Shakespeare’s Restless World: Plague and the Playhouse

Synopsis
Seventeenth of a twenty-part radio series in which the director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, presents an object-based history of the time of Shakespeare to explore how Elizabethan and Jacobean audiences made sense of their rapidly changing environment. In this episode MacGregor uses a plague proclamation from 1603 to explore the impact of plague outbreaks on London’s population and the theatres.
Series
Shakespeare’s Restless World
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Radio
Transmission details
8 May 2012 at 13:45 (Channel: BBC Radio 4)
Duration
15 mins

Credits

Producer
Paul Kobrak
Contributor
Hazel Forsyth; Neil MacGregor

Additional Details

Production type
Documentary/Educational/News
Plays
Henry IV Part 1; Henry IV Part 2; Henry VIII; Romeo and Juliet
Subjects
Drama; History
Keywords
plague; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Cultural history

Notes

Notes
The entire series is available on CD from http://www.bbcshop.com and as a podcast http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/r4shakespeare.
General
The 1603 outbreak of plague was the most severe in England since the Black Death of the 14th century and about a fifth of London’s population died.
History
Part of the Shakespeare Unlocked season on BBC.
Reviews
Source: Radio Times, BBC programme information
For more detail about the programme and its objects (including transcript) see the BBC Restless world website http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/shakespeares-restless-world/ (accessed May 2012)

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Archive

Name

BoB

Email
bob@learningonscreen.ac.uk
Web
https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand External site opens in new window
Phone
020 3743 2345
Address
Learning on Screen - the British Universities and Colleges Film and Video Council
330 Holborn Gate
1st Floor, Suite 120
London
WC1V 7QH
Notes
Formerly a service from BUFVC, British Universities Film & Video Council
Name

British Library Sound Archive

Email
listening@bl.uk
Web
http://www.bl.uk/nsa External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7412 7676
Fax
020 7412 7441
Address
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB
Name

Learning on Screen Off-Air Recording Back-up Service

Email
services@bufvc.ac.uk
Web
http://bufvc.ac.uk/tvandradio/offair External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7393 1514
Fax
020 7393 1555
Address
For Learning on Screen Members only
77 Wells Street
London
W1T 3QJ

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Shakespeare’s Restless World: Plague and the Playhouse". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av74150 (Accessed 25 Nov 2024)