Shakespeare's Restless World

Shakespeare's Restless World episodes:

• 05.11.2012

  20. Shakespeare Goes Global

  The publication of the First Folio of Shakespeare's collected plays in 1623 began the process of turning an early modern playwright into a global phenomenon. An annotated copy of the Collected Works of Shakespeare reveals the extent to which...

  
• 05.10.2012

  19. The Theatres of Cruelty

  A human eyeball in a silver setting provides a striking insight to the theatre of cruelty in Elizabethan and Jacobean Britain. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's...

  
• 05.09.2012

  18. London Becomes Rome

  A set of designs for the Coronation Procession of James I reveals the extent of classical knowledge amongst Shakespeare's audience. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he...

  
• 05.08.2012

  17. Plague and the Playhouse

  May 1603 saw not only a new king but the worst plague outbreak since the Black Death. Its impact and reach is told through a series of early seventeenth century proclamations. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former...

  
• 05.07.2012

  16. A Time of Change, a Change of Time

  A rare domestic clock with an equally rare minute hand and quarter-hour chimes reveals the changing relationship Shakespeare's audiences had to time. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's...

  
• 05.04.2012

  15. The Flag That Failed

  The problems in uniting Scotland and England and in creating a Great Britain are encapsulated in a set of designs for a common flag. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts...

  
• 05.03.2012

  14. Disguise and Deception

  Deception and religion, cross-dressing and travelling salesmen are all unpacked via a pedlar's trunk. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean...

  
• 05.02.2012

  13. From London to Marrakech

  Sunken gold from West Africa sheds light on the complex relationship Elizabethan England had with the Moors of the Mediterranean. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time,...

  
• 05.01.2012

  12. Sex and the City

  A delicate glass goblet reveals the twin seductions of Venice: its sought after luxuries and its equally sought after lecherous women. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's...

  
• 04.30.2012

  11. Treason and Plots

  A tabloid history of Shakespeare's England, told through a collection of contemporary accounts of plots to murder Elizabeth I and James I. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William...

  
• 04.27.2012

  10. Toil and Trouble

  The differences between Scottish and English witches are revealed by a model ship, made to be hung in a church. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time,...

  
• 04.26.2012

  9. New Science, Old Magic

  Dr Dee's Mirror was actually a highly polished disk of black obsidian from Mexico but it reflects the Elizabethan fascination with the new sciences of cosmology and astrology. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the...

  
• 04.25.2012

  8. City Life, Urban Strife

  The life of London's apprentices and Shakespeare's groundlings told through a rare woollen cap. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean...

  
• 04.24.2012

  7. Ireland: Failures in the Present

  A rare woodcut offers a equally rare visual impression of the troubles and tragedies of Elizabethan Ireland. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan...

  
• 04.23.2012

  6. Europe: Triumphs of the Past

  As a tourist attraction in Westminster Abbey, Henry V's instruments of battle reflect the view of English history as depicted on the Elizabeth stage. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from...

  
• 04.20.2012

  5. Swordplay and Swagger

  The essential accoutrements of any self-respecting gentleman - the rapier and the dagger- show us the extent of violence in Elizabethan London - both onstage and off. Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British...

  
• 04.19.2012

  4. Life without Elizabeth

  A portrait was painted in 1571 to justify and celebrate Elizabeth I's position in the Tudor succession. Yet by the 1590s, with no direct Tudor heir, this image had very different implications in Shakespeare's Restless World. Object-based history...

  
• 04.18.2012

  3. Snacking Through Shakespeare

  Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. Taking artefacts from William Shakespeare's time, he explores how Elizabethan and Jacobean playgoers made sense of the unstable and rapidly changing world in which they lived. With...

  
• 04.17.2012

  2. Communion and Conscience

  The Stratford Chalice. The communion cup that Shakespeare may well have used, sheds light on the dramatic religious changes that came in the aftermath of the Reformation Object-based history series presented by Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum....

  
• 04.16.2012

  1. England Goes Global

  How Sir Francis Drake's circumnavigation of the globe changed the way Shakespeare's audiences viewed the world and their country's place on it. For the first time, England was engaging with the whole world. First in an object-based history series...