No Holds Bard
No Holds Bard | |
---|---|
Presentation | |
Hosted by | Dan Beaulieu and Kevin Condardo |
Genre | Shakespeare, Theatre |
Updates | Weekly |
Production | |
Opening theme | "Pyramus and Thisby" by Zelda Williams |
No. of episodes | 76 |
Publication | |
Debut | April 8, 2015 |
End date | Current |
Provider | Seven Stages Shakespeare Company |
Website |
noholdsbard |
No Holds Bard is an American podcast hosted by Dan Beaulieu and Kevin Condardo, the co-founder/artistic director and managing director of Seven Stages Shakespeare Company in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.[1]
Format
Word of the Week
Before each regular episode, Dan chooses a Word of the Week. This is a Shakespearean word that may be confusing to an average listener. Dan defines the word, gives an example of it in a sentence, and then tries to use it during the episode without Kevin realizing. At the end of the episode, Kevin attempts to guess what the Word of the Week was.
Duel
The regular episodes include a segment where Dan and Kevin answer three quick questions at the intersection of Shakespeare and the present day. These are usually listener-submitted questions, though they are occasionally submitted by Dan or Kevin. Episodes #34 and #60 were best of compilations of previous Duel questions.
Previous Duel questions have been:
- With the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States, what two characters in the canon would be most excited by this news?[2]
- We are in the age of celebrity branding. Which character would make the best company spokesperson, and what product would they endorse?[3]
- To celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, the Royal Mail launched a set of stamps featuring iconic Shakespeare quotes. What quote from the canon is most fitting for a stamp?[4]
For certain questions, a lightning round is triggered wherein Dan and Kevin give as many answers to the question as possible within a single minute (e.g. Shakespearean cocktails).[5]
Homework
During the regular episodes, Dan and Kevin answer a Shakespearean homework question usually found on Yahoo! Answers or Reddit, or submitted directly to them.
Previous homework questions have been:
- I need to write an 800 word script that fills a gap within the plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream. What are some gaps I could write about?[6]
- Does Caliban deserve to rule the island at the end of The Tempest?[7]
- In Julius Caesar, how is Mark Antony's funeral speech more personal than Brutus' speech?[8]
Everyday Shakes
The final segment of regular episodes is Everyday Shakes. Dan and Kevin select a Shakespearean quote, or a portion of a quote, and after reading it in context, examine how it can be used in contemporary conversations. The quote they choose is used for the episode's title.
So You're Going to See Shakespeare
Once a month, in place of a regular episode, they release a "So You're Going to See Shakespeare" feature. During the episode Dan and Kevin give a plot summary of the play, discussing where it falls in Shakespeare's personal timeline and what was happening in the world at that time. The breakdown includes identifying a prominent theme in the play, picking which non-title character they would most like to portray in a production, analyzing a quote from the play, and highlighting the biggest practical challenge for a director (usually a stage direction).
The current list of already-discussed plays are:
- The Tempest (Episode #15)
- Macbeth (Episode #19)
- Pericles (Episode #23)
- The Winter's Tale (Episode #27)
- The Two Noble Kinsmen (Episode #32)
- All's Well That Ends Well (Episode #36)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (Episode #40)
- Romeo and Juliet (Episode #45)
- The Taming of the Shrew (Episode #49)
- Love's Labour's Lost (Episode #53)
- Troilus and Cressida (Episode #58)
- As You Like It (Episode #62)
- Othello (Episode #67)
- King Lear (Episode #71)
- The Merchant of Venice (Episode #75)
Wildcard
On the last week of every month they release a "Wildcard" episode. Originally, the episode just had to "be better than nothing," which was then changed to be "but so so"[9] (an allusion to Episode #52: "It is but so so"). A common theme among Wildcard episodes is drafting Shakespeare's characters into different fantasy sports within a fictional high school, Shakespeare High. Expanding on that idea, they also cast a fantasy production of 1776 (musical).[10]
Episodes
Episode # | Title | Origin of Everyday Shakes | Word of the Week | Episode Intro (What is up you...) | Original Release Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | No longer available | - | - | - | - |
2 | No longer available | - | - | - | - |
3 | Country Matters | Hamlet | Quoth | Friends | April 8, 2015 |
4 | And Thus the Whirligig of Time Brings In His Revenges | Twelfth Night | Time | Subscribers | April 22, 2015 |
5 | I Am Angling Now | The Winter's Tale | Knave | - | May 5, 2015 |
6 | Sell while you Can, You are Not for All Markets | As You Like It | Sans | Whirligigs | May 20, 2015 |
7 | I Leave my Duty a little unthought of and Speak out of my Injury | Twelfth Night | Wherefore | Lurkers | June 5, 2015 |
8 | Sad Hours Seem Long | Romeo and Juliet | Base | Illyriacs | June 17, 2015 |
9 | I Am In A Holiday Humor | As You Like It | Bandy | Funeral Baked Meats | July 1, 2015 |
10 | Live Loathed and Long | Timon of Athens | 'Twas | Brave Conquerors | July 14, 2015 |
11 | Too Full o' th' Milk of Human Kindness | Macbeth | 'Tis | Co-mates and Brothers in Exile | July 29, 2015 |
12 | I Am Not What I Am | Othello | Cuckold | - | August 11, 2015 |
13 | The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strain'd | The Merchant of Venice | Yarely | Hearts | August 25, 2015 |
14 | Our Doubts Are Traitors | Measure for Measure | But | Fragments | September 9, 2015 |
15 | So You're Going To See THE TEMPEST | - | - | Ministers of Fate | September 15, 2015 |
16 | Now Step I Forth To Whip Hypocrisy | Love's Labour's Lost | Do't | Romans | September 22, 2015 |
17 | The Shakespearean Hockey League | - | - | Boys of Ice | September 29, 2015 |
18 | I Would Eat His Heart In The Marketplace | Much Ado About Nothing | Sirrah | Fishmongers | October 7, 2015 |
19 | So You're Going To See MACBETH | - | - | Rump-fed Ronyons | October 13, 2015 |
20 | I Like Your Silence, It The More Shows Off Your Wonder | The Winter's Tale | Coxcomb | Wrinkled Elders | October 20, 2015 |
21 | Shakespeare Fan Theories | - | - | Rare Parrot-Teachers | October 28, 2015 |
22 | We Few, We Happy Few | Henry V (play) | 'Zounds | Winter Crickets | November 3, 2015 |
23 | So You're Going To See PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE | - | - | - | November 10, 2015 |
24 | I Will Stand The Hazard Of The Die | Richard III (play) | Sans | Skeins of Thread | November 24, 2015 |
25 | The Ideal Order To Tackle Playing The Big Parts | - | - | Walking Shadows | November 24, 2015 |
26 | Nothing Will Come Of Nothing | King Lear | Afore | Turlygods | December 1, 2015 |
27 | So You're Going To See THE WINTER'S TALE | - | - | Bawcocks | December 8, 2015 |
28 | I Wasted Time, And Now Doth Time Waste Me | Richard II (play) | Avouch | Dull Shadows | December 15, 2015 |
29 | 'Tis The Night Before Christmas | - | - | Birds of Dawning | December 22, 2015 |
30 | Shakespeare Book Reports | - | - | Young Squarers | December 31, 2015 |
31 | If You Have Tears, Prepare To Shed Them Now | Julius Caesar | Ye | Rotten Oranges | January 5, 2016 |
32 | So You're Going To See THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN | - | - | Mute Contemplatives | January 12, 2016 |
33 | A Plague On Both Your Houses | Romeo and Juliet | Cur | Midwives to my Woe | January 19, 2016 |
34 | Best Of The Duel (Episodes 1-10) | - | - | Hazards of the Die | January 26, 2016 |
35 | That You Were Once Unkind Befriends Me Now | Sonnet 120 | Rampallian | Moon-Calves | February 2, 2016 |
36 | So You're Going To See ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL | - | - | Dumb Innocents | February 9, 2016 |
37 | What A Piece Of Work Is A Man | Hamlet | Prithee | Bed Pressers | February 17, 2016 |
38 | Cutting Shakespeare | - | - | Heartless Hinds | February 24, 2016 |
39 | We Have Scorched The Snake, Not Killed It | Macbeth | Kicky-Wicky | Whoreson Mad Compounds of Magesty | March 1, 2016 |
40 | So You're Going To See A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM | - | - | Lob of Spirits | March 8, 2016 |
41 | Rare Words! Brave World! | Henry IV, Part 1 | Will | Wags | March 15, 2016 |
42 | Shakespeare League Baseball | - | - | Players | March 22, 2016 |
43 | We Are Not Throwing Away Our Shot To Talk About HAMILTON | - | - | Imperfect Men | March 29, 2016 |
44 | Few Love To Hear The Sins They Love To Act | Pericles | Aby | Patch Brains | April 7, 2016 |
45 | So You're Going To See ROMEO AND JULIET | - | - | Cunning Cooks | April 19, 2016 |
46 | To Thine Own Self Be True | Hamlet | In't | Thorny Hedgehogs | April 19, 2016 |
47 | Good Night, Sweet (Prince Symbol) | - | - | Princely Peers | April 28, 2016 |
48 | Speak What We Feel, Not What We Ought To Say | King Lear | Small ale | Whoreson Loggerheads | May 3, 2016 |
49 | So You're Going To See THE TAMING OF THE SHREW | - | - | Thou Rags, Thou Quantities, Thou Remnants | May 10, 2016 |
50 | Home-Keeping Youth Have Ever Homely Wits | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | But | Fat Friars | May 17, 2016 |
51 | The Incomplete Histories | - | - | Loggerheads | May 24, 2016 |
52 | It Is But So So | As You Like It | Saucy | Mistress Minions | May 31, 2016 |
53 | So You're Going To See LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST | - | - | Brave Conquerors | June 7, 2016 |
54 | The Ills We Do, Their Ills Instruct Us So | Othello | Nonce | Shelled Peascods | June 21, 2016 |
55 | The Incomplete Histories Debrief | - | - | Barefoot Brothers | June 21, 2016 |
56 | 177Shx | - | - | Country Men | June 28, 2016 |
57 | Wisely And Slow | Romeo and Juliet | Tang | Tassle-Gentles | July 5, 2016 |
58 | So You're Going To See TROILUS AND CRESSIDA | - | - | Galled Geese of Winchester | July 12, 2016 |
59 | Dissemble All Your Griefs And Discontents | Titus Andronicus | Ay | Changing Pieces | July 19, 2016 |
60 | Best Of The Duel II (Episodes 11-26) | - | - | Pampered Jades of Asia | July 26, 2016 |
61 | There Is A World Elsewhere | Coriolanus | Thou | Jackanapes | August 2, 216 |
62 | So You're Going To See AS YOU LIKE IT | - | - | Country Copulatives | August 9, 2016 |
63 | So Foul And Fair A Day I Have Not Seen | Macbeth | Dun | Weird Sisters | August 16, 2016 |
64 | Shakespeare Fantasy Football | - | - | 1936 Draft Pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers | August 23, 2016 |
65 | Sonnet Exploder (#97) | - | - | Widowed Wombs | September 1, 2016 |
66 | I Have Drunk And Seen The Spider | The Winter's Tale | Oft | Sourest-Nature Dogs | September 7, 2016 |
67 | So You're Going To See OTHELLO | - | - | Barbary Horses | September 14, 2016 |
68 | I See You What You Are | Twelfth Night | Qua | General Offences | September 20, 2016 |
69 | Will, Actually: HAMLET | - | - | Wretched, Rash, Intruding Fools | September 28, 2016 |
70 | Each Substance Of A Grief Hath Twenty Shadows | Richard II | Dissemble | Uncropped Flowers | October 5, 2016 |
71 | So You're Going To See KING LEAR | - | - | Lily-Livered, Action-Taking, Whoreson, Glass-Gazing, Super-Serviceable Finical Rogues | October 13, 2016 |
72 | Pray You Now, Forget and Forgive | King Lear | Wawl | Patrons of My Right | October 25, 2016 |
73 | Interview with the Director of BEING SHAKESPEARE | - | - | Whining Schoolboys | October 25, 2016 |
74 | When They Seldom Come, They Wish'd For Come | Henry IV, Part 1 | Unyoked | Bear Herds | November 9, 2016 |
75 | So You're Going To See THE MERCHANT OF VENICE | - | - | Wise and Upright Judges | November 22, 2016 |
76 | Sweet Are The Uses If Adversity | As You Like It | Nay | Scrubbed Boys | November 23, 2016 |
77 | Shakespeare Santa | - | - | Noble Hearts | November 30, 2016 |
Reception
NPR featured The Shakespearean Hockey League episode on their podcast aggregator, earbud.fm.[11] "Dan Beaulieu and Kevin Condardo, two smart-aleck Bostonian theater guys now living in NYC, love Shakespeare. They also love sports. In this episode, they draft a fantasy hockey league based on Shakespeare — and it's the perfect amount of absurd."[12]
CBC Radio featured the Shakespeare League Baseball episode on their recommended podcast playlist.[13]
References
- ↑ "Best of NH 2016 Arts & Culture". July 2016.
- ↑ Episode #9 - I Am in a Holiday Humor - No Holds Bard (July 1, 2015)
- ↑ Episode #16 - Now Step I Forth To Whip Hypocrisy - No Holds Bard (September 22, 2015)
- ↑ Episode #44 - Few Love To Hear The Sins They Love To Act - No Holds Bard (April 7, 2016)
- ↑ Episode #13 - The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strain'd - No Holds Bard (August 25, 2015)
- ↑ Episode #20 - I Like Your Silence, It The More Shows Off Your Wonder - No Holds Bard (October 20, 2015)
- ↑ Episode #59 - Dissemble All Your Griefs And Discontents - No Holds Bard (July 19, 2016)
- ↑ Episode #66 - I Have Drunk And Seen The Spider - No Holds Bard (September 7, 2016)
- ↑ Episode #55 - The Incomplete Histories Debrief - No Holds Bard (June 22, 2016)
- ↑ Episode #56 - 177Shx - No Holds Bard (June 28, 2016)
- ↑ "Shaking it up: In Portsmouth, Shakespeare lives". 13 April 2016.
- ↑ Drew Broussard (4 March 2016). "No Holds Bard: The Shakespearean Hockey League".
- ↑ Matt Galloway and Lindsay Michael (7 July 2016). "6 Saucy podcasts on Shakespeare".