397: Zombies and Shakespeare (with Melody Bates)

Spirits

Multitude

Myths, Folklore, Society & Culture, Alcohol, Legends, Learning, Urbanlegends, Mythology, Comedy, History, Education, Gods, Educational, Drunkhistory

4.8 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2024

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Was Shakespeare writing about zombies? What if Romeo & Juliet were transformed at the end of the play rather than just dying? We’re joined by playwright and creator Melody Bates to talk about her love and frustration with Shakespeare, her acting origins, and translating fashion and folklore into performance.

Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of blood, gore, misogyny, death, suicide, disease, and violence.

Guest

Melody Bates (she/they) is a native Oregonian actor and writer based in Red Hook, Brooklyn. She is a queer femme creatrix whose award-winning work includes the plays R & J & Z and AVALON, and the Enchanted Islands Project. She is a versatile and talented actor who works in stage and film in a wide array of genres. Find out more about her work at https://www.melodybates.com

Housekeeping

- Recommendation: This week, Amanda recommends Capital B News.

- Books: Check out our previous book recommendations, guests’ books, and more at https://spiritspodcast.com/books

- Call to Action: Check out Exolore!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Oh, Welcome to Spirit's Poods and
0:37.3	to Spirit's podcast, a boosy dive into mythology, legends, and folklore every week we pour a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. I'm Amanda and I'm Julia and we are joined here today by actor, writer, I want to say queer icon, queer, creatrix.
0:46.0	Melody Bates, welcome.
0:47.4	We're so excited to have you here.
0:49.6	I am delighted to be here.
0:52.0	Thanks for inviting me.
0:53.3	And a shout out Spirits listener, Kate,
0:54.9	who both four years ago and last month was like,
0:58.0	you got to check out Melody.
1:00.2	You got to chat with Melody.
1:01.1	And you know what, what Kate you were right.
1:02.5	Kate is almost always right I want to say.
1:04.6	Well melody for people who aren't Kate and maybe aren't familiar with your work
1:11.1	can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?
1:14.0	I am an actor, a writer, a maker in a lot of different forms.
1:19.0	I'm an omnivore, I would say, as an artist.
1:22.0	The work of mine that Kate was really excited about
1:25.8	is my play R&J and Z, which is a supernatural sequel
1:31.8	to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It begins with Act 5 of
1:35.4	Shakespeare's play and continues in verse as the dead come back to life.
1:39.4	Again, as an artist I grew up on Sesame Street,
1:43.4	and that is the sort of high and low at the same time, right?
	...

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