A whistle-stop tour through Ancient Rome with writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes.
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4:01
Exit Burbage
Imagine where we'd be without Shakespeare's plays. It's difficult to contemplate now. But it was thanks to another man that many of them were brought to life. Today, Richard Burbage is a not a household name. But he should be. He's the man for whom many of the great Shakespearean roles were created. One of the founding members of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, playing at the newly built Globe in 1599, he's one of the foundations upon which British theatre was built. Andrew Dickson talks to leading actors, rummages among the archives and dissects some of the greatest parts in acting to discover Burbage's crucial role - and realises that without Richard Burbage, there could be no Shakespeare.Producer: Penny Murphy
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44:31
My Own Shakespeare: Gareth Malone and Margaret Drabble
Gareth Malone and Margaret Drabble on strength and nature
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5:38
My Own Shakespeare: Zoe Wanamaker and Jim Al-Khalili
Zoe Wanamaker on the world of play and Jim Al-Khalili on staying rational.
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6:15
Looking For The Moor
Hugh Quarshie on Othello’s blackness. Is the character coherent? Is the play racist?Hugh Quarshie is a Ghanaian-born British actor. He is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and played Othello in Iqbal Khan's production on the main stage of the RSC in the summer of 2015. But not without some soul searching.He's not convinced that Shakespeare actually knew any black people and wonders if the persona of Othello is simply derived from literary and theatrical convention. He also suspects that if Shakespeare had little or no awareness of black people, his characterisation of Othello could be regarded as lazy; if he did, then his approach borders on bigotry and the role should be seen as a stereotype about which black actors should think twice.It's a provocative starting point.Producer: Roger Elsgood
Originally an Art and Adventure production for BBC Radio 3.
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