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.

The Art of Storytelling

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.

Drama

Fiction

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.

Who is Falstaff?

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, wasting his time in the company of the comically corrupt Falstaff and common thieves, apparently more interested in play than the politics of state. Yet what kind of leadership is needed to unite the country might well be found in the taverns of Eastcheap as within the Palace of Westminster. King Henry ..... Iain Glen
Falstaff ..... Toby Jones
Hal ..... Luke Thompson
Hotspur ..... Tom Glynn-Carney
Worcester .....Mark Bonnar
Lady Percy .....Natalie Simpson
Glendower ..... Steffan Rhodri
Lady Mortimer ..... Bettrys Jones
Westmoreland ..... Roger Ringrose
Northumberland/Douglas ..... John Dougall
Bardolph/ Sir Walter Blunt ..... John Lightbody
Peto/Sherriff/Vernon ..... Sargon Yelda
John/Mortimer ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Poins/Messenger ..... Hasan Dixon
Mistress Quickly ..... Elizabeth Counsell Written by William Shakespeare Music composed by John Nicholls. Adapted and directed by Sally Avens.

Full Length Play: Henry IV Part 1

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 on Cyprus. The western forces rush to Cyprus' defence, under the command of the fearless General Othello. But can an Arab-born, Christian convert ever be truly accepted by the people he serves? Adapted and directed for radio by Emma Harding You can listen to Dr Islam Issa giving us a quick rundown of events in the 1600s that influenced the character of Othello, in your podcast feed. And don't forget to check out Looking for the Moor, also in your podcast feed, which sees Hugh Quarshie explore Othello and ask if the play is racist.  Cast Othello.....Khalid Abdalla
Iago.....Matthew Needham
Desdemona.....Cassie Layton
Cassio.....Max Bennett
Brabantio.....Neil McCaul
Roderigo.....Clive Hayward
Duke of Venice.....Jessica Turner
Montano.....Peter Polycarpou
Emilia.....Bettrys Jones
Lodovico.....Ian Conningham
Bianca.....Heather Craney
All other parts played by Sargon Yelda and Hasan Dixon

Full Length Play: Othello

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 of Othello, set in an imagined near future, in your podcast feed.

Othello: What it means to be a Moor

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 its roots in Chaucer's The Knight's Tale.  This audio version shares the same cast with The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare's first play) which you can listen to in the Shakespeare Sessions feed. This striking audio realisation is recorded entirely on location to give the sense of a strolling company, making the most of the countryside. Listen to both plays, and trace the bard's progression across 40 years. The Plot On the day planned for his wedding to Hippolyta, Duke Theseus of Athens is petitioned by three queens to go to war against King Creon of Thebes, who has deprived their dead husbands of proper burial rites. In Thebes, the 'two noble kinsmen', Palamon and Arcite, realize that their own hatred of Creon's tyranny must be put aside while their native city is in danger, but in spite of their valour in battle it is Theseus who is victorious. Imprisoned in Athens, the cousins catch sight of Hippolyta's sister, Emilia, and both fall instantly in love with her. Arcite is set free, but disguises himself rather than return to Thebes, while Palamon escapes with the help of the Jailer's Daughter, who loves him. Meeting each other, the kinsmen agree that mortal combat between them must decide the issue, but they are discovered by Theseus who is persuaded to revoke his sentence of death and instead decrees that a tournament shall decide which cousin is to be married to the indecisive Emilia and which is to lose his head. The Jailer's Daughter has been driven mad by unrequited love, but accepts her former suitor when he pretends to be Palamon. Before the tournament Arcite makes a lengthy invocation to Mars, while Palamon prays to Venus and Emilia to Diana – for victory to go to the one who loves her best. Although Arcite triumphs, he is thrown from his horse before the death sentence on Palamon can be carried out, and with his last breath bequeaths Emilia to his friend. JAILER'S DAUGHTER ..... Lyndsey Marshal 
EMILIA ..... Kate Phillips 
PALAMON ..... Blake Ritson 
ARCITE ..... Nikesh Patel 
THESEUS ..... Ray Fearon 
HIPPOLYTA ..... Emma Fielding 
JAILER ..... Hugh Ross 
PIRITHIOUS ..... Daniel Ryan 
WOOER ..... Oliver Chris 
QUEEN 1 ..... Susan Salmon 
QUEEN 2 ..... Sara Markland 
QUEEN 3/DOCTOR ..... Jane Whittenshaw 
COUNTRYMAN 1/FRIEND ..... Sam Dale 
ARTESIUS/COUNTRYMAN 2 ..... Carl Prekopp 
COUNTRYMAN 3/BROTHER ..... Pip Donaghy Adapted for Radio by Sara Davies
Directed by Celia de Wolff
A Pier Production for BBC Radio 3 Music composed and performed by Tom Glenister and sung by Emma Mackey and Tom Glenister

The Art of Storytelling

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