Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Long before his iconic portrayal of Logan Roy in Succession, Brian Cox trod the boards as a Shakespearean actor. For over 50 years, Cox has made his mark on both stage and screen, collecting Olivier Awards, a Primetime Emmy, a Golden Globe, and countless other accolades. He’s best known for roles in Super Troopers, The Bourne Identity, Braveheart, Rushmore, and, of course, Succession, but he’s also played Orlando in As You Like It, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, Titus in Titus Andronicus, and the title role in King Lear at age 44. Cox is currently in Washington, DC to portray Johann Sebastian Bach in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Score. His real-life wife, Nicole Ansari-Cox, plays the powerhouse role of Anna Magdalena Bach. An internationally acclaimed actor who began her career in Germany, Ansari-Cox has acted on Broadway, the West End, the Public Theatre Vienna, and the Thèâtre du Soleil in Paris as well as on film and television. In this episode, they discuss portraying the Bachs, revisiting Lear, finding the “flow” of a scene, and why Logan Roy is “one of the most misunderstood characters in drama.” From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published October 6, 2026. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the executive producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Technical support was provided by Voice Trax West in Studio City, California. Web production was handled by Megan Fraedrich. Transcripts are edited by Leonor Fernandez. Final mixing services provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Hamnet, the acclaimed novel by Maggie O’Farrell, is now a major film. The story imagines the life and death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, whose loss would later echo through one of his most famous tragedies, Hamlet. O’Farrell joins director and co-writer Chloé Zhao to reveal how they adapted the novel for the big screen. With Jessie Buckley as Agnes and Paul Mescal as William, the film reframes the Shakespeare family story as one of deep love, rupturing grief, and artistic creation. O’Farrell and Zhao discuss developing the screenplay together, interpreting Shakespeare as a husband and father, building the film’s immersive natural world, and shaping an unforgettable Globe Theatre sequence that anchors the emotional arc of the story. O’Farrell and Zhao talk about adaptation, artistry, and how a 400-year-old loss continues to inspire new ways of imagining Shakespeare’s life and legacy. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published December 2, 2025. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the executive producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. We had help with web production from Paola García Acuña. Leonor Fernandez edits our transcripts. We had technical help from Hamish Brown in Stirling, Scotland, and Voice Trax West in Studio City, California. Final mixing services provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Imprisoned for nearly 20 years by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots, fought her battles through words, sending and receiving coded letters hidden in books, garments, and even beer barrels. Historian Jade Scott, of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, has uncovered the human and political depths behind Mary’s captivity through 57 recently decrypted letters, coded missives that reveal her as a strategist, an adept diplomat, and a woman navigating the perilous politics of Elizabethan England. In her new book, Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots, Scott draws on these newly decoded letters to illuminate Mary’s time in captivity, her alliances and betrayals, and the intricate game of espionage that ultimately led to her execution. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published November 4, 2025. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the executive producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. We had help with web production from Paola García Acuña. Leonor Fernandez edits our transcripts. Final mixing services are provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc. Jade Scott, PhD, is a historian specializing in Mary, Queen of Scots and is an expert on her letters. She is a lecturer in historical linguistics at the University of Glasgow and an associate fellow of the Royal Historical Society, researching early modern Scottish women and their correspondence. Fascinated by Mary since she was a child, Jade was contacted by the DECRYPT Project to consult on the translations of Mary’s newly-decoded letters, which led to the writing of Captive Queen. Jade lives in Glasgow.