Acting

Episode 578. Shakespeare In Prague

Back in October of 2017, we had the great good fortune of visiting Prague Shakespeare Company in the beautiful Czech Republic, and we got to speak with Jared Doreck, Steve Josephson, and John Boston, the cast of PSC’s production of William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged). Featuring expat adventures, working with Ray Bradbury, bilingual productions of The Winter’s Tale, crazy performance schedules, multiple casting in repertory, playing in Mozart’s footsteps, getting to play the coveted role of Tiberio, bows that go on forever, and the craziness of completing Shakespeare’s entire canon in a single year — including Shakespeare’s long lost first play! Recorded LIVE at Prague’s famous Cafe Louvre. (Length 20:45)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 20:45 — 23.9MB)

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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 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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By austin, ago

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 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 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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Episode 455. BackRoom Shakespeare Backstage

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, 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)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 23:57 — 22.1MB)

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Episode 452. Beyond The Stage

Reed Martin, Austin Tichenor, and Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival workshop cast members Chad Yarish, Dan Saski, and Teddy Spencer discuss the development of the new script William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) as part of NDSF’s “Beyond The Stage” series. Featuring questions from NDSF Artistic Director Grant Mudge and members of the audience, and discussion about the power of story, outrageous tales of audience participation, the challenges of working with two directors, the tricks of telling the truth and interacting with the public, inevitable comparisons, and the wonder of Shakespearean inspiration. (Length 22:18)

Podcast: Download (Duration: 22:18 — 20.6MB)

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By austin, ago