The Bicks Pod

Episode 13 - The True Story of Richard III

Richard III is supposed to have been a conniving and megalomaniacal ruler. Henry Tudor believed he was a usurper, having wrested control of the crown and throne of England from his brother, Edward IV’s, line of succession, which he later claimed was actually illegitimate. And he has stood accused of orchestrating the murders of his other elder brother George, Duke of Clarence, several advisors to his late brother King Edward IV, his own wife Anne Neville, and—most famously—his nephews, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, the young Princes in the Tower.
Was Richard the evil usurping murderer that the Tudors and William Shakespeare himself would have us believe? Or was he, as Richardians insist, a victim of smear campaigns and propaganda at the hands of the victors of England’s bloodiest dynastic battle?
Richard III: Tyrannical Murderer or Misunderstood King? That's the question we want to discuss in today's episode of The Bicks Do Shakespeare.
Notes:
"Richard III: The King in the Car Park" - Channel 4 documentary"Richard III: Fact or Fiction""Britain's Real Monarch" with Tony Robinson

Episode 12 - Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's bloodiest plays, set around the Roman revenge tragedy of its titular character and the fateful fall of his family.
Along with most of the other characters as well.
S. Clarke Hulse, in his essay "Wresting the Alphabet: Oratory and Action in 'Titus Andronicus'", counts "14 killings, 9 of them on stage, 6 severed members, 1 rape (or 2 or 3, depending on how you count), 1 live burial, 1 case of insanity and 1 of cannibalism—an average of 5.2 atrocities per act, or one for every 97 lines." It can be a supremely challenging play to read and watch, in spite of its short length, and the distate for this play permeates its production history; it fell out of favour in the 18th and 19th century and is still considered one of Shakespeare's least-popular plays.
But if you can set aside the discomforting facts of the gruesome murders committed its 2500 or so lines, there are some interesting things being presented here. The conflation of civilized Rome and barbaric Goths, rape and revenge, the role of women as either mothers or monsters/virgins or whores, and the weaponization of language are all fascinating avenues of entry into the horror of the Bard's ancient Roman revenge fantasy.
In Marriage Counselling, Aidan and Lindsay debate "Who is responsible for everything that goes wrong in Titus Andronicus?"
Notes:
S. Clarke Hulse - "Wresting the Alphabet: Oratory and Action in 'Titus Andronicus'"David Willbern - "Rape and Revenge in 'Titus Andronicus'"Julie Taymor - Titus

Episode 11 - "Shakespeare is Boring!"

Where does that reputation for being boring come from? And what exactly do we mean by "boring"? Is this actually a stand-in for other words, like "confusing", or "obscure"? And is that reputation for boring well earned? 
These are the questions we’re looking at today, as we examine the bard for boredom, in this episode of the Bicks Do Shakespeare.
Links:
Looking for Richard
Love reading Shakespeare? It can trigger a sudden burst of drama in your brain
Surviving the Teenage Brain - The Nature of Things
Why do you think people consider Shakespeare boring? - Reddit
Aidan's Letterboxd Profile!

Episode 10 - Henry VI Part 3

We complete our end of the Henry VI trilogy with a play that had bits of everything we liked from Part 2, but with a lot more of what we didn't like from Part 1. Join us as we wrap up the sad story of Henry VI, revel in the reign of Edward IV, and lament the fact that these plays give up so much of what Shakespeare does well for so much of what he doesn't. 
Notes:
Margaret of Anjou did actually take on a leadership role in some of the key battles of the Wars of the Roses (such as the Battle of Tewkesbury and the Second Battle of St. Albans). I suppose the fact that we were in such disbelief about this fact just goes to show how reviled she was in comparison to other female military leaders of the time, and how little English history celebrated it's women.
William of Orange did technically invade and depose Charles II (Aidan got this accidentally right when he named James II; he actually meant Charles I) - see the Glorious Revolution for more details on this deposition that occured about 200 years after the Wars of the Roses.
The Playbill entry for Rose Rage can be found on their website. There's also an article about the play from the Observer.

Episode 9 - Top 5 Favourite Shakespearean Characters

This episode we decided to get a little personal. Rather than try to take an objective look at the characters in Shakespeare's canon, we just picked out our favourites. The ones that stand out for us after years of study, or maybe just a single performance. Forgoing any rational reasoning, we have picked out our most memorable characters, and then post-hoc tried to defend our choices to one another. Along the way we chose a select quote that we thought best summed up each character, and we even picked out a few honourable mentions, as any good listicle does.
Next episode we will be returning with the last part of Henry VI, who sadly (Spoiler Alert!) did not make our list of top characters. So join us again next time as we near the conclusion of the Wars of the Roses!

Episode 8 - Henry VI Part 2

Henry VI Part 2 deals with the immediate lead-up to the Wars of the Roses, with court intrigue and tons of backstabbing that results in the First Battle of St. Albans in 1455. Henry VI was an ineffectual king in the actual historical record, and Shakespeare's Henry is that to a 'T'---cuckolded by his wife and goaded into a civil war by his ill-seeming advisers, Henry's eventual downfall is telegraphed quite clearly in this play. He's surrounded by a cast of characters, from his various Dukes and Lords to his own wife, Queen Margaret, to his enemy Richard, Duke of York, to the rebel Jack Cade, who set wheels in motion toward their own separate goals that Henry could not stop on his best day. The lack of leadership from the throne leads to a power vacuum and shows the danger of "vaulting ambition" in the hands of men (and women) of loose morals.Our discussion today touches on the various characters, the source and types of power---be it from kings or "The Commons"--- and the violent nature of this installment, as well as the general strengths of this play (our favourite of the minor tetralogy). And then, in Marriage Counselling this episode, The Bicks debate the topic: Who is the protagonist, the hero, the "good guy" in Henry VI Part 2?
Notes:
It was not an Admiral from Star Wars that Lindsay thought Henry VI resembled; it was Grand Moff Tarkin. (Lindsay will commence with the cone of shame now...)

Episode 7 - The Hundred Years' War

To help illuminate a bit of the history as Shakespeare saw it, we’re looking at the Hundred Years' War as we now understand it. All the nuance, the technological innovations, the separate dynastic squabbles that contributed to the way the war ended, and its legacy are all points of conversation we discuss here. We’ll hopefully get a sense of the changes that affected over five generations of English monarchs and millions of nobles, peasants, and soldiers who fought in this long, grueling war, and understand a bit more about where Shakespeare was coming from as well as how we should look at this period in history.
Notes:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Hundred-Years-War
A Brief History of the Hundred Years War by Desmond Seward 
The Hundred Years' War - YouTube
History Matters - The Hundred Years' War
"Love Affair That Made the Hundred Years' War Inevitable"

Episode 6 - Henry VI Part 1

This episode is dedicated to one of Shakespeare's least performed (and least deserving of performance) plays: Henry VI Part 1.
We talk the discrepancies with history, the shoddy characterization, and the reality that this was not likely written by Shakespeare alone. While not huge fans of this particular play, we did come to appreciate the appreciable aspects of it, including the unintentionally hilarious use of hobby-horses in the only filmed version available, and the distinct possibility of Star Wars prequel memes. We also were excited to put our newly found knowledge of the Wars of the Roses (see Episode 5) to the use as we dissected the major inconsistencies of the play.
Don't let our doom and gloom over this play corrupt your view of all Shakespeare's histories though! Coming up soon will be the sequel to this one, which (spoiler alert) we enjoyed very much.