My Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet

Broadcast

2014 (44 mins)

The star of Shakespeare in Love examines Royal Ballet productions, musicals such as West Side Story, and Baz Luhrmann’s extraordinary cinematic re-imagination of Romeo & Juliet to understand why the love...

The Secret Life of Books

The First Folio

To be or not to be ... a man more sinned against than sinning ... I have loved not wisely but too well ... the fault is in our stars. Dear Brutus ... All words written by a man to whom Simon Russell Beale...

The Secret Life of Books

Mrs Dalloway

Alexandra Harris argues that in her 1925 novel, Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf developed a new, free-from way of writing that responded to the climate of uncertainty that followed the trauma of the First World...

The Secret Life of Books

The Mabinogion

The Mabinogion has long been recognised as Wales’ most important contribution to European literature. This collection of 11 ancient folk tales has its roots in the strong oral storytelling tradition of the...

The Secret Life of Books

Frankenstein

Nearly 200 years since it was first published Frankenstein has established itself in popular culture as shorthand for the dangers of science run amok. The name Frankenstein conjures images the world over of...

The Secret Life of Books

Jane Eyre

Novelist Bidisha first read Jane Eyre as a teenager and was immediately captivated by the iconic orphaned heroine. She immersed herself in Jane’s world of loss and love, of rebellion, and redemption. For...

The Secret Life of Books

Great Expectations

Great Expectations is one of Charles Dickens’ most autobiographical novels, and one of his greatest works. But the book has often been criticised, not least because the author hurriedly re-wrote a second,...