Why Shakespeare? is a podcast hosted by Victoria Gartner in which she asks why? Why do people have such complex relationships with Shakespeare and why do they do it, practice it, revere it or shun it? With guests ranging from actors to academics, she explores a wealth of material, from methods to madness, about what it means to do Shakespeare today. Whether you celebrate him, question him, or can’t stand him, this show uncovers what keeps his words buzzing in our world (and our ear!) today.
Listen to this conversation between Victoria & Emilia Hart recorded live in Waterstones Gower Street. Emilia is a British-Australian writer who studied English Literature and Law before working as a lawyer in Sydney and London. She is the author of the acclaimed debut novel 'Weyward,' an intergenerational tale weaving together the stories of three women across five centuries, exploring female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world. The novel takes its name directly from Shakespeare: in the First Folio, the three witches in Macbeth are referred to as the 'weyward sisters' and just like Macbeth, Hart's novel features three such women navigating power, persecution, and freedom across different eras. In this conversation, Victoria and Emilia explore the Shakespearean inspiration running through 'Weyward' and what Shakespeare's witches reveal about the treatment of women across the centuries. Whether you celebrate Shakespeare, question him, or can't stand him, this conversation will uncover what keeps his words buzzing in our world (and our ears!) today.
2 Oct 2026
Why Shakespeare? Tait Brennan, acting student & Yvonne, her grandmother
This is a very special episode... and our first double-parter! The first part is an interview of emerging artist and acting student Tait Brennan. It is incredibly refreshing and inspiring to hear from a young person about what Shakespeare means to them and how his works are both a challenge and an inspiration. Victoria Gartner and Tait worked on several Shakespeare musicals together, so we talk about Tait's process when playing both Bottom and Romeo and how coming to see 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' sparked a passion for Shakespeare in her 78-year old grandmother, Yvonne. The second part is a conversation with Yvonne about how Shakespeare's words captivate and inspire her... and how she talks about it to her less-than-Shakespeare-inclined girlfriends over wine! This is a very special & beautiful episode about how Shakespeare can touch a family over several generations and we hope you enjoy it! Disclaimer: the first part, with Tait, was recorded on my old recorder in an outdoor park so apologies for the wind, birds & edits!
8 Sept 2026
Why Shakespeare? Michael Maloney, actor
My guest today is the actor Michael Maloney, now Patron of Bard in the Bookshop. Michael has played some of the biggest parts in the Shakespeare canon for the Royal Shakespeare Company (Hal, Edgar, Romeo, Hamlet... twice) and worked alongside giants like Peter Hall, Trevor Nunn and John Barton. On screen, he's a longtime Kenneth Branagh collaborator, appearing in Henry V, Hamlet, In the Bleak Midwinter and Belfast. We recorded this in his dressing room in Cardiff, while we were touring together with Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, in which Michael played the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot . This episode is a masterclass in speaking Shakespeare from someone who has done it all his life, and a short history of theatre besides.
20 Aug 2026
Why Shakespeare? Indiana Lown-Collins, director
My guest today is the theatre director Indiana Lown-Collins. Indiana is from Spain and moved to the UK later in life. She cut her teeth at the Guildford Shakespeare Company before becoming Resident Associate Director at Shakespeare's Globe. She is currently directing Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe, a production that fuses Shakespeare's language with flamenco, drawing on her own Spanish heritage. For once, thanks to my editor, this podcast is relevant to current affairs as LLL is still on! Run to see it if you haven’t yet.
We recorded this in a cavernous room tucked away at the Globe, with Indiana's lovely dog Alma keeping us company throughout. We talk about how Shakespeare found her rather than the other way around, growing up in Spain, disability and access in the arts, the magic of that circular playhouse, and how Shakespeare is... a modern playwright.
I hope you enjoy!
30 Jul 2026
Why Shakespeare? Ayse Tashkiran, movement director
Victoria's guest today is movement director Ayse Tashkiran, an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her credits include the RSC's 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Othello' at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 'Shakespeare in Love', and the stage adaptation of 'Hamnet'. We recorded this conversation over dinner in her beautiful home, we hope it proves as much of a feast for you as it was for us. Ayse takes us through her process for approaching Shakespeare, from turning every verb into a score of movement, reading the text through Renaissance humoral theory and working outwards from anatomy to Elizabethan courtly dance. We also talk about negotiating two scores, hers and a director's, the very different physicality of Shakespeare versus Marlowe and Webster, and what it means to invoke all those 'imaginary forces' on stage today. We hope you enjoy listening!
1 Jul 2026
Why Shakespeare? Dr. Anjna Chouhan, scholar
My guest today is Dr. Anjna Chouhan: scholar, writer, broadcaster, educator, and, for a number of years, my boss at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon where she was an in-house scholar for a decade, and where she developed a very successful and fun approach to adapting Shakespeare for younger audiences. Amongst other projects, she has co-hosted the podcast Shakespeare Alive for the Birthplace – where she kindly interviewed me in 2021 – and produces and hosts her own podcast, the brilliant and surprising Shakespeare’s Pants. If you’re interested in any of the Tudor’s bodily functions and everyday life, it’s an absolute gem so please go check it out!
In this episode, we talk about how a childhood copy of Twelfth Night sparked a lifelong fascination with Shakespeare to Victorian adaptations and to Anjna’s recent mammoth work: a children’s edition of Shakespeare's First Folio.
28 May 2026
Why Shakespeare? Katy Stephens, actor
This is a special one. I was completely star struck when I first met Katy Stephens in a rehearsal room for Agatha Christie’s 'And Then There Were None,' the show which brought us to China, where we recorded this podcast. Katy has not only worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company for many years – including as a very memorable Rosalind – she has performed at the Globe, playing many parts amongst which are both Timora and Titus in Titus Andronicus, and in shows up and down the country. We talk about why she loves Shakespeare so viscerally, her approach to words, their muscularity… and their soul. I hope you enjoy!
13 May 2026
Why Shakespeare? Terence Wilton, actor
My guest today is the legendary actor Terence Wilton. I will let you count all the incredible name drops he manages to do in this podcast by yourself, but suffice it to say… Terry was probably playing Shakespeare before you were born – certainly before I was born – and he is damn good at it. He has toured the world with the Bard, and gained infinite wisdom from it that he eloquently and passionately shares here.
I interviewed him… like many of these first guests, in China, while we were touring together with Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.
23 Apr 2026
Why Shakespeare? Live! Dr Will Tosh, academic
In this episode of Why Shakespeare? Victoria talks to Dr Will Tosh, the Head of Higher Education at Shakespeare's Globe, about his passion for Shakespeare and the history of playhouses but also about breeching, the sonnets, casting Shakespeare, Kings and their minions, which are some of the many topics in his book 'Straight Acting: The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare.' This episode was the first of the episodes we have recorded live in Waterstones Gower Street. Enjoy listening!
16 Apr 2026
Why Shakespeare? Lucy Bailey, director
In this episode, Victoria talks to acclaimed director Lucy Bailey about approaching Shakespeare as a director, her first experience of Shakespeare, directing at the Globe and the RSC and her specialist subject - Shakespeare and violence. The informal interview is recorded in Lucy's kitchen, with her two fluffy cats prowling around! We hope you enjoy listening.
2 Feb 2026
Why Shakespeare? Ken Ludwig, playwright
Welcome to episode 4 of ‘Why Shakespeare’, a podcast in which I ask people why they like Shakespeare, why they devote their lives to it, why they learn it by heart and write books about it and donate a million pounds to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to restore one of its houses… Well, you will have guessed it – my guest today is a big, big Shakespeare fan. I was lucky to be able to work with the American playwright Ken Ludwig on several shows, and he kindly took time out of his very busy schedule to talk to me about Shakespeare. This was recorded in September 2024 in a dressing room in the Lowry, in Salford, when we were opening his play ‘Murder on the Orient Express.’
26 Dec 2025
Why Shakespeare? Lucy Tregear, actor
My guest for this episode is the actor Lucy Tregear. Lucy is a seasoned actor, voiceover artist and teacher whose work has taken her all over the globe. Together we talk about Shakespeare's sonnets, female roles in the canon, and why Shakespeare should not be mandatory in schools. Happy listening!
19 Sept 2025
Why Shakespeare? Michael Begley, actor
My guest today is the actor and writer Michael Begley. He has been acting for decades and has countless credits on the West End and in theatres across the country. He has been on television Doctor Who, Holby City, Casualty, Call the Midwife and EastEnders, for which he has also written several episodes, as Michael is a talented play and screen writer.
I interviewed him in his dressing room in Xi’an’s Grand Opera House in China when we were touring together for three months with Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.
In this episode, Michael compares Shakespeare to Elvis Presley, and we talk about sound, jokes, and why Shakespeare is something 'posh people do over there.' I hope you enjoy listening!
19 Sept 2025
Why Shakespeare? Bob Barrett, actor
My first guest is the actor Bob Barrett. You might know him from Holby City, but Bob is also a seasoned Shakespearean actor, notably with the company Propeller. He also appears in the movie Shakespeare In Love as George Bryan. I interviewed him in Theatre Royal Plymouth as we were touring together on And Then There Were None.
This episode contains: swearing.
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