) 

Podcast: Download (Duration: 17:05 — 19.7MB)

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Episode 571. The Scary Clown

In this delayed Halloween episode, one scary clown discusses another. Former Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey circus clown Reed Martin (right) reviews the new film adaptation of Stephen King’s It, paying particular attention to the accuracy and creepiness of the infamous Pennywise (played by Bill Skarsgård, left). Featuring apocryphal stories, the possible origins of coulrophobia (the fear of clowns), the difference between successful and unsuccessful adaptations of Stephen King novels, attention to detail, really scary online groups, and the realization that maybe some irrational fears aren’t quite so irrational after all. (Length 16:50)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 16:50 — 19.4MB)

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Episode 570. Book Of Will

Director Jessica Thebus (Richard III, In The Garden: A Darwinian Love Story) returns to the podcast to talk about the midwest premiere of Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will, which she’s directing at the Northlight Theatre in Chicago. Jessica talks about her approach to this play, and from where she draws her certainties and insights. Featuring surprisingly little historical fudging, labors of love, illuminating paths, avoiding traps, staying ahead of the audience, and celebrating the creation of a thing that might easily never have happened. (Length 17:51) (l-r, Richard Burbage (Austin Tichenor), Alice Heminges (Dana Black), John Heminges (Jim Ortlieb), and Henry Condell (Gregory Linington) from the Northlight Theatre production of Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will. Photo by Liz Lauren.)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 17:51 — 20.6MB)

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Episode 567. Sir Stanley Wells

For the length and breadth of his scholarship and writing and editing and teaching, Sir Stanley Wells is our greatest living Shakespearean, and at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, might well be the greatest Shakespearean of all time. Generously granting us a brief (reduced) audience, Sir Stanley discusses the many Read more…

Podcast: Download (Duration: 19:58 — 23.0MB)

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Episode 566. Captain Picard’s Autobiography

David A. Goodman (author of Federation: The First 150 Years and The Autobiography of James T. Kirk) returns to talk about his new book The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard, the definitive chronicle of Starfleet’s most inspirational captain. David discusses how his television writing helps address the challenges of writing Star Trek fiction, and gives a Read more…

Podcast: Download (Duration: 21:56 — 25.3MB)

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Episode 556. Abridged Too Far?

“We premiered our one-hour version of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last week, and RSC UK cast members Joseph Maudsley, Matt Pearson, and James Percy discuss the ups and downs of further reduction. Featuring problems with pacing, riding over slumps, totally different experiences, 30-year anniversaries, Read more…

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:29 — 23.6MB)

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Episode 552. Director Christopher Edwards

Christoper V. Edwards is directing this summer’s non-RSC production of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and he talks to us about how he got the job and how rehearsals are going (it opens July 29). He also talks about his new gig as Artistic Director of the Actors Shakespeare Project in Boston, and how he interprets LongLostShakes, doubling and tripling actors, the differences between LongLostShakes and The Complete Works…, mutual friends The Q Brothers, playing with language, shout-outs to Boston, opportunities to have conversations with Shakespeare, and, most importantly, the significant ways in which William Shakespeare is a rabid squirrel. (Length 25:16)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 25:16 — 29.1MB)

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Episode 545. Prague Shakespeare Company

Guy Roberts, the artistic director of Prague Shakespeare Company, talks about how the company was founded and how Shakespeare is bringing nations and peoples together. Featuring important Spinal Tap influences, the challenge of completing the canon, comparisons between LongLostShakes and The Complete Works…, revelations about the so-called “coast of Bohemia”, an excerpt from the Reduced Shakespeare Radio Show, echoes of Much Ado About Nothing, and the value of making people laugh. Recorded live at the Shakespeare Theatre Association. (Length 15:30) 

Podcast: Download (Duration: 15:30 — 14.4MB)

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Episode 532. Shakespeare & Trump

How should / would / will William Shakespeare respond to a character like President Trump? We talk with Shakespeare artists and administrators Kate Powers, Amy Wratchford, Mya Gosling, and Mac MacDaniel about productions they’d like to see during the next four years that can shed some light on the current administration. Featuring the value of leaning in and telling truth to power, cruel things to do to Midsummer’s Snout, finding surprising resonance in unexpected places, and most excellent suggestions of Richard III, Richard II, King Lear, Hamlet, Coriolanus, and…hang on a bit…King John?! Recorded live at the Shakespeare Theatre Association conference at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company in Baltimore, Maryland. UPDATE: New York’s Public Theatre at the Delacorte in Central Park took this to a whole ‘nother level in June 2017, with its production of Julius Caesar in which the Roman leader is costumed to look exactly like Donald Trump. (Length 15:02)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 15:02 — 13.9MB)

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