The Bardcast: "It's Shakespeare, You Dick!"

Deluded - /dəˈlo͞odəd/

adjective: deluded

1. believing something that is not real or true.

Wow. Topical, huh???

In this episode, we discuss the MANY and varied characters in the canon that are, in one way or another, deluded.

Who can you think of that fits this particular bill? Email and tell us!!!

To send us an email - please do, we truly want to hear from you!!! - write us at: thebardcastyoudick@gmail.com 

To suppor...

Hello, dear listeners!!

We've recently been abroad!! And one of the things we learned is that the world is sad for us in the US. Sigh. 

So we decided to look at the brighter side of life!! 

In this episode, we talk about our travels, but we also look at those moments or characters or relationships in the Shakespeare canon that give us hope!!

And that springs eternal, right???

Right!!

To send us an email - please do, we truly wa...

Soooo... we were having a discussion about nobility. And not just the class rank kind, but what exactly is it that makes a person noble? And for that matter, what exactly delineates the difference between royalty and nobility?

In this episode, we discuss the characters in the canon - which characters are noble? Which are ignoble? Which characters are so complicated that it simply isn't a black and white answer??

Join us and find...

LA knows how fussy Owen gets when she gives him an online Shakespeare quiz that is TERRIBLE. And it kind of absolutely delights her. Because it pokes the bear (Owen).

In this episode, LA gives Owen a 44 question Shakespeare quiz from the website Quizlet.

And it is FUCKING HORRIBLE. Not only are the so-called "answers" to some of the questions completely ridiculous and WRONG, but things are misspelled. Like normal things. Li...

Living in the United States currently means that as much as we might try to not get obsessed over the shit show that is our country right now, it seeps in like a noxious gas.  So we figured - might as well make use of it!!

In this episode, we discuss how all the characters in the canon might have voted in this last round of US elections.  Some are harder to figure out than you might think!!

ALSO!!!!  We were chosen as Number 2 of the...

Have YOU ever seen a production of Cymbeline??? Owen hasn't, and Lisa Ann has only seen it once.

HOWEVER!!!! We ARE seeing it at The Globe in London in March, and we decided to delve a little further into the play that really is quite seldom done.

NOTE:  LA is sounding rough from the shittiest flu EVER. Apologies. (Sneeze, cough, wheeze, rasp.)


To send us an email - please do, we truly want to h...

Happy 2025, listeners!!!

What are YOUR resolutions for this new year?? We have some... but more importantly, what resolutions do the characters in the canon have??

In this episode we discuss those and play some resolution=quotes from plays=what character and play games.

Whoooo Hooooo!!! Happy New Year, you dicks!! (And dickesses!!)


To send us an email - please do, we truly want to hear from ...

As a follow up to our last episode, today we discuss the best roles in the Shakespeare canon.

SPOILER: There are A LOT more good ones than bad ones.

Check out Season 2 Episode 41 for our "A Visit From Saint Falstaff!!!"

Merry and Warm Everything and Happy New Year - you dicks and dickesses!!! (I - LA - want to note here that my laptop always changes dickesses to dickenses, which is amazingly app...

Whoever said there are no small roles, only small actors... is full of shit.

YES THERE ARE!!!! There are hundreds of small roles in the Shakespeare canon, and a lot of them SUCK. (As do some not so small roles.)

In this episode, we slap that stupid phrase right out of the proverbial mouth and discuss all the roles we can think of that fit this particular (crappy) bill.


To send us an email - please do...

                         "Travelers ne'er did lie, 
Though fools at home condemn 'em." 
                                                                     - Antonio, The Tempest, Act III Scene 3

Oh, the traveling life!!! We LOVE to travel, and we think Shakespeare felt the same way, because he uses SOOOOO many different countries and places in the canon!

In today's episode, we discuss the ...

Well..........................

It happened. And we're none too pleased about it.

But we have to move forward. Kind of. So this episode is - ostensibly - about where we see parallels in the Shakespeare canon.

Enjoy. If you are able.

To send us an email - please do, we truly want to hear from you!!! - write us at: thebardcastyoudick@gmail.com 

To support us (by giving us money - we&ap...

During her daily perusal of The New York Times, LA came upon an article entitled "Who's Afraid of William Shakespeare?" written by Drew Lichtenberg, the artistic producer at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington.

Texting it to Owen, immediately upon finishing said article, we decided that this was serious fodder for our pod.

In case you want to read along, it was published on October 21, 202...

pathetic  /pəˈθet̬.ɪk/

1. arousing pity, especially through vulnerability or sadness.
2. miserably inadequate; of very low standard.
3. ARCHAIC - relating to the emotions.

This episode, dear listeners, is our conversation about which characters in the Shakespeare canon can be considered pathetic. As you can see, there's a range - do you agree or disagree with us???

To send us an email - please do, we truly want to he...

Oh dear listeners.....

We are truly bummed. The world has lost a major light, a star, a talent without compare, a "National Treasure," as King Charles said.

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith passed away on September 27, 2024 at the ripe old age of 89.

This is our heartfelt tribute.

We love you, Maggie - rest well.  And make some amazing art with all your compatriots in the hereafter!!!

Riddle: What do you get when you cross Tolkien with Shakespeare???

Answer: Tune in to find out!!!

This is a bit of a Black Swan episode, but we tie it all together. Enjoy!!


To send us an email - please do, we truly want to hear from you!!! - write us at: thebardcastyoudick@gmail.com 

To support us (by giving us money - we're a 501C3 Non-Profit - helllloooooo, tax deductible donation!!!)...

Stars as in astrology... but also, as in our guest!!! 

We are FORTUNATE to have the SUPREMELY talented (see what we did there??) Will DeVary joining us on this episode to discuss his choice of sonnet, Sonnet 14.

Is he reaching for the heavens? 

Can we predict what he'll say??  

WHAT DOES THIS EPISODE PORTEND???

Join us and find out for yourselves, you dicks!!!


To send ...

Sooooooo..... not only is Emma Thompson a brilliant actor and wonderful human being, but she is the one who told Leda (Owen's wife) and Lisa Ann, in a bathroom in London after having seen that stunning As You Like It that we've talked so much about...

"Theatre is supposed to reduce you to rubble!"

Heaven knows this fabulous woman has done that SOOOOO many times in her career.  

We love...

In the last couple of months, we've delved into some of the most well-known Shakespearean actors.  All of them male.

It's time to shift the focus!!!!! In this episode, we rush headlong into the female side of this category - and who better to start with than herself, Dame Judi Dench??? 

(Sounds of Owen and Lisa Ann bowing and scraping.)

Literally (like the title of her recent book!), Shakespeare...

Owen went to England!!! 

WITHOUT LA!!!!  (Fuss, fuss, fuss. Ah well.)

In this episode, we discuss all the cool and not so cool things that Owen saw in the UK this time around (including several Shakespeares of differing appeal, to be sure).  

And also... we drop some excellent pod news!!!!


To send us an email - please do, we truly want to hear from you!!! - write us at: thebardcastyoudick@gm...