2/ ... Elizabeth Klett, Eleanor Glasspoole, Noel Sloboda, and @edelsemple.bsky.social. Thanks to all the authors for their brilliant work. If you'd be interested in contributing a performance review to a future @shaxbull.bsky.social issue, get in touch here or email SBPerformance@marybaldwin.edu 🙂

Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's cold out there today... #GroundhogDay

All the good men and all the gods, plus the streetwise Hercules who fights the rising odds. (Really, there is a lot of missing folk!)

a box of amc perfectly popcorn contains a cartoon character ALT: a box of amc perfectly popcorn contains a cartoon character

Watching the Eliminators on #Gladiators like -

Day or night @ucc.ie Quad is pretty!
#Cork #photography

If you’re heading to see #Hamnet in the cinema, nominated for 8 #Oscars, check out my @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social article about the film, its origins, and the growing trend of #Shakespeare biofiction! #SpeirGorm #SpeirGhorm

A rook, his feathers various shades of black, faces the camera while standing proudly on a moss-covered stone wall. Behind the bird is a brown river in full flood, some city buildings, and a pale grey sky.

A rook stands on a stone wall pecking, open-beaked, at the bright green moss and mud. Behind the bird is a brown river in full flood, some city buildings, and a pale grey sky.

Saw this rook elegantly picking at some damp moss in #Cork city today #corvid #IrishBirds #photography

a blurred image of a soccer game with an ad for nivea ALT: a blurred image of a soccer game with an ad for nivea

Got some research written today, a teaching day, and this is how I’m feeling! #Shakespeare #academic

It’s in my diary and I’m already looking forward to it! 🥂

Congratulations @oldfortunatus.bsky.social! 👏🥳 Great news and a great project!

A large flock of (feral) pigeons eat seed spread on a lawn.

Passed a pigeon-fest in #Cork city today - lovely to see so many #pigeons happily pigeoning on a chilly morning.

The cover of “The story of a new name” shows a black-and-white photo of a woman on a beach in a 1950s bathing suit. She is raising a scarf over her head which is blowing in the wind. This book is book 2 of the Neapolitan novels trilogy.

Read Elena Ferrante’s “My Brilliant Friend” for work (supervising a thesis) and by the end I would describe myself as being reluctantly intrigued. Now in the middle of and enjoying much more “The Story Of A New Name” 💙📚 #Booksky #reading

Hamnet: a heart-wrenching film about love, loss family and grief Hamnet differs from its big screen predecessors in putting Shakespeare's wife Agnes at the heart of the film and depicting the writer as a family man

A heart-wrenching film about love, loss family and grief. Edel Semple @ucc.ie @researchireland.ie on how Hamnet puts Shakespeare's wife Agnes at the heart of the film and depicting the writer as a family man and husband www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Interested in #Hamnet, this year’s big release headlined by two Irish stars? Want to know more about the film’s origins, #Shakespeare’s life on screen, and the hot trend that is #biofiction? Read my article on @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social hot off the (online) press! #PaulMescal #JessieBuckley

The roots and traditions of Nollaig na mBan There are many Irish folk rituals associated with 6 January, the last day of Christmas and the day known as Nollaig na mBan

Today is the 12th day of Christmas and in Irish tradition is known as Nollaig na mBean (Women’s Christmas). On this day, men assumed the household duties normally done by women so women could visit and socialize. Today, it’s a celebration of women and women’s causes.

www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Bowels Opened - and this was a serious religious tome?!

I’d say 2-3 - if there’s more than than 3-4, I’d say it’s a style tic or the writer is using them as a crutch (e.g. asking the question to avoid staking a claim, or even to obscure the fact they they don’t have an answer but heh, never mind, look at this shiny rhetorical question! ⁉️ 👀)

Last chance to register for this evening's free live #Shakespeare webinar with Emma Smith and Emma Whipday.

They will be discussing 'Measure for Measure', followed by a Q&A.

ALL WELCOME! Register via Eventbrite: shakespeare-webinar-measure-for-measure.eventbrite.co.uk

The cover for ONCE WAS WILLEM is red and black. It is ornate and medieval in style, and includes images of swords, a skull, a pentacle, leaves, a snake, a man’s silhouette etc.

#Reading Once Was Willem by M. R. Carey - took me a while to get into the world (medieval fantasy) but story has me hooked now. #BookSky 📚 💙

The striking cover of Tokarczuk’s “Drive your plough over the bones of the dead” shows a greyhound coloured red and opposite one greyhound coloured blue, posed around a sun. At the top of the cover, there is a statement “winner of the Nobel prize in literature 2018”.

Following a strongly-worded recommendation (😆) I am just starting to read Tokarczuk’s “Drive your plough over the bones of the dead” 📚 💙 #BookSky #reading

Make a Bond movie academic:
The World Is Not Enough: multinational expansion and market instability in the post-Bond era.

A tabby cat is curled up asleep on a yellow blanket, her nose tucked in by tail and her paws.

It may be #caturday, but Anita is still busy working as my study buddy. #cats

I just had the pleasure of introducing my family to Col Brandon and the Dashwoods! Great Saturday Christmassy TV.

The brief life—and untimely death—of Hamnet Shakespeare Though little is known about the life of William Shakespeare's only son, historians say his premature death may have shaped the bard's most famous works.

Folks - I am quoted in National Geographic on #Hamnet #Shakespeare!!! 🤩 It energises me to continue research on Shakespeare biofiction with @kscheil.bsky.social and editing our 50 chapter Shakespeare biofiction Handbook - out with Palgrave in 2026!
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...

This!☝️ I’m hoping to squeeze in a rewatch over the Christmas. Also paging @grossmjj.bsky.social, co-editor of Penny Dreadful and Adaptation!

To review:

Sincerely : formal

Best : neutral

All the best : positive

All the very best : can we be friends???

Regards : from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee

The cover of the book, “The Queen who came in from the cold” by SJ Bennett. The background is pale blue and to the right, is a whimsical illustration of Queen Elizabeth II as a young woman, in a dark blue dress, with two corgis at her feet.

The cover to the book “The secrets of the first school”, by T.L. Huchu. It is purple and shows bits of a map of Scotland and an old Gothic-style building. In the centre of the book cover is an icon of an occult star.

Just finished The Queen Who Came In From The Cold (a detective-spy tale) and starting The Secrets of the First School (the latest in the Edinburgh Nights series). 📚 #BookSky #reading

Got a ticket to this - quite excited! And it is right in my areas of research expertise too! #biofiction #shakespeare #hamnet

Cover for the book “The first actress“ which shows the actress Sarah Bernhardt in a portrait by Georges Clairin from 1876. Bernhardt is lounging in a fabulous white dress, gazing directly at the viewer.

Reading “The First Actress” by @cwgortner.bsky.social - and learning that Sarah Bernhardt was a heck of a woman! #BookSky #reading 📚

2/2 @edelsemple.bsky.social, and @emilyrowe1.bsky.social. A wide array of performance styles and media from the US, UK and beyond. If you'd like to contribute a performance review for @shaxbull.bsky.social, email me at SBPerformance@marybaldwin.edu or reply/DM here - I'd love to hear from you 🙂