SHAKESPEARE'S SHADOWS Launches Kickstarter Campaign To Crowdfund Podcast's Relaunch

The podcast Shakespeare's Shadows is crowdfunding on Kickstarter for its relaunch, in preparation for new episodes coming out in Fall 2023.

11 episodes released in 2017 are available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible.

Weaving together interviews with both actors and academics, Shakespeare's Shadows delves into a single Shakespeare character in each episode. This is a podcast that celebrates how Shakespeare's characters can be interpreted, examined, and reimagined in innumerable new ways.

The Kickstarter campaign launched last week, reaching 24% funding in its first 24 hours.

The podcast was recognized with a "Project We Love" badge, a show of respect and enthusiasm from Kickstarter staff.

Shakespeare's Shadows is created and hosted by educator and journalist Emily Rome.

Among the actors featured in podcast episodes thus far are Harry Lennix (The Blacklist, Titus), Fran Kranz (The Cabin in the Woods, Much Ado About Nothing), Len Cariou (original lead of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd), and Lisa Wolpe (renowned theater-maker changing the narrative of gender in Shakespeare), and actors in productions staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Academic guests have included professors from UCLA, York University, UC Santa Barbara, and Loyola Marymount University.

Just announced on Shakespeare's Shadows Instagram account is one guest for the new episodes: Bally Gill, winner of the prestigious Ian Charleson Award for his performance in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2018 Romeo and Juliet production. A preview clip of the interview with Gill about playing Romeo can be viewed on Instagram.

Other recently announced actor guests for the relaunch are Eliott Johnson and Conor Andrew Hall, who played Othello and Iago, respectively, in New Place Players' intimate production in Manhattan this past February - March, and Eunice Wong, who played the title role in Target Margin Theater's Pericles this February - April.

Also set to appear on the podcast in its relaunch is the choreographers of the dazzlingly innovative performance of the character Caliban, played by two performers at once in Aaron Posner and Teller's The Tempest: Pilobolus' dance company's Executive/Co-Artistic Director Renée Jaworski and Artistic Director Matt Kent.

Ahead of Jaworski and Kent's interview being featured among the new episodes this fall, Shakespeare's Shadows released an excerpt from their interview breaking the news that Pilobolus is developing a prequel to The Tempest reuniting with Posner.

Shakespeare's Shadows creator Emily Rome has written extensively for such publications as Entertainment Weekly, American Theatre, The Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles Times, io9, and more. Currently based in western Massachusetts, Emily first launched the podcast while living in Los Angeles, and she recently earned a master's degree from the University of Birmingham's Shakespeare Institute.

"This podcast is for people who geek out about theater and character analysis, it's for people who want to be entertained while thinking more deeply about these plays, and it's also a great alternative entry-point into the plays for students encountering Shakespeare (or so high school teachers and college professors tell me!)," podcast creator Emily Rome said.

Rewards for select pledge levels on the Kickstarter campaign feature the art of the podcast, an Andy Warhol-style take on Shakespeare's Droeshout portrait, made by graphic designer Chris Weller.

Shakespeare's Shadows' Kickstarter campaign is live through May 25.

More information about the podcast and the campaign can be viewed at kck.st/3Achy3n and at shakespearesshadows.com.

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