GEORGE:Close your eyes and stand with me in Stratford-upon-Avon—an English market town of roughly fifteen hundred souls, ringed by fields, sheep, mud, and gossip. No phones. No streetlights. No “I’ll do it tomorrow” the way ...

Welcome to celebrate creativity - and this series is Conversations with Shakespeare.  Rhetorical triangle - part twoIn the previous podcast we talked about the three central parts of a rhetorical triangle - think of the rock gro...

I have decided to call a slight halt to episodes regarding Shakespeare's initial exposure to rhetorical devices for several reasons.  I wanted to concentrate on a few of the major rhetorical devices, and I have done so in the past few e...

Tonight’s device is one I love because it feels human.It’s called aporia.GEORGE:Master Shakespeare, I’m going to pronounce it and then stare at you like a student: uh-PORE-ee-uh.SHAKESPEARE (approving):Aye. A ...

SHAKESPEARE:Aye. The mind loves threes.Beginning, middle, end.Birth, life, death.Knock, knock, knock.GEORGE:I knew you’d do that—three examples to explain the “rule of three.”   SHAKESPEARE:W...

GEORGE:All right, for the listener who doesn’t want a grammar lecture: antithesis is when you place two opposing ideas side by side—often in a balanced structure—so the contrast hits hard.Like: light and darkness, love and hate, life...

GEORGE:Master Shakespeare, are you with us?SHAKESPEARE (warm, amused):Indeed, sir. I am ever at your elbow—though I confess, your age is wondrous. In mine own day, men grew old chiefly by avoiding theaters.GEORGE:...

GEORGE (to mic, playful):All right. Confession Some people hear the phrase “rhetorical devices” and immediately reach for the nearest exit sign.But over the years I have learned that rhetorical devices are not decorations. T...

George:Stratford-upon-Avon is not London. Not even close.London is noise—argument, urgency, ambition. London is a place where a man can vanish into a crowd and become someone else by lunchtime.Stratford is… remembered.Str...

Welcome to Celebrate Creativity. I’m George Bartley. For the next section of this podcast, I’m beginning a new series I’m calling Conversations with Shakespeare.  And tonight's episode is called get here anyone who ever try...

NARRATOR:New Year’s Day.The museum is quiet the way a room gets quiet after somebody says,“We need to talk.”Last night the toys lit up the patio with fireworks—and the Director lit up the Night Watchman with consequen...

NARRATOR:The Night Watchman rises from his desk and follows the sound—past the exhibits, past the quiet corridors, toward the patio doors.Outside, the winter air holds that New Year’s feeling: cold, sharp, expectant.And i...

NARRATOR:In the museum, toys do not age the way people age.They don’t get older, exactly.They get… remembered.And on the last nights of December, the museum feels like a giant attic— full of objects that once felt br...

NIGHT WATCHMAN (to mic, mock-host energy):Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Late Night at the Toy Museum.Tonight’s top story: New Year’s Eve is the day after tomorrow, which means the museum is preparing the traditi...

NARRATOR:Welcome back to the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—where the lights dim, the doors lock, and the exhibits do what exhibits are not supposed to do.[SFX: A security door clicks shut.]NARRATOR (...

NIGHT WATCHMAN (mildly amused, to himself):All right, Museum. Let’s see what you’ve got tonight. No stampedes. No… spontaneous karaoke from the animatronics. And if the wind-up monkey even looks like it’s planning something—no.SF...

NIGHT WATCHMAN (EBENEZER, cheerful):All right, toys—another calm, orderly night.Nothing’s going to—SFX: A sudden electronic WHIRR from a glass case.SFX: Tiny motor clicks: eyelids opening.SFX: A bright chirp, then...

NARRATOR:It’s Christmas Eve at the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—after the last visitor has gone,after the gift-shop lights click off,after the lobby wreath stops smelling like “busy” and starts smelling...

NARRATOR:It’s Christmas Eve at the Metropolitan Museum of Toys and Childhood Artifacts—after the last visitor has gone,after the gift-shop lights click off,after the lobby wreath stops smelling like “busy” and starts smelling...

This episode begins with the night watchmen engaged in conversation with Rubik's Cube.NIGHT WATCHMAN:Mr. cube, I want the museum-tour version of how to start.RUBIK’S CUBE:Very well.Rule one:Choose one face to ...

NARRATOR:In the center of the case sits a classic 3×3 Rubik’s Cube—a pocket-size universe that has humbled presidents, professors, and perfectly confident ten-year-olds.It’s the kind of toy that whispers:“Go ahead. Touch me.<...

NARRATOR (WARM, LOW):Welcome to Celebrate Creativity…and Conversations with Toys.  This episode is VIEW-MASTER: CLICK INTO WONDER.This podcast is a dramatization that blends historical research with fiction, satire, and ...

NIGHT WATCHMAN (reading):“Betsy Wetsy. Vintage baby doll.A ‘practice baby’—a caretaking toy reflecting changing ideas about childhood play and domestic life…”NARRATOR:He pauses, as if the next line might argue back.

The alphabet blocks are gathered around the bobble head figure of Edgar Allan Poe - complete with Raven.  The alphabet blocks seem to be fascinated by Mr.Poe’s use of language and are clearly intrigued by his words until the night watch...

Tonight we leave the playhouse wing and walk—quietly—into a different kind of stage: a mirrored room, a window, and a tube of glass and brass pointed at the sky. Because when Edgar Allan Poe looks up, he doesn’t just want ...