On today’s show I’m discussing a topic I feel I know very little about…William Shakespeare, but thankfully I’ll have a little help from an expert on the subject and we’ll have her answer some of your questions at the end as well.

William Shakespeare is arguably the most well-known playwright of all time – to learn more about him today I have special guest, Cassidy Cash from That Shakespeare Life podcast on to educate me, and maybe you too, on the life of William Shakespeare.

But, before we get started, here’s a little bit about Cassidy:

Cassidy Cash is an award winning filmmaker, artist, and host of the podcast That Shakespeare Life. Cassidy believes that in order to take Shakespeare’s work from page to performance, understanding the history of the man who wrote them is essential. Her work focuses on exploring the real life and history of William Shakespeare and using art to help her fellow Shakespearean’s learn something new about the bard.

Links to podcasts and further reading from our discussion:

 Episodes:
Finding lost history in old boxes with Glyn Parry (ep 24 of #ThatShakespeareLife)
https://www.cassidycash.com/ep24/

Claire Asquith and the Essex Rebellion
http://www.cassidycash.com/ep22/

British Library article where fans of A Midsummer Night’s Dream can see the pamphlet/festival booklet diary of the 1591 plays put on my Edmund Seymour that many believe might have been where Shakespeare first staged A Midsummer Night’s Dream. https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/an-entertainment-for-elizabeth-i-at-elvetham-1591

Article about David Bevington’s opinion on whether Midsummer was a political jab at Elizabeth. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/417609/summary

I have created a hand illustrated timeline of Shakespeare’s plays, that show where plays by Shakespeare were written and performed after DeVere’s death, constituting the main (although certainly not the only) reason I believe it’s impossible for DeVere to have been a fake-Shakespeare or pseudoShakespeare. Aside from authorship evidence, the illustrated map is designed to outline many cool history moments going on during Shakespeare’s life like the arrival of tea, the adoption of the Union Jack, the founding of Jamestown, marriage of Pocahontas, and so much more. It’s free to download when you become an email subscriber at www.cassidycash.com/tudor

Just for fun since you asked me about my origin story, this link is to the video which is, I believe, the second-ever video on Shakespeare I did and you can see my aunt’s lovely Sao Paulo apartment behind me as we answer “Did Shakespeare Drink Coffee?” (We were drinking SO MUCH Espresso in Brazil, it was a natural subject to start with, I think.)  Listeners can watch that here, and subscribe to join me on youtube every Saturday for similar Shakespeare history asking “Did Shakespeare…?”  

If you love the history of William Shakespeare and want to submit your own questions about the bard to be covered in future episodes, you can sign up to become a member of That Shakespeare Life at www.cassidycash.com/member Each month a new mini-history course on the history of William Shakespeare (Like Elizabethan Games, Authentic Tudor Recipes, and more!) is added to the platform. For June, we are exploring gardens in Shakespeare’s England, including a downloadable guide and ebook that teaches you how to plant your own Shakespeare Garden at home. Learn more about that and sign up to become a member for full access to the entire suite of Shakespeare courses and downloads behind the episodes, at www.cassidycash.com/member