October 25, 2022
In this episode, American military veteran Stephan Wolfert relates the story of how Hamlet’s soliloquy saved his life when he was at his lowest point. Stephan now runs an organisation which uses Shakespearean monologues to help other veterans cope with their trauma. The episode also features Professor Alisha Ali. The reading is by Emma Fielding
You can find out more about DE-CRUIT here: https://www.decruit.org/
This episode features discussion of suicide.
October 17, 2022
In this episode, we zero in on just one line in Hamlet's famous soliloquy to investigate how Shakespeare packs complex and multiple meanings into just a few words. We hear how neuroscientists have used the same line to investigate the startling effect which Shakespeare has on our brains.
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This episode features Professor Simon Palfrey of Oxford University and Professor Philip Davis of the Centre for Research Into Reading, Literature and Society, Liverpool University. The reading is by Emma Fielding.
![Episode 15: To Make Oppression Bitter: Shakespeare Scholars on the Frontline in Ukraine]()
March 7, 2022
The Shakespeare scholars of Ukraine have found themselves on the frontline of a brutal war, and have launched an urgent appeal in conjunction with colleagues around the world. We hear from the scholars whose lives have been swept away by war, and who have bravely volunteered to do everything they can to help. They tell us how the play of Hamlet has been intertwined for centuries with the cause of Ukrainian freedom and independence; and how his famous question has a starkly existential meaning for the future of their country and for every Ukrainian.
To donate to the Shakespeare scholars' appeal, all details are here: https://flutetheatre.co.uk/
Huge thanks to Ukrainian band Balaklava Blues for permission to use their song, Shelter Our Sky, which has been released this week to urge the international community to help Ukraine:
https://www.balaklavablues.ca/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=kFAHCnNV-vE&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0tMia0WGP0uzRM-SGjfy6p5sufSiGnebdt8etAVRchARAp_NadF2cSndk
May 13, 2021
In this special episode of the podcast, we celebrate the return of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre after 14 months of lockdown and cancelled performances. What's it like to act on that famous stage, and what have actors learned after nearly 25 years of innovative theatrical experimentation? With Mark Rylance, Paul Chahidi, Naomi Frederick, Laura Rogers, Dominic Rowan, Emma Pallant, Michael Benz, Jonathan Broadbent and Philip Bird.
For more information on the podcast and how you can help theatres and actors during the COVID crisis:
http://www.fleetingyearfilms.com/podcast.html#
or email Andrew@fleetingyearfilms.com
![Episode 13: Whose Common Theme]()
April 14, 2021
In this episode of the podcast, we talk to people who have found meaning and a sense of shared experience in Hamlet’s famous soliloquy at the most difficult times of their lives; including dealing with bereavement, traumatic loss and mental health problems. We also talk to Maggie O Farrell, whose recent award-winning novel speculates that the uncanny power of the play may be rooted in the grief of Shakespeare himself, who wrote the play a few years after the death of his own son. With Lucy Clarke, Laura Clarke, Erica Cantley, Maggie O’Farrell, Christie Carson, Dominic Dromgoole and Emma Smith
Laura Clarke's website: https://thebookhabit.co.uk/
Teaching Hamlet As My Father Died, by Erica Cantley: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaching-HAMLET-My-Father-Died/dp/1945962313/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hamnet-WINNER-WOMENS-PRIZE-FICTION/dp/1472223829/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1618391427&sr=1-1
The speech readings are by Emma Fielding and Simon Paisley Day. For more information on the podcast and how you can help theatres and actors during the COVID crisis:
http://www.fleetingyearfilms.com/podcast.html#
or email Andrew@fleetingyearfilms.com
March 29, 2021
In this episode, we talk to some of Britain's leading stage actresses - Dame Harriet Walter, Mariah Gale, Sian Brooke, Katie West, Kellie Shirley and Stephanie McGregor - about Ophelia, one of the most iconic roles of the classical stage. We see Ophelia defy corrupt authority and express her own truths, assert her existential freedoms, in the famous so-called madness scene. The beautiful readings of Ophelia are by Emma Pallant, and the TBNTB speech is by Emma Fielding and Simon Paisley Day.
The extract of Mariah Gale is from the Royal Shakespeare Company's filmed version of Hamlet, 2009, directed by Greg Doran and broadcast on the BBC
For more information on the podcast and how you can help theatres and actors during the COVID crisis: http://www.fleetingyearfilms.com/podcast.html#, or email Andrew@fleetingyearfilms.com
March 21, 2021
What can psychoanalysis tell us about Hamlet’s great speech? And what does it mean for our own divided, self-sabotaging personalities? Why do we often ask ourselves unanswerable questions? And are there any consolations which the search can bring us? With Dr Jamieson Webster, Professor Peter Brooks and Professor Richard Jacobs. The speech readings are by Emma Fielding and Simon Paisley Day.
For more information on the podcast and how you can help theatres and actors during the COVID lockdown crisis: http://www.fleetingyearfilms.com/podcast.html#, or email Andrew@fleetingyearfilms.com
January 26, 2021
In this episode, we look at the distinguished history of women playing Hamlet on the professional stage, a tradition which goes back almost 300 years. We hear how, as readers and theatre-goers, women helped make Shakespeare a lasting success - and find Hamlet's famous soliloquy becoming an inspiration and slogan in the fight for the vote for women. With Sophie Duncan, Nicole Cooper, Tony Howard, Michael Dobson and Alison Neil.
The speech readings are by Emma Fielding and Simon Paisley Day. For more information on the podcast and how you can help theatres and actors during the COVID lockdown crisis: http://www.fleetingyearfilms.com/podcast.html#
December 20, 2020
Such is the uncanny power of "To Be Or Not To Be", it's been used by politicians and leaders for their own political purposes, from the current Chinese leader to Adolf Hitler; and as this episode reveals, it's also been a rallying cry for activists and protesters down the decades. We take a whistle-stop tour of the world, finding out how Hamlet's soliloquy is regularly used to evade censorship and speak truth to power. With Basharat Peer, investigative journalist, author and writer of Haider; Professor Margaret Litvin, and Professor Mark Burnett.
The speech readings are by Emma Fielding and Simon Paisley Day.
Haider (2014) was produced by VB Pictures, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, and is showing on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/70303432
For more information on the podcast and how you can help theatres and actors during the COVID lockdown crisis: http://www.fleetingyearfilms.com/podcast.html#, or email Andrew@fleetingyearfilms.com
