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In this mini episode, we sit down with Katherine Steele Brokaw and Elizabeth Freestone, authors of Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet, to talk about their work producing ecological Shakespeare. We discuss what it means to approach Shakespeare's plays through an ecological lens, how that thinking shapes the choices theatremakers make in rehearsal and production, and what inspired them to write a book on the subject. We also explore how Shakespeare's plays can help us engage with the environmental challenges of our own moment.

About Katherine Steele Brokaw

Katherine Steele Brokaw is a Professor of English at University of Texas at Austin and the Director of Shakespeare at Winedale at UT. Her work focuses primarily on the production and study of Shakespearean performance, with a special interest in how modern productions can be used to highlight ecological issues. She is the author of Staging Harmony: Music and Religious Change in Late Medieval and Early English Drama and Shakespeare and Community Performance and she is co-author, with Elizabeth Freestone, of Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet. She was the co-founding artistic director of Shakespeare in Yosemite, where she adapted and directed eight productions.

About Elizabeth Freestone

Elizabeth Freestone is a British theatre director. She is an Associate Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company for whom she has directed The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, The Rape of Lucrece, The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes, Crooked Dances and Here Lies Mary Spindler. Her next show for the RSC will be Coriolanus in Spring 2027. She has also directed Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing for Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, Queen Margaret at the Royal Exchange in Manchester and Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare's Globe. She has a PhD from the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford upon Avon and is the co-author (with Katie Brokaw) of Performing Shakespeare on an Endangered Planet and the co-author (with Jeanie O'Hare) of 100 Plays To Save The World.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

For updates:

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Support the podcast:

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• Buy us a coffee
• Bookshop.org: Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores.
• Libro.fm: Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link.

Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.

In this episode, we look at the women and boys whose performances shaped the depiction of women on Shakespeare's stage. We start in Italy, discussing the real actresses of the commedia dell'arte companies who originated the "diva" archetype, and consider how their influence may have shaped the writing and performance of Shakespeare's characters like Rosalind in As You Like It. We then look at the early modern English stage, where women were barred from performing, and examine the impact of John Lyly's Galatea on the plays and playwrights of the era. Finally, we look at the documented reality of life in the Boys' Companies of Shakespeare's time, and what that history tells us about the young actors who brought these performances to life.

Content warning: this episode contains brief mentions of exploitation of children. Please listen with care.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

For updates:

• Join our email list
• Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod
• Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

Support the podcast:

• Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone
• Buy us a coffee
• Bookshop.org: Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores.
• Libro.fm: Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link.

Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree.

Works referenced:

Tosh, Will. Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare. Sceptre, 2025.

Want to support the podcast? Join our Patreon or buy us a coffee. As an independent podcast, Shakespeare Anyone? is supported by listeners like you.

In this episode, we sit down with Emily Jenkins, Text Practitioner for Shakespeare's Globe Higher Education and a leading Shakespeare and acting coach for stage and screen. We discuss what a text coach actually does in the rehearsal process, how she works with actors to bring Shakespeare's language to life, and how she found her way into this specialized corner of theatre. We also talk about how she decided to start sharing Shakespeare tips on social media and built a thriving community on Instagram as @ShakespearewithEmily. Last but not least, we ask her the big question: if she could teach everyone in the world one thing about Shakespeare, what would it be?

About Emily Jenkins

Emily Jenkins is Text Practitioner for Shakespeare's Globe Higher Education and a leading Shakespeare and acting coach for stage and screen. Since 2012 she has worked at the Globe exploring practical, text-led approaches to Shakespeare's plays with students and professionals alike. Alongside this work, Emily is multi-award-winning playwright and theatre director. She has won two Fringe First awards, and has had her work produced and performed in London's West End. She regularly posts Shakespeare tips on instagram as ShakespearewithEmily and has build a strong community of over 22 thousand followers.

Emily's website includes free Shakespeare acting resources, text guides, all the plays and apocrypha, and monologue finder that allows you to search for every speech in Shakespeare:

https://emilyjenkins.studio/shakespeare
https://emilyjenkins.studio/guides

Emily has also created a 'Foundational verse' course. In 16 online videos, Emily talks you through, step-by-step Shakespeare's most popular form of verse, iambic pentameter, the clues it gives us and how it can support you as an actor. Find out more at https://emilyjenkins.studio/learn-shakespeare.

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

For updates:

• Join our email list
• Follow us on Instagram at @shakespeareanyonepod
• Visit our website at shakespeareanyone.com

Support the podcast:

• Become a patron at patreon.com/shakespeareanyone
• Buy us a coffee
• Bookshop.org: Since 2020, Bookshop.org has raised more than $38 million for independent bookstores. Shop our Shakespeare Anyone? storefront to find books featured on the podcast, books by our guests, and other Shakespeare-related books and gifts. Every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores.
• Libro.fm: Libro.fm makes it possible to purchase audiobooks through your local bookshop of choice. Use our link for 2 free audiobooks when you sign up for a new Libro.fm membership using our link.

Find additional links mentioned in the episode in our Linktree.