Rubie Butler and Kirsten Vanderspek

Shakesqueer

Arts EN ↓ 3 episodes

Shakespeare—from boring to brilliant, everyone has their thoughts. For us, those thoughts just happen to be about how gay everyone is. Join Rubie and Kirsten—two queer drama students—on their journey to uncover the inherent LGBTQ+ themes in Shakespeare’s work. Enjoy scene performances, character analysis, and a little more on thou/thine pronouns than you ever thought you needed.

Author

Rubie Butler and Kirsten Vanderspek

Episodes

A Special Announcement! 23.02.2026 1:37

We've got an announcement for y'all...

"A Green Carnation" Twelfth Night's Antonio and Sebastian 05.02.2026 47:36

Our Twelfth Night series continues with one of Shakespeare’s most famous gays of all time—Antonio—and his relationship with Sebastian. Chapters: (1:08): 2.1 Scene Context (1:50): Act 2 Scene 1 Read (4:05): 2.1 Commentary: Prose & Pronouns (follow along with the notes below!) (9:48): 2.1 Commentary: Plot & Performance (15:30): 3.3 Scene Context (16:17): Act 3 Scene 3 Read (18:30): 3.3 Comme...

“Do you listen to Girl in Red?” Twelfth Night’s Olivia and Viola 04.02.2026 31:51

Let’s go lesbians! Our debut kicks off with Olivia and Viola from Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night (Or What You Will). Chapters: (0:45): Introduction (1:50): Scene Context (2:50): Act 3 Scene 1 Read (7:24): Analysis (9:10): Kirsten’s Thou/Thine Breakdown (23:28): Act 3 Scene 4 Cold Read (26:58): Rubie’s Directorial Concepts Read Along: Twelfth Night: Act 3 Scene 1 ⁠ https://www.folger.edu/explor...