SHAKESPEARE

Alternative title

Shakespeare Feature

Synopsis

Radio broadcast. Marius Goring aka Charles Richardson talks about Shakespeare’s Englishness.
Includes a recitation of Caliban’s "The isle is full of noises" speech from The Tempest (in English and German) as well as Prospero’s "We are such stuff as dreams are made on", excerpts from The Merchant of Venice (with Shylock’s speech "Has not a Jew eyes" rendered in full), Hamlet’s "To be or not to be" monologue and Gaunt’s "sceptred isle" speech from Richard II. The programme also features a variety of musical adaptations ranging from Schubert’s ‘Silvia’ to Mendelssohn’s incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Language

German (Standard)

Country

Germany

Medium

Radio

Transmission details

7 Jun 1945 (Channel: BBC German Service)

Duration

45 mins

Availability

No copy extant

Credits

Writer

William Shakespeare

Music

Felix Mendelssohn; Franz Schubert

Contributor

Marius Goring

Additional Details

Production type

Documentary/Educational/News

Plays

Hamlet; Merchant of Venice, The; Richard II; Tempest, The

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); national identity

Notes

Notes

A typescript of the programme (entitled SHAKESPEARE FEATURE) is held at BBC Written Archives in Caversham, Reading.

History

First of six Shakespeare features broadcast by the BBC German Service in the first year after V-E Day.

Reviews

A detailed discussion of the programme and its political context can be found in Andreas Hoefele’s article ‘Re-educating Germany: BBC Shakespeare 1945’, published in Shakespeare and European Politics, edited by Dirk Delabastita, Jozef de Vos, and Paul J.C.M. Franssen (Newark: University of Delaware Press, 2008).

Production Company

Name

BBC German Service