‘Women & Shakespeare’ podcast is back with Series 2. It continues the work of Series 1 and features conversations with diverse women directors, actors, writers, and academics who are involved in making and interpreting Shakespeare. In the conversations, we find out both how Shakespeare is used to amplify the voices of women today and the way in which women are redefining the world’s most famous writer.

This event includes a group-listen of a newly launched episode featuring the critically acclaimed actor Nadia Nadarajah. The podcast creator, Dr Varsha Panjwani (NYU) will introduce the series and Dr Susan Anderson (Sheffield Hallam) will draw on her expertise in disability and early modern drama to respond to the episode.

In the episode, Nadarajah tells us about the challenges and opportunities of pioneering the use of sign language in British Shakespeare productions and details her experience of performing a host of Shakespeare’s roles such as Titania, the Princess of France, and Celia. She also gives us a sneak peek into her preparation for playing Cleopatra. The episode was recorded with the sign language interpreter, Linda Bruce, and is fully transcribed.

Funded by the New York University (NYU), Series 2 of the ‘Women and Shakespeare’ podcast includes renowned actors such as Adjoa Andoh and Rakie Ayola, novelist Naomi Miller, and ground-breaking academics such as Diana Henderson, Sarah Olive, and Andrea Smith.  The series is designed to harness digital humanities to redress the gender and racial disparity in academic citational practices, public discourse, and rehearsal room power dynamics in the field of Shakespeare studies and performance.

Women & Shakespeare Hear Party: Nadia Nadarajah