Henry IV - Episode 3

featuring interviews with actor Harry Lennix
and University of California, Santa Barbara professor Jim Kearney

After forcefully taking the English throne in the play Richard II, Bolingbroke a.k.a. Henry IV struggles to keep hold of the crown himself. UCSB professor Jim Kearney and actor Harry Lennix (Titus, The Matrix Reloaded, NBC’s The Blacklist) delve into Henry IV’s fraught relationship with his son (the future King Henry V), the stark difference in his leadership style from Richard II's, and the prophecy that keeps Henry IV believing he’s destined to fight a holy war in Jerusalem. Lennix also discusses his film adaptation, H4, that places the text of Henry IV Part 1 and 2 in the experience of modern black America.

Viola - Episode 2

featuring interviews with actors Sara Bruner and Lisa Wolpe
and University of Southern California professor Carla Della Gatta

The second installment of Shakespeare’s Shadows looks at the real reason for Viola’s disguise as a young man, the nuances of Twelfth Night’s tricky love triangle, Viola’s curious silence at the end of Act 5, and more with USC professor Carla Della Gatta, Lisa Wolpe — who has directed and starred in multiple Twelfth Night productions — and Sara Bruner,  who took on the roles of both Viola and Sebastian in a 2016 Oregon Shakespeare Festival staging of the beloved comedy.

Lear - Episode 1

featuring interviews with actors Fran Kranz and John Slade
and University of California, Irvine professor Julia Lupton

Lear’s descent into madness, varying interpretations of a pivotal moment with his daughter Cordelia, and where there may be optimism within the arc of one of the Bard’s greatest tragic characters are all discussed in the first episode of Shakespeare’s Shadows with UC Irvine professor Julia Lupton, John Slade (a familiar face to frequenters of Southern California Shakespeare productions), and Fran Kranz (Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing).

This episode contains explicit language.