David Schalkwyk on the Robben Island Shakespeare

Alternative title
Cowards die Many Times Before Their Deaths, The Valiant Never Taste of Death but Once
Synopsis
Podcast from the Folger Shakespeare Library. While Nelson Mandela was incarcerated on South Africa’s Robben Island, one of the other political prisoners managed to retain a copy of Shakespeare’s complete works, which was secretly circulated through the group. At that prisoner’s request, many of the others—including Mandela—signed their names next to their favourite passages. Shakespeare scholar David Schalkwyk, also a South African, explains to interviewer Rebecca Sheir, there is something special about "a book that had passed through the hands of the people who had saved my country." Schalkwyk shares some personal history and reveals what Shakespeare might have meant to the men who signed the Robben Island Shakespeare.
Series
Shakespeare Unlimited
Language
English
Country
United States
Medium
Audio
Recording date
2014
Duration
20 mins

Credits

Producer
Richard Paul
Contributor
David Schalkwyk; Rebecca Sheir

Additional Details

Production type
Documentary/Educational/News
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
prisoners; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
http://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited-episode-1 (accessed 2/2015)

Production Company

Name

R.L. Paul Productions

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "David Schalkwyk on the Robben Island Shakespeare". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av76481 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)