Rotters’ Club, The

Synopsis: Television adaptation, in three episodes, of Jonathan Coe’s novel. Tells the story of a group of Birmingham teenagers and their families in the 1970s, a time of class conflict, racial tension and industrial strikes. In one episode a pupil introduces the question of Shakespeare’s sexuality in abusive terms. The teacher admonishes him by assigning an essay topic on the theme of ‘great writing has no gender’. In a later episode the one black pupil in the class (Richards) is shown playing Othello in a school production.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Television
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Transmission details: 26 Jan 2005 at 21:00 (Channel: BBC2)
Duration: 60 mins

Production type: Television and Radio Drama
Plays: Othello
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: gender issues; schoolchildren; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); School productions

History: Part 1 tx 26 January 2005.
Part 2 tx 2 February 2005
Part 3 tx 9 February 2005

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