This week we chat with Charlene V. Smith about one of Shakespeare's most badass broads: Margaret of Anjou.

Charlene V. Smith (she, her, hers) is a director, actor, and scholar with an MLitt and MFA in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University. Formerly the artistic director of Brave Spirits Theatre, her directing credits include Antony and Cleopatra, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Coriolanus, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and the first modern professional production of The Bloody Banquet. She is one of the few women in the world to have directed a full cycle of Shakespeare’s Henriad. Brave Spirits Theatre’s project to become the first professional American company to stage the eight English histories in repertory was interrupted by the pandemic, but over the past two years, they have been reimagining this project into audio. The resulting twenty-four episodes will be released later this year. She has essays published in The Palgrave Handbook of Shakespeare’s Queens, Arden Shakespeare’s The Changeling: The State of Play, and the forthcoming The Theatrical Legacy of Thomas Middleton.

Follow Charlene on all social media @charlenevsmith

Visit her website at www.charlenevsmith.com

Bowls with the Bard:

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Art by Lizzy Colandene

Music by Constantino Fernandez

Sound by Jonathan Miot

Podcast by Micaela Mannix

This week we chat with Fawzia Istrabadi about the challenges and rewards of translating Romeo and Juliet into Arabic.

Fawzia Istrabadi (She/They) is a Shakespeare actor and the creator of Arabic Shakespeare. A half-Iraqi actor who has a passion for creating representation for Arab/SWANA theatre artists. This passion is what led her to team up with Prague Shakespeare Company's Guy Roberts and ShakeSphere's Adham Sayed to create Romeo & جولييت.

You can find ArabicShakespeare on Instagram and Facebook.

Bowls with the Bard:

Insta: @stonedshakespeare

TikTok: @BowlswiththeBard

Facebook: Bowls with the Bard

Twitter: @stonedshakespea

Art by Lizzy Colandene

Music by Constantino Fernandez

Sound by Jonathan Miot

Podcast by Micaela Mannix

Members of our company of Cymbeline give their thoughts on the leading lady who makes our play tick! In order of appearance, Cakes chats with Alison Talvacchio (she/they), Natalie Edwards (she/they), Steph House (she/they), Paige Flores-Medrano (they/them), and Linda Swanson-Brown (she/her).

In the episode, Cakes references a past guest who mentioned that Imogen is the only woman in Shakespeare who cross dresses but does not come up with the idea to do so herself. This thought was originally from Will Shakespleens in season 1.

Find out how to purchase tickets to Stoned Cymbeline here: https://bowlswiththebard.com/stoned-cymbeline

Follow Bowls with the Bard on Social Media:

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TikTok: @BowlswiththeBard

Facebook: Bowls with the Bard

Twitter: @stonedshakespea