One of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, Twelfth Night - otherwise known as What You Will - is Shakespeare's last genuine romantic comedy, but it still has its serious themes.
Read MoreAll is not rotten in the state of Denmark until Hamlet comes along and makes a mess of the whole thing. In Episode 22 of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel discusses Shakespeare's most famous play.
Read MoreWomen are wooed in Shakespeare, but until As you Like It, he never showed us the process by which they are won.
Read MoreThe central relationship of Julius Caesar is a masculine one: it is the dissolution of the friendship between Brutus and Cassius which is Shakespeare's primary concern. In focusing on something so personal, Shakespeare is able to demonstrate the manner in which large events have a personal cost. In Episode 20 of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane explores one of Shakespeare's greatest and most enduring works.
Read MoreThe critic Norman Rabkin called Henry V “the capstone to an edifice of plays tightly mortared to one another”[i], and yet, the majority of productions attempt to present the play as a standalone story that represents the producers' own political vision. These distortions have created a new play entirely and the most popular versions of Henry V have not revealed Shakespeare’s Henry, but rather one which served its creator’s particular purpose. In Episode 19 of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane explores this powerful but uneven play.
Read MoreThe prototype for every warring would-be lovers who have ever followed, Beatrice and Benedict tower over Much Ado About Nothing; just as Falstaff stole Hal's thunder, so too do Beatrice and Benedict steal the show from everyone else.
Read MoreIf anyone in Elizabethan times wrote Shakespearian fan fiction, it probably looks a lot like The Merry Wives of Windsor. Although half its cast has been stolen from the Henriad, the story doesn't quite fit within the chronology of those two plays, making it feel as if Shakespeare plucked his characters out of one universe and dropped them into another. Had he done this for the sake of a great play, all would be forgiven. Sadly, this is not the case.
Read MoreHenry IV Part Two is a messy and weak play that no theatrical producer would ever produce on its own. When it is produced, it is always in conjunction with its predecessor, making the play the theatrical equivalent of your favorite comic book sidekick. In Episode 16 of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane discusses the problems with putting Sir John Falstaff at centre stage. Also, the show is summarize and Orson Wells' film Chimes at Midnight is discussed.
Read More
Henry IV Part One sits as a touchstone in Shakespeare's career, his first glorious success and the means by which we can mark his development as a playwright. In Episode 15 of Shakespeare Unbard, Joel Fishbane explores how, with Henry IV Part One, Shakespeare the Artist truly arrives. Also, the play is summarized and several adaptations are discussed.
Read More
Shakespeare Unbard is a podcast designed to get your excited about Shakespeare - but there's one play you should never get excited about. In Episode 14, Joel Fishbane discusses the many, many problems with "The Merchant of Venice".
Read More