Hamlet to Hamilton: Exploring Verse Drama
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
INTERVIEW: Robert Eric Shoemaker
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
EXTRA, EXTRA! EXTRA SPECIAL INTERVIEW!This time Colin and Emily sit down and talk form, drama, poetry — what it is, what it does, and *why* —with ...
INTERVIEW: Duncan Pflaster
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for a very special conversation with NYC verse dramatist and friend, Duncan Pflaster as we trace his journey from blank verse to experimental ...
S4 E10: From King Edward to Queen Elizabeth I
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's our season finale, y'all!...Kinda. Today, we cover plays between Kind Edward to Queen Elizabeth I, as we wrap up the season on this feed,...
S4 E9: What if Muppets?...and a Flurry of Fragments
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to our penultimate episode of Season Four, as we continue our journey through Anglophone verse drama. Today, our H2H hosts Emily and Colin, jo...
S4 E8: The Most Theatrical Play Ever Written
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for what Rob Crighton is calling the "most theatrical play ever written!" Get ready for a second look at John Heywood's pl...
S4 E7: Emerging Print Culture with John Rastell and John Heywood
30 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're continuing through the beginnings of print culture with John Rastell and John Heywood. Season Four we're examining the origins of Anglop...
S4 E6: Short and Shouty Skeltonics
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're excited to bring you the Tudor master of rhyme, John Skelton and his short and shouty Skeltonics! Thanks to Rob of the Beyond Shakespe...
S4 E5: The Beginning of the Tudor Play Period and the Introduction of Rhyme Royal
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're back with the Beyond Shakespeare Podcast to (finally!) look at early Tudor drama. Specifically, we're looking at Rhyme Royal, which you ...
S4 E4: The End of the Medieval Play Era
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What was the importance of manuscripts, and the impact of the printing press on late Medieval drama? This episode introduces our first named playwrigh...
SPECIAL: "The Harrowing of Hell" presented by the Beyond Shakespeare Company
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
And now for something completely different: H2H is partnering with the Beyond Shakespeare Company, and this time we're pleased to present the BSC&...
S4 E3: Interludes and Debate Plays
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As we draw near the end of the Middle Ages, we take a look at interlude and debate plays. Rob Crighton of the Beyond Shakespeare Company continues thi...
S4 E2: Morality Plays
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's time to look at morality plays. What are they? How wacky can they get? Rob Crighton of the Beyond Shakespeare Company continues this tour th...
S4 E1: The Earliest English Verse Drama
01 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the long-awaited Season 4 of "Hamlet to Hamilton!" This season, we're joined by Robert Crighton of the Beyond Shakespeare Com...
INTERVIEW: Monica Cross Discusses Tips for Writing with Neurodivergency
02 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Playwright Monica Cross is back, chatting about some of the tricks and tips she uses as a neurodivergent person when sitting down to write (and rewrit...
INTERVIEW: Kyle J. McCloskey
23 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
For Shakespeare's Birthday, we're kicking off a mini-season of interviews before we dive into Season Four. Let us introduce you to Kyle J. McC...
UNHINGED RANT: "Cupid and Psyche" All Grown Up and Alive - MBU Feb 2023 Virginia Premiere Production
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes art really does come Velveteen Rabbit-alive. In February 2023, Mary Baldwin University gave the Virginia Premiere of Emily C. A. Snyde...
S3 E16: Using Poetic Imagery and Techniques in Verse Drama
19 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're at our Season 3 finale! Looking at how to use poetic imagery and poetic techniques to enhance your verse drama...or to ruin it. (Ble...
UNHINGED RANT: T. S. Eliot's "The Cocktail Party" and "Four Quartets"
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's a new year and a new Unhinged Rant! We're returning to T. S. Eliot, looking at his poetry in The Cocktail Party vs. Four Quartets. Th...
S3 E15: Discovering Character through Line Breaks - Part 3
19 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We close out our exploration of creating character through line breaks by looking at Sir Gawain from The Table Round and The Siege Perilous by our own...
S3 E14: Discovering Character through Line Breaks - Part 2
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Let's look at some hyper contemporary verse to see how line endings are used in some Broadway and Off-Broadway plays. We're delving into Lucas H...
S3 E13 - INTERVIEW: Monica Cross Discusses Line Endings!
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're sitting down with the woman herself: Monica Cross sits down with us to chat about character building through line endings. We're looki...
S3 E12: Discovering Character through Line Breaks - Part 1
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How do you discover your character through the use of line breaks when writing verse? We're starting a mini-series on that very question, thanks...
S3 E11: Finding Your Character's Voice
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We've talked about the basics of writing soliloquy...but how do you find your character's voice? In this episode, we look at T. S. Eliot's idea ...
S3 E10: How to Write the Classic Soliloquy
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Move over, Hamlet! Now that we've looked at what a soliloquy is, it's time to dive into how to write the classic soliloquy. Emily guides yo...
SHAKES NOTES: Classifying Types of Form
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Eidetic. Adetosic. Stichic. Protean. Morphic. What the *hell* do all these words mean? What are they and how do they work? How might they interact wit...
SHAKES NOTES: Defining "Schwumpf"
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We've had the lectures...and now it's time to have the class interaction! Colin hosts our new segment, SHAKES NOTES, where he doubles down in co...
S3 E9: Seven Lessons from Musical Theatre Soliloquies
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Season Three we're talking about soliloquy! We've covered how Shakespeare has used soliloquy, but we can learn so much more from how musical theatre e...
S3 E8: The Meta-Theatrical Soliloquy: Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Lost, and "The Mousetrap" from Hamlet
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Season Three, we're looking at soliloquy! For the conclusion of our look at Shakespeare's use of soliloquies, we turn to the meta-theatrical solilo...
S3 E7: Re-Defining Verse Drama, Pt. 2 - Verse, Paragraph...and Bullet Formatting?
28 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're hitting pause on our look through Shakespearean soliloquies to take a moment to share our latest discovery! With the inspiration of Kyara ...
S3 E6: "Madness" in Soliloquy: Re-examining King Lear, Lady Macbeth and Ophelia
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In our continuing Season Three deep dive into soliloquy, we have come at last to "madness" in soliloquy. We'll be taking a look at King Lear fro...
INTERVIEW: Tim Carroll
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You've heard about Peter Oswald's plays...now hear from the man who directed those new verse plays at the Globe! That's right, Colin and Emily s...
S3 E5: The Villain Soliloquies: Richard III, Iago, Edmund, Don John and...Petruchio?
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Season Three we're studying soliloquy! This week we look at the villain soliloquies. Or the, "this is what I've done, am doing, will do" s...
S3 E4: Deep Dive: Exploring Macbeth's Soliloquies
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Season Three, we're talking about Soliloquy. Last time, we saw Hamlet's "Classic Soliloquy" - where a character pours their heart out on stage. ...
S3 E3: Deep Dive: Exploring Hamlet's Seven Soliloquies
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Season Three is taking a deep dive into soliloquy. And where better to begin by strolling through Hamlet's Seven Soliloquies. How does "To...
S3 E2: Re-Defining Verse Drama, Pt. 1 - Four Types of Verse
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We know that poetry isn't the same as verse...but have you realized that prose isn't the same as paragraph form? Even more exciting: we've ident...
S3 E1: So You Think You Know Soliloquies?
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The patrons have voted, and in Season Three we will be exploring how to write and perform soliloquies! In today's episode, we begin by defining ...
TEASER: Unhinged Rant - The Very Bad Quarto
10 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Full episodes of Unhinged Rants are available monthly to our Patrons over at http://www.patreon.com/hamlettohamilton This month's Unhinged Rant: in ho...
INTERVIEW: Peter Oswald
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You may know our guest Peter Oswald from his translation of Schiller's Mary Stuart, but we're here to chat with him, in this latest installment of our...
UNHINGED RANT: Laughing at Lord Byron
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Season Three is kicking off with an Unhinged Rant, laughing for about 30 seconds straight, about Lord Byron and his absolute horro that someone might ...
UNHINGED RANT: The Plays of T. S. Eliot
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Season Three is kicking off with an Unhinged Rant about the plays of T. S. Eliot. Strap in for a wildly biased, barely scholarly, totally unhing...
BARD TALK: November 2020
24 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our patrons on Patreon have opened up another bonus episode for you! This one from November 2020, when Colin and Emily sat down to chat more abo...
S2 E6: More Hovey, More Honey: "The Birth of Galahad" (1898)
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Do you love Richard Hovey as much as our hosts do? Because it's time to see how he did as he wrote his sequel to "The Marriage of Guenevere" wit...
INTERVIEW: Glyn Maxwell
27 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We sit down with Glyn Maxwell, esteemed poet, librettist, and verse playwright, to chat all things versical - particularly the intersection of the wor...
ROUND TABLE: Daniel James Roth, Benedetto Robinson, and Grace Bardsley
13 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our patrons on Patreon got to hear this full interview early. Now you can hear it too! Emily sits down with Daniel James Roth and two of h...
ROUND TABLE of the Round Table: Lucy Nordberg, Daniel James Roth and Emily C. A. Snyder
01 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What was the process of writing for some of our living Arthurian playwrights? How did they approach Lancelot and Guinevere? Which books di...
S2 E13: Stage Violence and Verse: The Table Round & The Siege Perilous by Emily C. A. Snyder (2019)
18 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for a spicy Lancelot and Guinevere with The Table Round and The Seige Perilous by our very own Emily C. A. Snyder, looking at the 2019 origi...
S2 E12: The First Folio in the 21st Century: Daniel James Roth's "The Tragedy of King Arthur" (2019)
04 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We've got an extra special episode with guest actors and the playwright himself as we take a look at The Tragedy of King Arthur (2019) by Daniel James...
S2 E11: A Philosphical "King Arthur" by Lucy Nordberg (2009)
14 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're looking at Lucy Nordberg's "King Arthur" from 2009, today - a philosophical and political take on the myth! Season Two we're looking at Arthur T...
S2 E10: New Arthur, New Millennia (2001)
30 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're finally in the 2000's with verse drama King Arthur plays! First, we'll take a quick look at how everyone kept "reviving verse drama" in th...
S2 E9: King Arthur and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Play (1906)
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes we learn best by learning from other people's mistakes. Such is the case of Stark Young's 1906 verse play, Guenevere: A Play in Five A...
S2 E8: Gilbert and Sullivan Do King Arthur...Kinda (1895)
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know Gilbert and Sullivan wrote a King Arthur play? Well, okay, that Sir Arthur Sullivan provided music for a King Arthur play in new ve...
S2 E7: Melodrama! (1895)
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Get ready to swoon in every single scene, because we're focusing on our first Canadian playwright, William Wilfred Campbell's melodramatic Mordred: A ...
S2 E5: Empowering Guinevere (1885-1891)
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's time to look at Emily's favorite new author! Richard Hovey's The Tragedy of Guenevere - as well as the Gilbert and Sullivan-esque The New K...
S2 E4: Defenestrating Lancelot! (1843-1868)
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's time to dive in to Lancelot and Guinevere scenes with Reithmuller's The Misfortunes of Arthur and Akhurst's Burlesque Extravaganza! We've g...
INTERVIEW: Dr. Kasia Lech
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's time to talk international verse drama with none other than Dr. Kasia Lech! Her new book, Dramaturgy of Form: Performing Verse in Contemporary Th...
S2 E3: Burlesque & Verse Drama: Henry Fielding's "Tom Thumb the Great" (1630-1810)
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're looking at the overlap of burlesque and verse drama, with not one - not two - but FOUR iterations of Henry Fielding's Tom Thumb the Great.  ...
S2 E2: Verse Drama Meets Opera: John Dryden's "The British Worthy" (1691)
10 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're looking at a truly interesting and pivotal moment in the development of verse drama as we know it, as we delve into the origins of the ver...
INTERVIEW: Caeden Musser
24 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Before we jump back into Arthur's world, we want to give you this interview with playwright Caeden Musser! Caeden is an actor-combatant, playwri...
S2 E1: The Earliest King Arthur: Thomas Hughes' "Misfortunes" (1587)
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Season Two: "Arthur Through the Ages," where we'll be looking through King Arthur-inspired English language verse plays from 1587-2019. &nb...
S1 E10: Silences, Spacing, Stage Directions & Shared Lines
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're finishing our survey of the Tool Boudoir with a look at silences, spacing, stage directions and shared lines, as we come to the end of Season On...
S1 E9: The Rules of Emotive Formatting
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
HOW do you use spelling, typography, punctuation, and spacing to imply cadence? Don't worry. It's sooooooooooooo easy. This week we look at the rules...
S1 E8: First Folio and Emotive Formatting
30 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's time to talk Emotive Formatting (part of the Tool Boudoir), starting with Shakespeare's First Folio! And who better to help us out, than ou...
S1 E7: What's My Line (Ending)?
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you get a bunch of actors to try out some end-stopped and open-ended lines? This episode, obviously! So often, we rely on the...
S1 E6: Whose Line (Ending) Is It Anyway?
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's time to talk LINE BREAKS! From John Barton to Kristin Linklater, from Romeo and Juliet to The Winter's Tale, we're looking at how line endings wo...
S1 E5: So You Think You Know Scansion?
18 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's time to explore our Tool Boudoir: that is, all the tools used on a line of verse. First up? Scansion, meter, and foot...BUT(!) not as...
S1 E4: Heresy!
11 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
HERESY! Our podcast is on trial for claiming that there are no such things as feminine line endings, iambic pentameter is boring and we'll prove...
BARD TALK: October 2020
04 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What do you do after a show? Go to the pub! In this bonus episode, H2H creators Colin and Emily talk about how the show came to be, networking as an i...
INTERVIEW: Deb Victoroff
28 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We're sitting down with Deb Victoroff, the author of the very timely The Tragedy of the Election of the Citrus King. (PLEASE NOTE: This episode ...
S1 E3: Schwumpf, There It Is
21 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What is "Schwumpf?" Well, it's about making connections. It's about bringing ideas, feelings, emotions, facts, heresies, and so much...
S1 E2: Content Dictates Form
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why is Hamilton the superior musical to 1776? What makes Heathers soar, while Mean Girls is just okay? Why are we talking so much about mu...
S1 E1: Defining Verse Drama
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Soooo...what is "verse drama" anyway? Just a bunch of poetry? Skulls and doublets and hose, oh my? Or something else? Season One kic...
Hamlet to Hamilton: Trailer
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Hamlet to Hamilton: Exploring Verse Drama! H2H is a weekly podcast, dropping every Wednesday, wherein we'll be exploring how to write and p...