SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

Documentary. Joely Richardson looks at Shakespeare’s women examining As You Like It and Twelfth Night covering issues such as cross dressing, twins, disguise, the nature of comedy and gender. The examination includes clips from:
TWELFTH NIGHT (1910) d. Charles Kent.
TWELFTH NIGHT (BBC, 1963) d. Michael Elliott.
TWELFTH NIGHT (ATV, 1969) d. John Sichel
TWELFTH NIGHT (BBC, 1980) d. John Gorrie.
TWELFTH NIGHT (1996) d. Trevor Nunn.

AS YOU LIKE IT (BBC, 1963). d. Michael Elliott.
AS YOU LIKE IT (BBC, 1978) d. Basil Coleman. (Helen Mirren talks about her role as Rosalind).
AS YOU LIKE IT (2007) d. Kenneth Branagh.
AS YOU LIKE IT (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 2010. d. Sharrock).

Vanessa Redgrave talks to Joely Richardson about her celebrated roles of Viola and Rosalind and her love of Shakespeare and reads some passages. Tom Hollander and Adrian Lester speak briefly about Cheek By Jowl’s all-male production.

There are also scenes from a production of Twelfth Night at Dulwich College and a pantomine at Nottingham Playhouse with Helen Wilding as Prince Charming. Brief scene of a drag stand-up routine with Shakespeare references from Steve Coogan. A brief clip from The Comedy of Errors (BBC, 1964) d. Clifford Williams.

There are contributions from Jonathan Bate, Andrew Dickson, Marjorie Garber, Germaine Greer, Laura Maguire, Nick Hytner, Gill Perry, Abigail Rokison, Thea Sharrock, Stanley Wells.

Series

Shakespeare Uncovered

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Television

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Transmission details

19 Jun 2012 at 21:00 (Channel: BBC4)

Duration

60 mins

Credits

Director

Janice Sutherland

Producer

Janice Sutherland

Contributor

Abigail Rokison; Adrian Lester; Andrew Dickson; Germaine Greer; Helen Mirren; Joely Richardson; Jonathan Bate; Marjorie Garber; Nicholas Hytner; Stanley Wells; Thea Sharrock; Tom Hollander; Vanessa Redgrave

Cast

Vanessa Redgrave	Rosalind
Steve Coogan

Additional Details

Production type

Documentary/Educational/News

Plays

As You Like It; Twelfth Night

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

comedy; gender representation; pantomime; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); twins; women; Cross-dressing

Related items

Prefaces to Shakespeare

Notes

Notes

The six episodes in this series are available as a 2-disc DVD from MovieMail and other retailers with the title PREFACES TO SHAKESPEARE. The DVD is catalogued separately on this database. The DVD is catalogued separately on this database. The series is also released on DVD (Region 1) by PBS and sold as a 2-DVD set with the MY SHAKESPEARE series under the general title of SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED.

Reviews

"There were lots of academics giving their tuppence worth too, but rather too many statements such as "Shakespeare never forgot his family" and "Shakespeare loved strong women", which are neither provable nor believable. He may not have forgotten his family in the years he spent apart from them, he may have loved strong women, but equally he may not. And surely that is part of the beauty of the Bard: we don’t have much of a clue what he thought about anything and so can interpret his writing in myriad ways". http://www.theartsdesk.com/tv/joely-richardson-shakespeares-women-bbc-four (accessed 6/2012).

Online Availability

Online URL

https://store.bbc.com/shakespeare-uncovered

Online price

£1.89

Online format

Download

Production Company

Name

116 Films

Name

Blakeway Productions

Name

Thirteen/WNET

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web

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Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7436 0165

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
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Name

Learning on Screen Off-Air Recording Back-up Service

Email

services@bufvc.ac.uk

Web

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Phone

020 7393 1514

Fax

020 7393 1555

Address

For Learning on Screen Members only
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Distributor

Name

BBC Store

Web

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Notes

NB. From May 2017 programmes are no longer available to buy on BBC Store. From November 1st 2017 the store will close completely and programmes bought from BBC Store will no longer be available to watch. Customers who have bought items from BBC Store will be contacted by email and refunded for their purchases either by full cash refund or Amazon video vouchers.

Online Retailer

Name

PBS Shop

Web

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