Sep 26, 2019
This podcast keeps returning to the question of how we can reconstruct theatrical performances from bygone days. For the last few years, the website 19thcenturyacts.com has done just that. It was developed by a team led by Anita Gonzalez, of the University of Michigan, as well as Project Manager and Designer Clara...
Sep 24, 2019
We all know the classic Christmas song “Jingle Bells” —or at least we think that we do. Dr. Kyna Hamill of Boston University has been looking into the origins of this beloved holiday classic, and what she’s discovered about its creator and its first known public performance may cause us to look at the song in a...
Sep 24, 2019
When we think of Irish theatre, we tend to think primarily of playwrights and theatre companies from the Republic of Ireland, not northern part of the island. Those Northern Irish playwrights we do know, such as Brian Friel, tend to be men. Fiona Coffey’s new book, Political Acts: Women in Northern Irish...
Sep 24, 2019
Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance is a provocative classic of the Yiddish stage, and it’s recently come back into the public eye, with an upcoming revival by New Yiddish Rep and a new drama by Paula Vogel, titled Indecent, that tells the fascinating backstory behind the play’s premiere. In this episode, we talk with...
Sep 24, 2019
Of all the various eras of theatrical history, the Middle Ages might seem like one of the least immediately relevant to the concerns of the 21st century. However, Kyle A. Thomas and Dr. Carol Symes of the University of Illinois think that medieval theatre’s never been more timely, and they’re staging a fascinating...