How We Hear Shakespeare's Plays, with Carla Della Gatta

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.7 • 837 Ratings

🗓️ 20 July 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Shakespeare’s time, people talked about going to hear a play and going to see one in equal measure. So, what exactly do we hear when we hear one of Shakespeare’s plays? What information do we gather from its words, music, or sound effects? What if it has been adapted, updated, or translated? We ask Dr. Carla Della Gatta of Florida State University, co-editor of the new book "Shakespeare and Latinidad." Her study of Spanish-language or bilingual Shakespeare productions has led her to think a lot about the act of listening to a play. She talks to Barbara Bogaev about the ways a production of Shakespeare can challenge us to hear in new ways. Dr. Carla Della Gatta is an assistant professor of English at Florida State University. She is the author of "Latinx Shakespeares: Staging U.S. Intracultural Theater," which will be published in 2022, and co-editor of "Shakespeare and Latinidad," released by Edinburgh University Press in June 2021. She is a past recipient of a Folger fellowship. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published July 20, 2021. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “You Have Heard Much,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. We had technical help from Andrew Feliciano and Paul Luke at Voice Trax West in Studio City, California. Leonor Fernandez edits a transcript of every Shakespeare Unlimited episode, available at folger.edu.

Transcript

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0:00.0	A lot of us talk about attending the theater.
0:04.0	I'd like to invite you now to completely rethink what you mean by that.
0:13.0	From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:19.0	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folgers, director.
0:22.0	The theater that Shakespeare wrote for is not like the theater of today.
0:26.9	For much of Shakespeare's career, there weren't many special effects.
0:30.9	There wasn't much scenery, and there weren't a lot of props.
0:34.5	The plays that Shakespeare wrote, especially the early ones, were primarily designed to reach
0:40.1	the audience in two ways, through their ears and through their imaginations. According to Dr. Carla
0:48.5	Delagata, that's an approach that the best theater, including the best productions of Shakespeare,
0:55.5	does, or at least ought to strive to do, they should make you attend the theater. Give it all of your attention.
1:03.4	Dr. Delagata is an assistant professor of English at Florida State University. I hosted her recently
1:09.6	on a web series for Folger members we call
1:12.3	virtually everything, and while I had a whole bunch of questions I wanted to put to
1:16.4	her, we ended up spending almost an hour talking about how audiences hear plays.
1:22.3	Dr. Delegata specializes in Shakespeare's interaction with Latinidad, so this focus on hearing is not
1:30.0	unusual. When Shakespeare's in Spanish, or when it's presented bilingually, after all, hearing is important.
1:38.2	But Dr. Delegata has many of the thoughts on how drama can flow into your ears and then into your imagination. Those thoughts are
1:47.6	fresh and we wanted to bring her back in so you could hear what she has to say. She joined us from
1:53.4	her office for this podcast that we call You Have Heard Much. Dr. Carla Delagata is interviewed by Barbara Bogue.
2:02.9	Carla, why don't we start with this experience that you had when you watched
2:06.5	Zepharale's Romeo and Juliet with Olivia Hussie and Leonard Whiting in high school?
	...

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