wildly curious
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Much Ado About Shakespeare's Women

Photo by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2016
Ben Livingston (left) as Benedick, Kim Martin-Cotten as Beatrice in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2016 production of Much Ado about Nothing.";

Utah Shakespeare Festival is performing Much Ado About Nothing, and we’re using it as an excuse to talk about Shakespeare’s women. Scholar Kate McPherson says few Elizabethan playwrights created female characters as rich as the Bard, and that Much Ado is his most sophisticated play about women. It features Beatrice, a feisty and fearless lady who has forsworn love. McPherson, actor Kim Martin-Cotten, and director David Ivers join us to talk about Beatrice and the challenges and opportunities afforded women in Shakespeare’s world.

Utah Shakespeare Festival's production of Much Ado About Nothing continues through September 8. It's being performed at the new Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre in Cedar City. For a schedule of performances and ticket information, visit bard.org or call 800-PLAYTIX (752-9849) 

We invite you to be part of the audience for this live conversation. Join us on the Eccles Grand Promenade at the Engelstad Theatre in Cedar City. Live show begins at 11:00 a.m. Please arrive and be seated by 10:50 a.m., the broadcast will conclude at 12:00 p.m.

Guests:

  • David Ivers is co-artistic director of Utah Shakespeare Festival and director of Much Ado About Nothing
  • Kim Martin-Cotten plays Beatrice in the Festival's production of Much Ado About Nothing.
  • Kate McPherson teaches English Renaissance literature at Utah Valley University, where she directs the Honors Program.
Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.