Richard II on the Radio

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.7 • 837 Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2020

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to theater in the United States. Broadway and regional theaters are dark, and Shakespeare festivals across the country have cancelled their seasons. So it wasn’t a surprise when The Public Theater decided, for the first time in 66 years, that they couldn’t offer free Shakespeare in Central Park. But what they did instead made one of their scheduled productions—"Richard II," directed by Saheem Ali—more accessible to more people than ever before. The Public joined forces with New York’s public radio station, WNYC. Together, they created something that hasn’t been done before: a four-night serialized program that combined a presentation of "Richard II" with expert analysis and stories from cast members to contextualize the play in these unusual times. Director Ali worked hand-in-hand with WNYC producers Emily Botein, Matt Collette, and Isaac Jones to overcome massive challenges, like having twenty-six actors appear from twenty-six different locations and getting it all done in a compressed, 12-week period. We talk to Ali and Botein about just how they addressed those hurdles to create their radio production of "Richard II"—which you can listen to now as a podcast. Ali and Botein are interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. Saheem Ali is the director of The Public and WNYC’s radio production of "Richard II." Ali has directed nearly 25 plays, mostly in New York, over the past 10 years. He has his fingers crossed for two productions—in New York and in Berkeley—in 2021. Emily Botien is Vice President for On-Demand Content at WNYC public radio in New York, where she oversees national programs including “Death, Sex & Money.” From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published September 15, 2020. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “Weeping Made You Break the Story Off” 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.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This year, what with COVID, people in New York couldn't go to Shakespeare in the park.
0:05.7	So instead, they turned on the radio.
0:14.4	From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:19.6	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folgers director. The COVID-19 pandemic has been
0:24.9	devastating to theater in the United States. Broadway and regional theaters are dark. Shakespeare
0:31.8	festivals across the country are canceled, so it wasn't a surprise when the public theater decided, for the first time in 66
0:39.9	years, that they just couldn't offer free Shakespeare in Central Park. What was a surprise, though,
0:46.9	is what they decided to do instead. The public joined forces with New York's public radio station, WNYC.
0:56.0	Together, they created something that hasn't been done before.
1:00.0	A four-night serialized program that combined a presentation of this year's Shakespeare in the Park offering,
1:07.0	Richard II, with expert analysis and stories from cast members to contextualize the
1:13.8	play in its production in these most unusual times. The play's director, Sahim Ali, worked hand-in-hand
1:21.2	with WNYC producers Emily Boutin, Matt Collette, and Isaac Jones to overcome massive challenges like 26 actors
1:31.1	appearing from 26 different locations and getting it all done in a compressed 12-week period.
1:39.6	This production, Free Shakespeare on the radio, is now also a podcast that you can listen to.
1:47.1	Emily Boutin and Sahim Ali joined us recently to talk about how they did it.
1:52.7	Sahim spoke to us from northern Manitoba in Canada, while Emily was at a beach house off Rhode
1:59.3	Island. If their audio quality is not what you normally
2:02.7	expect from us, we hope you'll understand because we have challenges too. We call this podcast,
2:10.7	Weeping Made You Break the Story Off. Sahim and Emily are interviewed by Barbara Bogave.
2:17.8	Sahim, let's start with you.
2:19.9	How deep were you into your planning for this as Shakespeare in the Park production?
	...

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