Podcasts by The Shakespeare Sessions

Who is Falstaff? from 2020-04-26T20:01

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 feed.

Full Length Play: Henry IV Part 1 from 2020-04-26T20:00

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...

Full Length Play: Othello from 2020-04-21T10:35

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 attempts an attack o...

Othello: What it means to be a Moor from 2020-04-21T10:24

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 version...

Full Length Play: The Two Noble Kinsmen from 2019-05-23T03:00

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 tragicomedy has i...

Full Length Play: The Two Gentlemen of Verona from 2019-05-16T03:00

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 widely consider...

Coriolanus: A tragic hero from 2019-05-09T12:00

A whistle-stop tour through Ancient Rome with writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes.

Full Length Play: Coriolanus from 2019-05-09T11:00

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 people an...

Full Length Play: Julius Caesar from 2018-07-30T06:00

The original political thriller that re-imagines Brutus's betrayal of Caesar. Caesar - Tim Pigott-SmithBrutus, - Robert Glenister Cassius - Sam TroughtonMark Antony - Jamie Parker Casca - Phili...

Exit Burbage from 2018-07-23T06:00

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 ...

Shakespeare: For And Against from 2018-07-16T06:00

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 calls for a new app...

My Own Shakespeare: Gareth Malone and Margaret Drabble from 2018-07-11T06:00

Gareth Malone and Margaret Drabble on strength and nature

Full Length Play: The Winter's Tale from 2018-07-09T06:00

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, magic realism, musi...

My Own Shakespeare: Zoe Wanamaker and Jim Al-Khalili from 2018-07-04T06:00

Zoe Wanamaker on the world of play and Jim Al-Khalili on staying rational.

Looking For The Moor from 2018-07-02T06:00

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 pla...

My Own Shakespeare: David Hare and Martha Kearney from 2018-06-27T06:00

David Hare and Martha Kearney on deviant psychology and fancy dress

Full Length Play: A Midsummer Night's Dream from 2018-06-25T06:00

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 in Midsummer and ...

My Own Shakespeare: Jools Holland and Kwame Kwei-Armah from 2018-06-20T06:00

Jools Holland on Falstaff & Kwame Kwei-Armah on falling in love with someone’s story

First Folio Road Trip from 2018-06-18T06:00

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 First Folio helpe...

My Own Shakespeare: Stephen Fry and Hilary Mantel from 2018-06-13T06:00

Stephen Fry and Hilary Mantel bring us the Shakespearean speeches closest to their hearts

Full Length Play: King Lear from 2018-06-11T06:00

Lear is a very old king with a problem: three daughters and no sons. In dividing the kingdom between his children, Lear's reasoning is admirable: he wants to hand over the kingdom to his daughters...

The Art of Storytelling from 2018-06-06T06:00

Prof. Emma Smith takes a closer look at Shakespeare's skills as a storyteller and how his plots, where the outcome is often signposted from the beginning, still hold audiences enthralled.

My Own Shakespeare: Benjamin Zephaniah and Rowan Williams from 2018-06-06T06:00

Benjamin Zephaniah and Rowan Williams share their favourite Shakespearean moments

Full Length Play: Measure for Measure from 2018-06-06T06:00

"Women? Help Heaven! men their creation mar In profiting by them."Shakespeare's last and perhaps strangest comedy - a play about religion, surveillance, coercion, sex and power. The Duke ..... Pau...

Full Length Play: The Merchant of Venice from 2018-06-06T06:00

Andrew Scott, Ray Fearon, Hayley Atwell and Colin Morgan star in Shakespeare's ever-topical story of over-confident traders, a debt-ridden country dependent on credit, and a society suspicious of r...