Straight Acting
The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare
It is hard to imagine how we would think about movies or history without William Shakespeare. So many of our favorite works were either created by him or adapted from his stuff over the last few centuries. And while we have shown several adaptations on the watch party over the last six and a half years, I don’t know that we ever had the chance to sit down and consider the man himself.
That, my friends, is an easy fix, courtesy of a new friend here on podcast, Dr. Will Tosh. Will is the Director of Education at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, and author of Straight Acting: The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare.
So what film could possibly be both an entry to the world’s most famous playwright while being as provacative as the man himself? The answer is of course 1998’s Shakespeare in Love. The film is probably most famous for its upset win over Saving Private Ryan at the Oscars, though Ed Zwick’s recent memoir also detailed the early hurdles of getting the film made courtesy of one Julia Roberts. (Seriously, that book is a fascinating read.) But the movie also does a hell of a job illustrating the world of Shakespeare and his counterparts so we can better know them and the circumstances that created them.
This gave me and Will a chance to delve into the hidden queer lives of Shakespeare, and explore the themes of sexuality, authorship, and the cultural context of his work. I didn’t really know much about Shakespeare’s life before I read Will’s book, so one of the things Will did was lay out the complexities of Shakespeare's relationships, his role as a working writer, and the competitive landscape of playwrights in his time. We were also able to get into the themes of Shakespeare's life and works, particularly focusing on the historical context of the Rose Theater and London playhouses, the role of women in theater, and of course, Shakespeare's sexuality. And for those of you thinking about teaching with this film, Will and I talk about the challenges of making Shakespeare accessible to a wider audience, along with the historical accuracy of Shakespeare in Love.
In the clip below, Will speaks to the queer desire found in Shakespeare’s works:
About our guest:
Dr. Will Tosh is interim Director of Education (Higher Education and Research) at Shakespeare’s Globe, where he is responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate course, events for adult learners, and the Globe’s scholarly research programme. Will researches and writes about the literature and culture of Shakespeare’s England, and his work at the Globe includes dramaturgy, new writing development, and public engagement in person, in the media and online.
Will holds degrees from the University of Oxford and Queen Mary University of London, and has worked at Shakespeare’s Globe since 2014. He developed the Research in Action format of public scholarly workshops, and helped to curate the Antiracist Shakespeare webinar series from 2021-24. He is the host of ‘That Is The Question’, the Globe’s award-winning YouTube series. Will is the co-director of the Shakespeare Centre London (based jointly at the Globe and King’s College London), and a mentor for the Early Modern Scholars of Colour network. He has served on the programme committee for the Shakespeare Association of America.
Will is the author of Playing Indoors: Staging Early Modern Drama in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (2018), and Male Friendship and Testimonies of Love in Shakespeare’s England (2016), which revealed the intimate social circle of the Elizabethan spy Anthony Bacon. His most recent book is Straight Acting: The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare, which was published to wide acclaim in 2024. Will writes and reviews regularly for academic journals as well as the Times Literary Supplement and other news publications.
Find Will’s book:
Find Straight Acting on Amazon for $23.35
And without further ado, find our episode with Will Tosh below. If you like it, don’t forget to subscribe.
One last thing.
Folks, you’re reading this as you wake and sip coffee and maybe as you get going on your work day. What happened last night is that about two million civil servants did not sleep at all because they (myself included) are terrified they’re about to lose their jobs. These are the people who fight wildfires, direct air traffic, and make sure your water is safe to drink. We work hard. And we do it because we love our communities and want to give back. And our families are about to lose everything.
You can intervene.
That’s it. That’s what I got. I hope you like the pod. Now call. Please.
Jason