Shakespeare: For and Against

Synopsis: As celebrations begin to mark Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, playwright Mark Ravenhill challenges the adulation of the playwright and asks: Is Shakespeare’s genius beyond question? Exploring the intellectual tradition that has seen figures from Voltaire to Tolstoy to Wittgenstein challenge Shakespeare’s supremacy, Mark searches for today’s dissenting voices. As he talks to Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Gregory Doran, theatre director Phyllida Lloyd and actors Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw, Ravenhill explores what Shakespeare’s plays mean to theatre makers today and asks if Shakespeare is a problem for a contemporary theatre. He asks teachers and children if a play such as The Taming of the Shrew, with its dark and complex sexual politics is really suitable material for ten-year-olds. Scholar Ania Loomba describes India’s changing relationship with Shakespeare, while Professor Gary Taylor talks about the ambivalence of large parts of America towards Shakespeare. Readers are Amanda Drew and Paul Ritter.
Series: Sunday Feature
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Transmission details: 20 Apr 2014 at 18:45 (Channel: BBC Radio 3)
Duration: 45 mins

Producer: Matt Willis
Contributor: Amanda Drew; Edward Bond; Erica Whyman; Erin Sullivan; Ewan Fernie; Fiona Shaw; Gary Taylor (2); Gregory Doran; Howard Barker; Mark Ravenhill; Martin Higgins; Michael Dobson; Paul Ritter; Phyllida Lloyd; Simon Russell Beale

Shakespeare, "Shakespeare: For and Against". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av75910 (Accessed 25 Nov 2024)

SHAKESPEARE