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Welcome to season three of Bell Shakespeare’s podcast Speak The Speech! In this episode, Andy Griffiths talks to host James Evans about writing his Shakespeare adaptions Just Macbeth! and Just Romeo & Juliet!, how he inserts himself into his work, workshopping his plays and watching them come to life, the parallels between Macbeth and Hamlet, and his crucial collaborative relationships. Recorded live from Melbourne in May 2022. Andy Griffiths is one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors. His writing credits include The Day My Bum Went Psycho and the following trilogy; his extensive collaborations with illustrator Terry Denton including the Just series and the Treehouse series have sold over 10 million copies worldwide, won 80 children’s choice awards and 10 Australian Book Industry Awards—including Book of the Year for The 52-Storey Treehouse in 2015. Five of his books have been adapted for the stage and have all had sell-out seasons at Sydney Opera House, as well as highly successful tours through the Netherlands, New Zealand, and America. He is a passionate advocate for literacy and in 2015 was awarded the Dromkeen Medal to honour his outstanding contribution to Australian children’s literature. He is also an ambassador for both The Indigenous Literacy Foundation and the Pyjama Foundation. Find out more about Bell Shakespeare online: https://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/ and follow us on socials @bellshakespeare

Bell Shakespeare 2022 is here! Catch up on the 2022 season announcement in this bonus live episode. Artistic Director Peter Evans talks to James Evans and shares all the details of what's in store in 2022 – one of Bell Shakespeare's biggest seasons to date. They are joined by actor Harriet Gordon-Anderson, director Janine Watson and writer Laura Murphy.  Bell Shakespeare season packages are now on sale. Explore the season and book a package today: https://www.bellshakespeare.com.au/  

In the final episode of Season Two of Speak The Speech Grace Truman join us to perform and talk about Beatrice’s speech from Act 4 Scene 1 of Much Ado About Nothing. Grace shares her experience as a young actor, juggling school and performing, and how Shakespeare can articulate any emotion you are feeling. Grace Truman is an actor and writer. She made her professional theatre debut at the age of 14 in the National Theatre of Parramatta’s production of Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam, reprising the role in 2020 for Belvoir. For Bell Shakespeare she has appeared in Titus Andronicus. Grace co-created, wrote and starred in the acclaimed web series amazing Grace. She has won numerous awards, including Best Female Performance at the London International Web Fest, an Award of Excellence at IndieFest USA, and was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Sydney Theatre Awards.

Kyle Morrison joins us on Speak The Speech to perform Duke Senior’s speech from Act 2 Scene 1 of As You Like It. He talks about building cultural legacy through art, his passion for decolonising Shakespeare and what it’s like to be putting on a play during a pandemic. Kyle is a Noongar man, an actor and director. From 2009 to 2019 he was Artistic Director of Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company, and was the creative instigator of Hecate, the Noongar retelling of Macbeth, which premiered at the Perth Festival in 2020. His performance in that show won him Best Supporting Actor at the Performing Arts WA Awards. His directing credits include Honey Spot, Mother’s Tongue, Kaarla Kaatijin, SkyLab (with Black Swan Theatre Company) The Cake Man (with Belvoir), Sista Girl (with the State Theatre Company of South Australia), King Hit (awarded WA’s Best Production of 2015), and Ice Land: A Hip-h’Opera. He'll soon be appearing as Oberon in Bell Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Gabrielle Scawthorn joins us to perform Helena’s soliloquy from the opening scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She talks about playing Helena, creating her own work, what it’s like to audition with food poisoning and why her dream Shakespeare role may be an unconventional choice. Gabrielle Scawthorn is an actor and writer. She is a three-time Sydney Theatre Award nominee and appears as Helena in Bell Shakespeare’s 2021 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her previous theatre credits include The Apologists at Omnibus Theatre in London; E-Baby and Blood Bank for the Ensemble Theatre; Stop Kiss at ATYP; The Village Bike at The Old Fitz and The Sound of Waiting for Darlinghurst Theatre. She is the host of the popular podcast Back From Reality which explores the world of reality television and the impact that it has on the lives of its participants.  You can follow Gabrielle on Instagram @gjosca and listen to Back to Reality here. You can find out more about Bell Shakespeare’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream here.

Professor Penny Gay joins us on Speak The Speech to perform and talk about Rosalind’s speech from Act 4 Scene 1 of As You Like It. Penny and James discuss women in Shakespeare, why Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing is Penny’s favourite character and how performing in a Shakespeare play at university changed the course of her academic life. Penny Gay is Professor Emerita in English and Drama at the University of Sydney. Her major research interest is in performance history, and she’s currently writing about Shakespeare performance history in Australia. Her publications include As She Likes It: Shakespeare’s Unruly Women, The Cambridge Introduction to Shakespeare’s Comedies, Teaching Shakespeare Beyond the Centre, and Jane Austen and the Theatre. She has edited Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice for publication, and has contributed numerous essays to collections like the Cambridge Companions and Oxford Handbooks.

In this episode Paula Arundell joins James to perform and discuss Richard Gloucester’s speech from Act 3 of Henry VI Part 3. They speak about the complexity of a ‘villain’ and how actors approach such characters in the rehearsal room. Paula recounts her extensive career in Australia, from early Shakespeare performances to her current role as Hermione in the Melbourne production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Paula Arundell is a multi-award-winning actor who has worked with Bell Shakespeare, Belvoir, Sydney Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company and Ensemble Theatre.

In this special live episode, recorded from Perth, James is joined by Michael Chaney AO. Michael performs and dissects Richard II’s speech from Act 3 Scene 2 of Richard II. They discuss leadership in Shakespeare’s works and in corporate Australia, the role of corporate social responsibility and the importance of supporting the arts. Michael Chaney is Chairman of Wesfarmers Limited, one of Australia’s largest companies. He also heads the National School Resourcing Board and is a Director of the Centre for Independent Studies. He is a former Chairman of the National Australia Bank and of Woodside Petroleum, a former director of BHP and the previous Chancellor of the University of Western Australia. Wesfarmers Arts is Bell Shakespeare’s Perth Season Partner.

This week on Speak The Speech James is joined by Yalin Ozucelik who performs and discusses Iago’s speech from Act 1 Scene 1 of Othello. They talk about the driving force behind Iago as a character, the challenges and joys of working with Shakespeare’s language and the thrill of live performance. Yalin Ozucelik is an award-winning actor who has appeared in dozens of theatre productions across Australia, most recently Outdated for Ensemble Theatre and Photograph 51 for Melbourne Theatre Company. For Bell Shakespeare, he’s appeared in King Lear, Romeo and Juliet and Henry IV, and he played Iago in the 2016 national tour of Othello.

Huw McKinnon joins James on Speak The Speech performing Prince Hal’s speech from the Act One of Henry IV Part 1. Huw shares stories of his work teaching Shakespeare in juvenile justice centres, working with teachers to unlock Shakespeare in the classroom and considers why audiences continue to find relevance in Shakespeare’s works. Huw McKinnon is an actor, director and Bell Shakespeare’s Resident Artist in Education. He has taught in schools and communities across Australia and internationally. For Bell Shakespeare he is a director in the Players program and has co-directed a production of Macbeth for young audiences, and as and actor has appeared in Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello and The Players.

This week on Speak The Speech we are joined by Designer Anna Tregloan, who performs an excerpt from Shakespeare’s narrative poem ‘Venus and Adonis’. She discusses collaboration in the design process and how designers and directors work together to create the world of a production. She shares past creative projects, including her recent work The Impossible Project, which recorded the works cancelled, postponed or derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Anna Tregloan is an award-winning designer, artist and creative producer with extensive experience in theatre, dance, opera, contemporary performance, and the many different forms of installation art. She’s designed numerous productions for Malthouse Theatre, Legs on the Wall, Circus Oz, Sydney Chamber Opera and Force Majeure. For Bell Shakespeare, her credits include Venus and Adonis, Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, The Miser and most recently Hamlet. She was curator of the Australian exhibition for the most recent Prague Quadrennial of Performance, Space and Design.  You can view The Impossible Project here: https://theimpossibleproject.com.au/  

In this episode Jane Montgomery Griffiths joins James to perform and speak about Titus’ speech from Act 3 Scene 1 of Titus Andronicus. Jane discusses Shakespeare from the perspective of an actor and scholar, how Shakespeare finds language and expression for unimaginable scenarios, and the different pathways to create meaning in theatre. Jane Montgomery Griffiths is an award-winning actor, writer, scholar, and director. She is the former director of the Centre for Theatre and Performance at Monash University. As an actor Jane has worked with Bell Shakespeare, Malthouse Theatre, Belvoir, Melbourne Theatre Company, The Royal Shakespeare Company and many more. As a director she has produced work ranging from the classic and modern repertoire through to devised projects and new writing.