To mark William Shakespeare’s birthday ( April 23 ) the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has teamed up with BBCiPlayer to bring us six classics from its archive – all of them gems in their own way.
The plays will stay on iPlayer for a few weeks so your can spread out your viewing and I have seen only half of them so I’m looking forward to productions that will be new to me.
The season is part of the Culture Quarantine initiative and is also interactive taking viewers experience of the Bard.
The shows are :
Macbeth, starring ex-Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston and Niamh Cusack. I reviewed this for Gscene and said at thr time that Eccleston was impressive as “ the burly, swaggering, blustering warrior “.
Othello, starring the towering Hugh Quarshie as Othello and the insidiously evil Iago of Lucian Msamati. Spellbinding stuff.
Romeo and Juliet , with Bally Gill and Karen Fishwick – not seen but looking forward to.
The Merchant of Venice , with Makram J Khoury .
Much Ado About Nothing, starring Edward Bennett and Michelle Terry – again not seen.
And finally Hamlet with the highly impressive Paapa Essiedu in the title role of a largely BAME take on the tragedy .
None of the plays are yet uploaded yet so readers should check iplayer or rsc.org.uk for specific timings and streaming duration.
Happy Birthday Willy!
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