Paul Adrian Fried / HAMLET'S BIBLE

Thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday (July 5) over the past few days! I really appreciate it. This year I received a Hamlet card, featuring Shakespeare telling the skull of Yorick that he hasn't aged a day. Very appropriate! (And courtesy of the Huntington Library and Museum in Los Angeles, California...) For those of you who don't yet know, I was asked to be a guest on Philip Rowe's The History of European Theatre podcast; this will be two episodes, starting with the first on July 13. For more information, see my previous blog post here:  https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2026/07/july-13-interview-1-of-2-with-philip.html

In mid-May, Philip Rowe, the host of the podcast, The History of European Theatre , asked me to be a guest on his podcast. I was delighted. Philip's podcast series has more than 260 episodes covering a wide range of subjects, and he has interviewed an impressive list of guests, including Kristen McDermott, Steve Sohmer, Rob Eastaway, Darren Freebury-Jones, Susan D Amussen, Roberta Barker, Robert Crighton, Rachel Aanstad, Colin David Rees, Iman Sheeha, Laurie Johnson, Katherine Sheil, Cassidy Cash, and Ian McCormick, to name just a few in recent years. After some planning, on June 10, we recorded a conversation about Shakespeare's use of biblical allusions, especially in Hamlet . Philip edited the interview into two episodes. I'm very happy that Philip found and liked my blog, honored to be a guest, and greatly enjoyed the conversation. In the first of these two episodes we talk more generally about Shakespeare and the Bible, and in the second (release date to be ann...