Bard Flies
James A. Smith, William C. Quinn
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Top 10 Bard Flies Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Bard Flies episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Bard Flies for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Bard Flies episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
06/29/20 • 48 min
What happens when four young noblemen take chastity pledges to focus on their academic studies only to have the Princess of France and her ladies-in-waiting camp outside their castle? Catfishing, verbal one-upmanship, and the pitching of woo while disguised in traditional Russian garb, naturally! In this episode of Bard Flies, Will and James discuss "Love’s Labour’s Lost," a charming comedy with a serious turn in the fifth act that transforms it from a showcase for Shakespeare’s linguistic prowess to a surprisingly deep commentary on love, commitment, and growing up. // CREDITS //. Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous); Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous); illustrative excerpts from "Love’s Labour’s Lost," dir. Kenneth Branagh (2000) and "BBC Play of the Month: Love's Labour's Lost," dir. Basil Coleman (1975)
Edward III: The Hundred Years' Bore
Bard Flies
05/24/20 • 32 min
Defined by repetitive battles, inappropriate romantic gestures, gratuitous insults to the Scots, and the murky question of who wrote most of its scenes, "Edward III" is a bad play that can teach us a good deal about collaborating on art, script doctoring for the stage and screen, and the questionable parenting practices of the Plantagenet dynasty. Will and James break down why some scholars believe Shakespeare wrote the one comedic part in an otherwise listless history play and the parallels between the theater business in the Bard’s day and Hollywood in our own. // CREDITS // Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous); Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous); Illustrative excerpt from: World Without End, dir. Michael Caton-Jones (2012)
05/15/20 • 32 min
Richard Loncraine’s brilliant 1995 film adaptation of "Richard III" takes Shakespeare’s classic and sets in the Europe of the 1930s amid the rise of fascism with a blackhearted Sir Ian McKellen in the title role. Will and James discuss what makes this movie so successful -- from its all-star cast and impeccable art direction to the insights it offers about totalitarianism and the breakdown of political order. // CREDITS // Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous); Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous)
Richard III: A Kingdom for a Hearse
Bard Flies
05/08/20 • 64 min
In Richard III, the conclusion to the War of the Roses tetralogy, Richard of York connives, lies, and murders his way to the top. In the process, he dispatches his brothers, nephews, and his own wife with aplomb, plenty of puns, a broken fourth wall that paved the way for House of Cards, and a plot that both Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth infamously loved. As the tyrannical anti-hero of Shakespeare’s early masterpiece, Richard III stands without peer. //WORKS REFERENCED // James Mann, The Great Rift: Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, and the Broken Friendship That Defined an Era (2020) // CREDITS // Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous); Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous); Illustrative excepts from: Richard III, dir. Richard Loncraine (1995) and Richard III, dir. Laurence Olivier (1955)
04/20/20 • 44 min
After defeating the Goths, Rome descends into chaos in Titus Andronicus -- or, Will and James prefer to call it, The Titus Chainsaw Massacre. In Shakespeare’s goriest play, which is larded with a dozen on-stage murders, wanton dismemberment, appalling cruelty, and, of course, questionable culinary choices baked in throughout. In this episode, Will and James explore the lines between tragedy, satire, and horror and why this play went from being one of the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays in his lifetime only to be discarded for two centuries until shortly after World War I. // WORKS REFERENCED // Mark Van Doren, Shakespeare (1939); Titus Andronicus, dir. Julie Taymor (1999); The Silence of the Lambs, dir. Jonathan Demme (1991); Night of the Living Dead, dir. George Romero (1968); Alien, dir. Ripley Scott (1979); American Psycho, dir. Mary Harron (2000); Hostel, dir. Eli Roth (2005); Saw, dir. James Wan (2004) // NON-SHAKESPEAREAN RECOMMENDATIONS // Will: Ross Macdonald, The Zebra-Striped Hearse (1962)' James: Orlando Figes, A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891–1924 (1996) // CREDITS // Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous); Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous); illustrative excepts from: Silence of the Lambs, dir. Jonathan Demme (1991) and Titus Andronicus, dir. Julie Taymor (1999)
04/10/20 • 40 min
With the Wars of the Roses now thoroughly underway between King Henry VI, Queen Margaret, and the Duke of York, we get to witness England descend into a state of barbarism -- ruled by a king who wonders why we can’t all just get along. Full of increasingly intense battle and betrayal, Henry VI, Part 3 brings the degradation of civil war to life -- and reveals Shakespeare’s first fully fleshed out character in the Machivellian Richard, Duke of Gloucester -- and soon to be King Richard III. // CREDITS // Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous); Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous); illustrative excerpts from: A Game of Thrones, Season 2, Episode 3, “What is Dead May Never Die,” dir. Alik Sakharov; and from YouTube video "This Battle Fares...", performed by Ian McGarrett.
Minisode 1: "Venus and Adonis"
Bard Flies
04/07/20 • 40 min
From 1592 to 1594, plague stalked London, leading authorities to close playhouses as a public health measure. Amid this mandatory social distancing, Shakespeare sharpened his quill at home and turned to narrative poetry with “Venus and Adonis,” a retelling of the famous Greek myth that recasts a young Adonis as a victim of the older Venus’s lustful aggression. In the first Bard Flies minisode, Will and James examine the enduring relevance of Shakespeare’s work in the era of self-quarantine amid COVID-19 and the #MeToo movement. // CREDITS // Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous); Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous)
03/25/20 • 56 min
Treachery! Necromancy! Pirates! Rebellion! Unmerciful executions! In Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part 2, England takes a turn for the worse as the pitiful Henry and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (the O.G. Ned Stark of our tale) get taken for a ride by just about everyone, as nobles orchestrate baroque conspiracies against one another, the leader of a popular revolt puts Robespierre to shame in London as heads roll, and the War of the Roses finally breaks out. Intro music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous); outro music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous). Illustrative excerpts were taken from: A Game of Thrones, Season 1, Episode 5, “A Golden Crown,” dir. Daniel Minahan; The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses - Henry VI, Part 2, dir. Dominic Cooke (2016); Mark Rylance as Jack Cade from the 2017 Shakespeare Authorship Trust Conference.
Two Scoundrels of Verona
Bard Flies
02/17/20 • 44 min
Shakespeare’s first play has everything: a love quadrangle, gender-swapping disguises, banditry, erroneous Italian geography, one beautiful soliloquy, and a bit with dog. Lamentably, Will and James conclude, beginner’s luck largely does not apply in “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” a decidedly unromantic comedy centered around two women who deserve better than the titular bros with whom they end up. Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous). Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous). Illustrative excerpts featuring Geoffrey Rush and Gwyneth Paltrow from "Shakespeare in Love," dir. John Madden (1998).
06/03/22 • 53 min
In a land ruled by a paranoid and jealous king hell-bent on destroying his own family and buffeted by violent storms, miracles, and a very large and hungry bear, Shakespeare’s characters go from intense melodrama to comedy to redemption in the five wild acts of The Winter’s Tale. In this week’s episode, Will and James find themselves surprised by how much they liked this romance and debate what makes it so much more successful than some of the Bard’s later plays.
Credits
- Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous)
- Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous)
- Illustrative Excerpts: “The Winter’s Tale,” dir. Gregory Doran, Heritage Theatre (1999); “The Winter’s Tale,” dir. Kenneth Branagh, Garrick Theatre (2015)
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FAQ
How many episodes does Bard Flies have?
Bard Flies currently has 49 episodes available.
What topics does Bard Flies cover?
The podcast is about History, Podcasts, Arts and Performing Arts.
What is the most popular episode on Bard Flies?
The episode title 'The Comedy of Errors: Wherefore Art Thou Dromio?' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Bard Flies?
The average episode length on Bard Flies is 50 minutes.
How often are episodes of Bard Flies released?
Episodes of Bard Flies are typically released every 19 days, 5 hours.
When was the first episode of Bard Flies?
The first episode of Bard Flies was released on Feb 17, 2020.
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