Your one-stop shop for all things Shakespeare. Catch A-List casts in brand new audio versions of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, plus documentaries from the brightest minds on the bard’s life and work.
Latest episodes
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2 min ↗
Who is Falstaff?
Toby Jones on playing the boisterous and fun-loving knight Falstaff. Toby Jones stars as Falstaff in our full-length version of Henry IV Part 1, which you can find in your podcast…
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1 h 57 ↗
Full Length Play: Henry IV Part 1
Rebellion is brewing in Britain.King Henry must reunite his country but how when even his own family is divided?As Henry's rule is threatened his son Hal appears unconcerned, wasti…
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2 h 01 ↗
Full Length Play: Othello
Khalid Abdalla, Matthew Needham and Cassie Layton star in Shakespeare's tragedy. This version is staged in an imagined near future, in which a power-hungry Turkish president attemp…
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4 min ↗
Othello: What it means to be a Moor
Dr Islam Issa, Senior Lecturer at Birmingham City University, gives us a rundown of events in the 1600s that influenced the character of Othello.You can listen to our full-length v…
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1 h 52 ↗
Full Length Play: The Two Noble Kinsmen
The Two Noble Kinsmen is one of Shakespeare's least-performed plays, and widely considered to be his last. Generally accepted to be co-written with John Fletcher, this Jacobean tra…
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1 h 42 ↗
Full Length Play: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Two Gentlemen of Verona is considered to be one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays and is paired next week with a production of The Two Noble Kinsmen which was his last play and w…
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4 min ↗
Coriolanus: A tragic hero
A whistle-stop tour through Ancient Rome with writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes.
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2 h 27 ↗
Full Length Play: Coriolanus
Shakespeare's penetrating portrayal of political turmoil in a society at war with itself. The Plot There's widespread famine in Rome, which is causing tension between the common pe…
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2 h 09 ↗
Full Length Play: Julius Caesar
The original political thriller that re-imagines Brutus's betrayal of Caesar. Caesar - Tim Pigott-Smith Brutus, - Robert Glenister Cassius - Sam Troughton Mark Antony - Jamie Parke…
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45 min ↗
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 Burbag…
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44 min ↗
Shakespeare: For And Against
Playwright Mark Ravenhill challenges our adulation of the Bard and asks: Is Shakespeare's genius beyond question? Casting a sceptical eye over centuries of bardolatry, Ravenhill ca…
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6 min ↗
My Own Shakespeare: Gareth Malone and Margaret Drabble
Gareth Malone and Margaret Drabble on strength and nature
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2 h 30 ↗
Full Length Play: The Winter's Tale
Eve Best, Danny Sapani and Shaun Dooley star in the magical product of the Bard's later years. Treading new dramatic ground The Winter's Tale embraces tragedy, poetry, folklore, ma…
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6 min ↗
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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45 min ↗
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…
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6 min ↗
My Own Shakespeare: David Hare and Martha Kearney
David Hare and Martha Kearney on deviant psychology and fancy dress
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2 h 00 ↗
Full Length Play: A Midsummer Night's Dream
The play revolves around the adventures of four young lovers, a group of amateur actors and their interactions with the fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest. The story takes place…
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5 min ↗
My Own Shakespeare: Jools Holland and Kwame Kwei-Armah
Jools Holland on Falstaff & Kwame Kwei-Armah on falling in love with someone’s story
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44 min ↗
First Folio Road Trip
From London to Kent, Oxford, the Scottish borders, Suffolk, Nottinghamshire and across the channel to France, Emma Smith takes a road trip to learn more about how Shakespeare's Fir…
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6 min ↗
My Own Shakespeare: Stephen Fry and Hilary Mantel
Stephen Fry and Hilary Mantel bring us the Shakespearean speeches closest to their hearts