Over 4000 free audio and video lectures, seminars and teaching resources from Oxford University.
Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

play

# Episode Title Description People Date
1 Creative Commons 2 - Tom Brennan Playwright and producer lands at Wolfson as Creative Arts Fellow for his first foray into the world of Oxford Tom Brennan 21 Sep 2022
2 WillPlay: Chat, Play, Learn Shakespeare This podcast explores WillPlay, an AI-powered reimagining of Shakespeare's plays for school students. Abigail Williams, Felicity Brown, Rachael Hodge, Giles Lewin 17 Feb 2021
3 Book at Lunchtime: Iconoclasm as Child's Play Dr Joseph Moshenska, Associate Professor and Tutorial Fellow at University College, discusses his new book, Iconoclasm as Child's Play. Joseph Moshenska, Lorna Hutson, Alexandra Walsham, Kenneth Gross 09 Nov 2020
4 OYUB Radio Play OYUB is a Russian documentary play about the life of Oyub Titiev, a human rights activist in the Republic of Chechnya, Russia. Julie Curtis, Peter Wieltschnig, Jacob Burns, Mistale Taylor 17 Jun 2020
5 Creative Commons The Two Gentlemen of Verona Professor Emma Smith gives the last of her 2017 Shakespeare lectures on his early comedy, Two Gentlemen of Verona. Emma Smith 15 Dec 2017
6 Creative Commons The Tamer Tam'd: John Fletcher A riposte to Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew Emma Smith 16 Nov 2015
7 Creative Commons Tis Pity She's a Whore: John Ford Reboot of Romeo and Juliet and other Elizabethan plays Emma Smith 11 Nov 2015
8 Creative Commons The Witch Of Edmonton Witchcraft and bigamy. Emma Smith 03 Nov 2015
9 Creative Commons A Chaste Maid in Cheapside: Thomas Middleton This lecture discusses comedy, fertility, and all those illegitimate children in this play about sex, economics and meat. Emma Smith 27 Oct 2015
10 Creative Commons The Alchemist: Ben Jonson Written in the context of plague in London, The Alchemist’s plot and language are deeply concerned with speed and speculation. Emma Smith 27 Oct 2015
11 Creative Commons Dr Faustus: Christopher Marlowe My lecture on this infernal play discusses Elizabethan religion, the revisions to the play, and whether we should think about James Bond in its final minutes. Emma Smith 26 Oct 2015
12 Creative Commons The Merchant of Venice. ePub version of text The Merchant of Venice. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 20 Nov 2012
13 Creative Commons The Merchant of Venice This lecture on The Merchant of Venice discusses the ways the play's personal relationships are shaped by models of financial transaction, using the casket scenes as a central example. Emma Smith 20 Nov 2012
14 Creative Commons The Taming of the Shrew. ePub version of text THE Taming of the Shrew. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 09 Nov 2012
15 Creative Commons Taming of the Shrew Emma Smith uses evidence of early reception and from more recent productions to discuss the question of whether Katherine is tamed at the end of the play. Emma Smith 09 Nov 2012
16 Creative Commons A Midsommer Nights Dreame. ePub version of text A MIDSOMMER Nights Dreame. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 05 Nov 2012
17 Creative Commons A Midsummer Night's Dream This lecture on A Midsummer Night's Dream uses modern and early modern understandings of dreams to uncover a play less concerned with marriage and more with sexual desire. Emma Smith 05 Nov 2012
18 Creative Commons Much adoe about Nothing. ePub version of text Much adoe about Nothing. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 30 Oct 2012
19 Creative Commons Much Ado About Nothing Emma Smith asks why the characters are so quick to believe the self-proclaimed villain Don John, drawing on gender and performance criticism to think about male bonding, the genre of comedy, and the impulses of modern performance. Emma Smith 30 Oct 2012
20 Creative Commons The tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke. ePub version of text The tragedie of HAMLET, Prince of Denmarke. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 23 Oct 2012
21 Creative Commons Hamlet The fact that father and son share the same name in Hamlet is used to investigate the play's nostalgia, drawing on biographical criticism and the religious and political history of early modern England. Emma Smith 23 Oct 2012
22 Creative Commons As you Like it. ePub version of text As you Like it. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 23 Oct 2012
23 Creative Commons As You Like It Asking 'what happens in As You Like It', this lecture considers the play's dramatic structure and its ambiguous use of pastoral, drawing on performance history, genre theory, and eco-critical approaches. Emma Smith 23 Oct 2012
24 Creative Commons The Tragedie Of King Lear. ePub version of text THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 22 Feb 2012
25 Creative Commons King Lear Showing how generations of critics - and Shakespeare himself - have rewritten the ending of King Lear, this sixteenth Approaching Shakespeare lecture engages with the question of tragedy and why it gives pleasure. Emma Smith 22 Feb 2012
26 Creative Commons The life and death of King Iohn. ePub version of text The life and death of King Iohn. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 10 Feb 2012
27 Creative Commons King John At the heart of King John is the death of his rival Arthur: this fifteenth lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series looks at the ways history and legitimacy are complicated in this plotline. Emma Smith 10 Feb 2012
28 Creative Commons Pericles, Prince of Tyre Pericles has been on the margins of the Shakespearean canon: this fourteenth lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series shows some of its self-conscious artistry and contemporary popularity. Emma Smith 01 Feb 2012
29 Creative Commons The Tragedy of Richard the Third: with the Landing of Earle Richmond, and the Battell at Bosworth Field. ePub version of text The Tragedy of Richard the Third: with the Landing of Earle Richmond, and the Battell at Bosworth Field. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 25 Jan 2012
30 Creative Commons Richard III In this thirteenth lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series the focus is on the inevitability of the ending of Richard III: does the play endorse Richmond's final victory? Emma Smith 25 Jan 2012
31 Creative Commons The Comedie of Errors. ePub version of text The Comedie of Errors. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 23 Jan 2012
32 Creative Commons The Comedy of Errors Lecture 12 in the Approaching Shakespeare series asks how seriously we can take the farcical exploits of Comedy of Errors, drawing out the play's serious concerns with identity and selfhood. Emma Smith 23 Jan 2012
33 Creative Commons The First Part of Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of Henry Sirnamed Hot-spvrre. ePub version of text The First Part of Henry the Fourth, with the Life and Death of HENRY Sirnamed HOT-SPVRRE. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 16 Nov 2011
34 Creative Commons Henry IV part 1 Like generations of theatre-goers, this lecture concentrates on the (large) figure of Sir John Falstaff and investigates his role in Henry IV part 1. Lecture 11 in the Approaching Shakespeare series. Emma Smith 16 Nov 2011
35 Creative Commons The Tempest. ePub version of text THE TEMPEST. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 14 Nov 2011
36 Creative Commons The Tempest That the character of Prospero is a Shakespearean self-portrait is a common reading of The Tempest: this tenth Approaching Shakespeare lecture asks whether that is a useful reading of the play. Emma Smith 14 Nov 2011
37 Creative Commons The Tragedie Of Anthonie, and Cleopatra. ePub version of text THE TRAGEDIE OF Anthonie, and Cleopatra. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 10 Nov 2011
38 Creative Commons Antony and Cleopatra What kind of tragedy is this play, with its two central figures rather than a singular hero? The ninth lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series tries to find out. Emma Smith 10 Nov 2011
39 Creative Commons Twelfe Night, Or what you will. ePub version of text Twelfe Night, Or what you will. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 20 Oct 2011
40 Creative Commons Twelfth Night The seventh Approaching Shakespeare lecture takes a minor character in Twelfth Night - Antonio - and uses his presence to open up questions of sexuality, desire and the nature of romantic comedy. Emma Smith 20 Oct 2011
41 Creative Commons The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus. ePub version of text The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 19 Oct 2011
42 Creative Commons Titus Andronicus Focusing in detail on one particular scene, and on critical responses to it, this sixth Approaching Shakespeare lecture on Titus Andronicus deals with violence, rhetoric, and the nature of dramatic sensationalism. Emma Smith 19 Oct 2011
43 Creative Commons If marriage is a trade, then what price romance? Theatre was a forum for early twentieth-century feminists to challenge romantic ideals of marriage, arguing against society blocking women's access to alternative professions. Did one playwright solve the problem of selling seats without selling out? Sol Eltis 15 Feb 2011
44 Creative Commons The Winters Tale. ePub version of text The Winter's Tale. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 09 Nov 2010
45 Creative Commons The Winter's Tale How we can make sense of a play that veers from tragedy to comedy and stretches credulity in its conclusion? That's the topic for this fifth Approaching Shakespeare lecture on The Winter's Tale. Emma Smith 09 Nov 2010
46 Creative Commons The Tragedie Of Macbeth. ePub version of text THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 02 Nov 2010
47 Creative Commons Macbeth In this fourth Approaching Shakespeare lecture the question is one of agency: who or what makes happen the things that happen in Macbeth? Emma Smith 02 Nov 2010
48 Creative Commons Measvre, For Measure. ePub version of text MEASVRE, For Measure. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 27 Oct 2010
49 Creative Commons Measure for Measure The third Approaching Shakespeare lecture, on Measure for Measure, focuses on the vexed question of this uncomic comedy's genre. Emma Smith 27 Oct 2010
50 Creative Commons The Life of Henry the Fift. ePub version of text The Life of Henry the Fifth. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 20 Oct 2010
51 Creative Commons Henry V The second lecture in the Approaching Shakespeare series looks at King Henry V, and asks whether his presentation in the play is entirely positive. Emma Smith 20 Oct 2010
52 Creative Commons The Tragedie Of Othello, the Moore of Venice. ePub version of text THE TRAGEDIE OF Othello, the Moore of Venice. / Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. William Shakespeare 18 Oct 2010
53 Creative Commons Othello First in Emma Smith's Approaching Shakespeare lecture series; looking at the central question of race and its significance in the play. Emma Smith 18 Oct 2010
54 Facial tattooing among Drung women in Southwest China Facial tattooing is essentially a transition to what is and ought to be a woman. Gender performativity is associated with the materiality of the body: it is in fact the tattoo that makes a woman. Stéphane Gros 12 Apr 2010
55 Arthur Miller: Un-American (2009 Esmond Harmsworth Lecture) The 2009 Esmond Harmsworth Lecture in American Arts and Letters, given on 21 May 2009 at the Rothermere American Institute, by Professor Christopher Bigsby, University of East Anglia. Christopher Bigsby 09 Oct 2009