How Shakespeare Impacted U.S. Presidents, from John Adams to JFK

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2023

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There are countless ways Shakespeare has made his way into unexpected corners of American life. It starts at the top with our presidents. Shakespeare is a longtime ally of America’s Commanders-in-Chief: Thomas Jefferson took a pilgrimage to his house, John Adams took lessons from King Lear about child usurpers, and JFK thought that the Bard spoke so directly to the U.S.’s Cold War challenges that he was more American than British. But Shakespeare speaks to many other classes of people. In 1849, a riot broke out in New York between working class and aristocratic theatre fans over which actor did the best Hamlet, and 31 were left dead.
Today’s guest is Barry Edelstein, a seasoned director of Shakespeare and host of the new podcast Where There’s a Will: Finding Shakespeare. . From a Henry V performance in a maximum security prison to a look at how Shakespeare assists children on the autism spectrum, we explore why the Bard’s works permeate our history and culture, and what that says about him, and about our society.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History Unplugged Podcast.
0:08.4	As popular as William Shakespeare in his plays arc today, he was far more popular a century
0:12.5	ago in the United States.
0:13.9	In Gold Rush, California, minors would wait out the harsh winter months by sitting around
0:17.3	the campfire and act out Shakespeare's plays for memory.
0:19.8	Going to the theater wasn't just an upper-class activity, but popular among all classes of
0:23.9	people.
0:24.9	He was so popular that in 1849, there was a riot that broke out over a production of
0:28.9	Macbeth that led to 31 deaths.
0:31.1	The riot broke down between supporters of Edwin Forrest, one of the best-known American
0:34.7	actors of the time, and William McCready, a similarly-known English actor, over which
0:38.8	one was better.
0:40.4	Shakespeare has also been beloved by nearly every American president, Thomas Jefferson,
0:44.0	took a pilgrimage to his home, and JFK claimed that Shakespeare was an American writer.
0:47.9	And you can see the universal influence of Shakespeare and Phil.
0:50.9	There are the many adaptations by Kenneth Branagh or Bob Lurman's Romeo and Juliet with
0:55.3	Leonardo DiCaprio.
0:56.3	We have all sorts of retellings, like Lion King's Hamlet, or Akira Kurosawa's thrown
1:01.3	in blood as Macbeth, or Ten Things I Hate About You as the Hamie of the Shrew, or Strange
1:05.6	Brew also as Hamlet if you want.
1:07.5	To talk about the universality of Shakespeare, today's guest, Barry Edelstein, who's the
1:11.5	host of the new podcast, Where There's a Will, Finding Shakespeare.
	...

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