Better than Shakespeare is a podcast dedicated to socialist theatre. Each week we discuss a different play relevant to socialist struggle in its aesthetic, historical, and theoretical context. There are also jokes. The core team is Andy Boyd and Danny Erickson, but we also have a rotating roster of stellar guests from the worlds of theatre and socialism and socialist theatre.
Mad Forest by Caryl Churchill
Andy and Danny discuss the fall of Communism in Romania through Caryl Churchill's play Mad Forest.
8/16/2022 • 1 hour, 5 minutes, 44 seconds
Soft Cops By Caryl Churchill
On this episode Danny and Andy discuss Caryl Churchill's Soft Cops, why police reform is a pro-police position, and why All Cops are Bastards includes doctors, gym teachers, your boss, and the village executioner.
6/7/2022 • 52 minutes, 52 seconds
A Season in the Congo by Aimé Césaire
Andy and Danny finish off their read of Césaire's decolonization trilogy with a discussion of Gayatri Spivak's incredible translation of A Season in the Congo! Check it out!
If you e-mail me at [email protected] I will obviously not send you a pdf because that would be copyright infringement, buddy!
4/13/2022 • 1 hour, 31 minutes, 21 seconds
Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry
On this episode of BTS, Andy and Danny discuss Lorraine Hansberry's great play Les Blancs! It's about a mission field hospital run by well-meaning white people during an African independence struggle and how that hospital ultimately upholds the white power structure, and you may be surprised to learn the Wall Street Journal didn't like it! But we do. And we think the Wall Street Journal can go to hell.
3/2/2022 • 1 hour, 39 minutes, 44 seconds
The Blacks by Jean Genet
Andy and Danny discuss racism, colonialism, and representation in the context of The Blacks by Jean Genet.
Lorraine Hansberry's essay on the play can be found here:
https://www.villagevoice.com/2020/06/30/genet-mailer-the-new-paternalism/
And join us next time for a discussion of Hansberry's Les Blancs!
12/20/2021 • 1 hour, 20 minutes, 43 seconds
Occupy Prescott by Andy Boyd
Andy and Danny talk about Andy's play Occupy Prescott, now playing at Jalopy Tavern in a production by Theater in Asylum!
10/27/2021 • 1 hour, 18 minutes, 16 seconds
Randy's Dandy Coaster Castle by Alexander Perez
Andy and Danny discuss the new play Randy's Dandy Coaster Castle with playwright Alexander Perez and director Toney Brown!
Tickets available for free at the link below!
http://irttheater.org/3b-development-series/randys-dandy-coaster-castle/
8/25/2021 • 1 hour, 1 minute, 12 seconds
Brecht Poetry Special!
On this episode of Better than Shakespeare, Andy and Danny take a break from reading plays and read some of Bertolt Brecht's wonderful poetry! His poetry includes the same humor, bitter critique, and utopian hope as his plays, but with a somewhat surprising lyrical tenderness. We hope you enjoy!
8/6/2021 • 46 minutes, 57 seconds
The Tragedy Of King Christophe By Aimé Césaire
Andy and Danny discuss post-colonial transition in The Tragedy of King Christophe by the great playwright and poet Aimé Césaire!
E-mail Andy at [email protected] for a scan of the play. It's not easy to find but well worth the effort!
6/9/2021 • 1 hour, 28 minutes, 4 seconds
A Tempest by Aimé Césaire
Andy, Danny, and special guest Fainan Lakha discuss Aimé Césaire's classic play A Tempest, based on a much inferior play by some English guy.
This is a rebroadcast of an episode originally published in 2019.
6/9/2021 • 2 hours, 20 minutes, 29 seconds
We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! by Dario Fo
On this episode of Better Than Shakespeare, Danny and Andy discuss farce as revolutionary propaganda through the play We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! by Italian playwright Dario Fo! Plus, Andy reveals who Lynn Nottage thinks should win the Nobel Prize instead of Dario Fo. For the record, Andy thinks Lynn should win it.
4/15/2021 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 16 seconds
Toussaint Louverture by CLR James
On this episode of Better than Shakespeare, Andy and Danny discuss the play Toussaint Louverture by CLR James.
3/12/2021 • 1 hour, 18 minutes, 12 seconds
Three Scenes In The Life Of A Trotskyist - Scene 3
Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist
A Play by Andy Boyd
Directed by Kim Kerfoot
Scene 3: Years of the Great Break
Cast:
Jeff Gonzalez plays Lev
Brett Radke plays Daniel
Ben Schrager plays Sean
2/10/2021 • 28 minutes, 48 seconds
Three Scenes In The Life Of A Trotskyist - Scene 2
Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist
A Play by Andy Boyd
Directed by Kim Kerfoot
Scene 2: Literature and Revolution
Cast:
Jeff Gonzalez plays Lev
Freddie Fulton plays David
2/10/2021 • 23 minutes, 27 seconds
Three Scenes In The Life Of A Trotskyist - Scene 1
Hello, friends!
Please enjoy this original audio play by BTS host Andy Boyd!
Three Scenes in the Life of a Trotskyist
A Play by Andy Boyd
Directed by Kim Kerfoot
Scene 1: The Stalin School of Falsification
Cast:
Jeff Gonzalez plays Lev
Brett Radke plays Daniel
Ben Schrager plays Louis and Paul
Yoni Bronstein plays Ben
2/10/2021 • 27 minutes, 40 seconds
The Trade Federation, or, Let's Explore Globalization Through the Star Wars Prequels by Andy Boyd
On this episode of Better than Shakespeare, Andy and Danny talk about Andy's play The Trade Federation, out now from NoPassport Press!
https://www.lulu.com/de/de/shop/andy-boyd/the-trade-federation-or-lets-explore-globalization-through-the-star-wars-prequels/paperback/product-8wr68g.html
1/11/2021 • 56 minutes, 25 seconds
The Marriage of Figaro by Pierre Beaumarchais
Andy and Danny discuss the anti-feudal farce The Marriage of Figaro by Pierre Beaumarchais.
We read this translation:
https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/holcroft-the-marriage-of-figaro-or-the-follies-of-a-day#preview
Here is a clip from Danny's favorite staging of the opera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAYqk7jppL4
1/1/2021 • 1 hour, 37 minutes, 32 seconds
Geologists by Yang Limin
Andy and Danny discuss Geologists by Yang Limin, which traces the history of China from the 1960s to the 1990s through a group of geologists working in oil exploration in China's far northwest.
11/11/2020 • 1 hour, 4 minutes, 38 seconds
Che Guevara by Huang Jisu, Zhang Guangtian, and Shen Lin
Andy, Danny, and a special guest discuss Che Guevara by Huang Jisu, Zhang Guangtian, and Shen Lin.
Note: This is a repost of a previous episode. We recommend listening to this episode along with Geologists by Yang Limin. They provide strikingly contrasting views on the legacy of Communism in China. The script for this play can be found here:
https://u.osu.edu/mclc/online-series/noble/
11/11/2020 • 1 hour, 27 minutes, 39 seconds
Romulus The Great By Friedrich Durrenmatt
On this episode of Better Than Shakespeare, Andy and Danny discuss Romulus The Great by Friedrich Durrenmatt!
10/16/2020 • 1 hour, 20 minutes, 59 seconds
The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca
Aeneas, Danny, and Andy discuss The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca.
6/16/2020 • 1 hour, 9 minutes, 50 seconds
From "Notebook of a Return to the Native Land" by Aimé Cesaire
Willie Johnson reads a selection from "Notebook of a Return to the Native Land" by Aimé Cesaire.
4/27/2020 • 1 minute, 26 seconds
Hephaestus By Willie Johnson
Andy and Danny talk with Willie Johnson about his new play Hephaestus.
Read the play here!
https://newplayexchange.org/plays/427722/hephaestus
4/15/2020 • 1 hour, 15 minutes, 37 seconds
A Play Titled After The Collective Noun... by Haleh Roshan
Andy and Danny talk to Halen Roshan about her brilliant, heartbreaking, hilarious play A Play Titled After The Collective Noun For Female - Identifying 20 - Somethings Living In NYC In The 2010s.
Content warning: discussion of sexual assault.
4/5/2020 • 1 hour, 25 minutes, 52 seconds
The Hoopoe by Mahmoud Darwish
Danny reads The Hoopoe by Mahmoud Darwish.
4/3/2020 • 34 minutes, 8 seconds
Ballad Of One Doomed By Federico Garcia Lorca, Translated By Langston Hughes
Andy reads Ballad Of One Doomed By Federico Garcia Lorca, Translated By Langston Hughes.
4/2/2020 • 1 minute, 47 seconds
Beach Glass By Amy Clampitt
Andy reads Beach Glass By Amy Clampitt.
4/1/2020 • 1 minute, 50 seconds
The Low Road By Marge Piercy
Andy reads The Low Road by Marge Piercy.
3/31/2020 • 1 minute, 42 seconds
Landlord, What In The Heaven Is The Matter With You by John Handcox
An archival recording of John Handcox, poet laureate of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union, reciting his poem "Landlord, What in the Heaven is the Matter With You."
3/30/2020 • 2 minutes, 55 seconds
Game By Andy Boyd From The Story By Donald Barthelme
Sam Simone and Alexander Stene read Game, by Andy Boyd, adapted from the story by Donald Barthelme.
3/27/2020 • 8 minutes, 3 seconds
The Dice Player By Mahmoud Darwish
Danny reads The Dice Player By Mahmoud Darwish.
3/26/2020 • 14 minutes, 29 seconds
New York Under The Snow By Jose Martí
Andy reads New York Under the Snow by Jose Martí.
3/25/2020 • 14 minutes, 50 seconds
Today By Billy Collins
Annelisa Leinbach reads Today by Billy Collins. She also did this wonderful painting to go with her reading!
3/24/2020 • 55 seconds
Gramsci's Ashes By Pier Paolo Pasolini
Danny Erickson reads Gramsci's Ashes by Pier Paolo Pasolini.
3/23/2020 • 16 minutes, 21 seconds
The Winds Of The People By Miguel Hernandez
Andy reads The Winds of the People by Miguel Hernandez.
3/20/2020 • 2 minutes, 37 seconds
Meditations In An Emergency By Frank O'Hara
Andy reads Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara.
3/19/2020 • 3 minutes, 17 seconds
Thin Cities 5 By Italo Calvino
Andy reads Thin Cities 5 by Italo Calvino, part of Invisible Cities.
3/18/2020 • 1 minute, 23 seconds
Young Poets By Nicanor Parra
Andy reads Young Poets by Nicanor Parra.
3/17/2020 • 23 seconds
Special Announcement And Ode In Time Of Crisis By Genevieve Taggard
A special announcement about the response of Better Than Shakespeare to this crisis, and a poem for dark times.
3/16/2020 • 4 minutes, 40 seconds
Love and Intrigue by Friedrich Schiller
On this episode, Andy and Danny discuss Love and Intrigue: A Bourgeois Tragedy by Friedrich Schiller!
2/26/2020 • 1 hour, 26 minutes, 42 seconds
The Second Wakefield Shepherd's Pegeant
In this episode, Andy and Danny talk Medieval Theatre, revolutionary Christianity, and what Marx meant when he called peasants "sacks of potatoes."
