Speaking Shakespearean verse
Members of the Royal Shakespeare Company discuss approaches to the problem of speaking verse in drama and demonstrate how the RSC works on a text in rehearsal. Taking part are actors Ian McKellen, Alan Howard, Jane Lapotaire, Michael Pennington, Dav...
Preparing to perform Shakespeare
Members of the Royal Shakespeare Company present a workshop before a television studio audience to demonstrate how they rehearse and learn to perform Shakespeare's plays. In this masterclass on Shakespeare, director John Barton works on a scene from...
The Great Hamlets, Program 2
In this program Trevor Nunn probes the underlying dynamics of the play. He examines the psychological dynamics of Hamlet, the oedipal conflict and Hamlet’s madness, feigned or real. Nunn also explores the political questions that are raised in the...
The Great Hamlets, Program 1
In the first program, each actor comments on the major scenes of the play, and, through excerpts from productions that range from the silent film era to the modern stage, we see various interpretations of those scenes. Trevor Nunn then interviews ea...