PlayShakespeare.com Podcast: Shakespeare Talks

Ron Severdia chats with professor David Crystal about Shakespeare's Original Pronunciation, his Hamlet Quarto discovery, Shakespeare's Words, and his love for "Twitterrhea".

David Cote interviews Ralph Fiennes at the Rubin Museum of Art about his love for Shakespeare and new film Coriolanus.

Editor in Chief Christopher Adams interviews Nicholas Barter, former Principal of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), in Shanghai.

Editor in Chief Christopher Adams interviews the cast of The New Theatre's touring production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in China.

Ron Severdia sits down with actor Ben Crystal to discuss playing the title role in Hamlet in original pronunciation.

PlayShakespeare.com Editor in Chief Chris Adams talks to the cast of a new kind of Hamlet at the Factory Theatre in London.

PlayShakespeare.com Editor in Chief Chris Adams talks to the group behind the newly formed Swivel Theatre in London.Their inaugurual production of Othello won rave reviews.

A thrilling look at two giants of the Elizabethan stage. Born in the same year as Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe died at the age of 29, having revolutionized English dramatic poetry with his dark, exuberant and wildly theatrical plays. The rivalry between these two great poets and Marlowe’s influence on Shakespeare’s work are the subjects of this evening, which features readings from the works of both playwrights and commentary by one of the world’s greatest Shakespeare scholars, James Shapiro (1599, Rival Playwrights and the forthcoming Contested Will). Performers include Obie Award winning actor John Douglas Thompson (Othello, The Emperor Jones), Red Bull Theater veteran Matthew Rauch (The Revenger’s Tragedy, Edward II), and Christopher Evan Welch (Festen, The Crucible). Directed by Michael Sexton. Recorded November 9, 2009 at the Kaye Playhouse.

Lesley Currier discusses her past twenty years as Managing Director at the Marin Shakespeare Company and their current 2009 season. Interviewed by Denise Battista, Editor-in-Chief of PlayShakespeare.com.

Stage and screen actor Steven Skybell talks about his relationship with Shakespeare, Hamlet at the Globe, Richard II, and the power of verse. Interviewed by Michael Sexton, Artistic and Executive Director of The Shakespeare Society.

Actress Laila Robins discusses her Shakespeare memories, discovering the text and Antony & Cleopatra. Interviewed by Michael Sexton, Artistic and Executive Director of The Shakespeare Society.

A one-night only reading of Shakespeare's perpetually controversial The Merchant of Venice featuring commentary from premiere West Coast Shakespeare scholar Denise Battista. Following will be an audience discussion led by a panel of writers and artists including world-renowned Jewish-American author and fantasist Peter S. Beagle and John Fisher, Artistic Director of Theater Rhinoceros, San Francisco's oldest queer theater company. Performed by: Nathan Tucker (Shylock), Kendra Arimoto (Portia), Stuart Bousel (Bassanio), Christopher P. Kelly (Antonio), Shaun Landry (Nerissa), Lisa Swanson (Jessica), Tony Sommers (Lorenzo), David Bicha (Gratiano), Carl Lucania (Salanio), Rik Lopes (Salarino), Jason Wong (Prince of Morocco), Sean Fenton (Prince of Aragon), Brian Olkowski (Tubal), Chris Struett (Launcelot) and Ryan Hayes (Narrator).

In the first episode of Shakespeare Talks, director Davis McCallum sits down with author of The Shakespeare Wars, Ron Rosenbaum to discuss directing Shakespeare, speaking verse, and King Lear.