The Bicks Pod

If you're like us, you probably think that the intersection of Shakespeare and the big and small screen might not be a very important one. But you, like us, would be wrong: the two are more intimately entwined than you would believe! From the early days of capturing live action on film, people have been absolutely obsessed with playing in Shakespeare's sand box. In today's episode, we are looking...

One of Shakespeare's most beloved and often-produced plays, Much Ado About Nothing is a very Elizabethan story about men and women, and the lies they're told about each other. Featuring the beloved template for your hosts, Benedick and Beatrice are two of the most accessible characters to modern viewers, and their relationship has become the template for many other relationships of the more libera...

One of the best parts of approaching the Shakespearean plays as we have - that is, in a roughly chronological manner - is that we’ve seen the growth of Shakespeare as a writer. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the recent BBC adaptations of Shakespeare's historical tetralogies in their acclaimed series The Hollow Crown. We talked about the first tetralogy - 1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI, ...

So you've read Part 1 of Henry IV and it left you wanting more huh? You wanted more Falstaff? You got it! You wanted more Hal? You got a bit of that too! More of the same engaging, utterly entertaining set of tight character interactions and seamless plot integration? Not so much. This episode we talk about the complete inversion of Part 1 that is Part 2,  with the youthful enthusiasm of Hotspur a...

“Shakespeare must be heard, not read.” It’s a common-enough refrain, spoken by scholars and fans alike, and for good reason. We were lucky enough to be joined by a panel of Shakespearean actors who proved that the act of performing Shakespeare is a living, breathing art. Join us and our guests -- Hillary Weintraub, Jennifer Hotchkiss, and Dakin Matthews -- for a conversation about performing that...

Prince Hal, Hotspur, and Falstaff make up three of Shakespeare's most memorable characters, and they're all found in the same play! Join us for an exploration of the themes, dynamics, and characters of this first part of the second Henriad Trilogy. If the tricky numerology won't get you, the play itself probably will, filled as it with hilarious scenes, beautiful language, and a straightforward, e...

"Let's kill all the lawyers" is one of the most famous lines from Shakespeare, but what did the bard really think about the legal system? And more importantly, how is it presented in his plays? This episode is all about examining that angle of Shakespeare's work, looking at how different plays and characters interact with, talk about, and interpret the law. We also discuss the questions of moralit...

In our humble opinion (we both agree so we're calling it a singular thing here), this is one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, maybe even his single greatest. Love, debt, justice, prejudice, the law, and the competing desires for mercy and vengeance: it's a fantastic cocktail of themes, motives, and characters that Shakespeare has conjured and which audiences have been grappling with for hundreds o...

It goes without saying that William Shakespeare, that Sweet Swan of Avon, the upstart crow who turned the English language upside down, was an influential dude. But what many people gloss over in their Bardolatrous zeal is the central question of our show today: Who influenced Shakespeare? Ancient Bickerings The gloves come off as Aidan and Lindsay take sides to answer the central question: Since...

If there's a contest for the least known of Shakespeare's plays, we feel King John would certainly be in the running. With a meandering plot and characters that don't exactly sizzle on the page or stage, it's a tough play to rank amongst the very best that Shakespeare wrote. However, we're well past Shakespeare's early dalliances with drama, and this play reveals a level of intellectual depth, nua...

Looking at sex in Shakespeare’s time and works reveals a similar world stuck between two truths: the first that sex was always a many-splendoured, or at least multifaceted, thing; and the second that despite the crushing weight of legal, cultural, and religious dictates, in trying to police sex, Elizabethans wound up having a fairly free discourse on the subject. Unfortunately for modern readers,...

Romeo and Juliet.  Sex and love. Family and religion. It's a story made up of pairings, from the two houses at war to the two lovers who bring the feud to an end. Your two hosts dive into this immortal classic this week to talk the different kinds of love present in the play, the language and poetry Shakespeare was bringing to full use by this time, and the generational gaps presented in the play....

This episode is all about the spooky, the spectral, and the supernatural. Join us for a discussion on ghosts, visions, and outright magic. We talk about the various works of Shakespeare and how the supernatural manifests itself in each, playing with both the characters' and the audience's emotions and expectations. We also touch on the context in which these plays and poems were written, where fat...

Shakespeare's original comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream follows young lovers and old lovers into the mystical, natural space of the forest, where the rules don't apply the way they do anywhere else. Continuing the increasing sophistication of his plays of late, Shakespeare comments on both the nature of love and the nature of the theatre. Join us as we discuss one of our favourite of the Bard's c...

Topic Introduction: What's in a face? That's the question we tackle this episode, with an auditory look at the various faces that have been purported to be of Shakespeare over the ages. Which portraits have been put forth as depictions of the Bard? Of those, which are most likely, and which have been discredited?  More importantly: Why do we care so much? List of Portraits Discussed in this Episod...

This week we explore one of the lesser-known history plays, Richard II. The chronological jumping-off point for the story that will eventually result in the Wars of the Roses (covered in previous episodes), this play is a through examination of the distinctions between man and king, god and country, and power and helplessness. Join us for a deep dive into the character of Richard himself, the lang...

Shakespeare's sonnets are often the first and perhaps the easiest entry point for beginning students. They are lovely little bite-sized poems that exist in discrete units which can be appreciated as works of deep emotion and literary beauty or in grand cycles in the poetic tradition that lead the reader through a flurry of emotion when read together with other similarly-themed sonnets. Most of all...

It is the humble opinion of your hosts that Shakespeare starts coming into his own as a truly innovative playwright in Love's Labour's Lost. Up until this point, the plays have been fairly straightforward in presentation, structure, and subject matter; in LLL, all of that is played with, to great effect. Starting with this play, Shakespeare starts showing the sense of playfulness as a writer, expe...

Of all Shakespeare's works, we were surprised to find that the most prescient and insightful thus far was not one of Shakepseare's plays, but one of his long form narrative poems. In the MeToo era, you'll find more willingness to discuss the terrible realities and long-lasting effects of sexual assault and gendered sexual power dynamics, but it was surprising to see them tackled so head-on in a po...

Mistaken identity! Random beatings! Two sets of identical twins! After the far more dramatic moments of the first Henriad comes a bit of a more lighthearted play, namely the all-too-aptly-titled Comedy of Errors. This episode we discuss the relatively scant deeper ideas wedged into this fun-hearted romp through the streets of Ephesus: lost sense of identity and the growing fascination in Shakespea...

If you've trudged through the first History Tetralogy alongside us, you'll be wondering if there's any real opportunity to redeem the Henry VI plays and their obtuse combination of too many characters, complete lack of linear time, and wandering focus. Thankfully the BBC and a very talented set of actors, writers, directors, and producers have answered that wondering with a resounding yes. Join us...

This episode brings us to the conclusion of the Wars of the Roses, and to the emergence of Shakespeare's first great villain, the short-reigning English king, Richard III. Long a fan and public favourite of the Bard's, this play is noteworthy for a number of reasons, including its continued relevance in the world's varied political realms. Join us for a discussion of the characters, the story, and...

Richard III is supposed to have been a conniving and megalomaniacal ruler. Henry Tudor believed he was a usurper, having wrested control of the crown and throne of England from his brother, Edward IV’s, line of succession, which he later claimed was actually illegitimate. And he has stood accused of orchestrating the murders of his other elder brother George, Duke of Clarence, several advisors to...

Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's bloodiest plays, set around the Roman revenge tragedy of its titular character and the fateful fall of his family. Along with most of the other characters as well. S. Clarke Hulse, in his essay "Wresting the Alphabet: Oratory and Action in 'Titus Andronicus'", counts "14 killings, 9 of them on stage, 6 severed members, 1 rape (or 2 or 3, depending on how yo...

Where does that reputation for being boring come from? And what exactly do we mean by "boring"? Is this actually a stand-in for other words, like "confusing", or "obscure"? And is that reputation for boring well earned?  These are the questions we’re looking at today, as we examine the bard for boredom, in this episode of the Bicks Do Shakespeare. Links: Looking for Richard Love reading Shakespear...