William Shakespeare's plays feature witchcraft, murder, ghosts and bloody revenge. Are his displays of blood and gore simply meant to entertain us or do they have more to say about the human condition?

Wherefore, Shakespeare? is a series that explores the dilemmas, conflicts, and controversies in Shakespeare's major plays.

In our third instalment, we enter Shakespeare's house of horror. We're joined by Professor David McInnis, who teaches Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at the University of Melbourne, Professor Jane Montgomery Griffiths, an acclaimed actor and the head of the School of Performing Arts at Collarts, and Peter Evans, artistic director of Bell Shakespeare.

What does it mean to defy the conventions and test the boundaries of gender? These are questions posed by some of Shakespeare's most famous characters.

Wherefore, Shakespeare? is a series that explores the dilemmas, conflicts, and controversies in Shakespeare's major plays.

In our second instalment, we place gender in the spotlight. We're joined by Professor Jane Montgomery Griffiths, an acclaimed actor and the head of the School of Performing Arts at Collarts, Professor David McInnis, who teaches Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at the University of Melbourne, and Peter Evans, artistic director of Bell Shakespeare.

Wherefore, Shakespeare? is a new series that explores the dilemmas, conflicts, and controversies in Shakespeare's major plays. In our first instalment, we tackle Shakespeare's comedies. Are they funny? And if they are, how is our sense of humour different from what tickled the fancies of the Elizabethan audience?

We're joined by Peter Evans, artistic director of Bell Shakespeare, Professor Jane Montgomery Griffiths, an acclaimed actor and the head of the School of Performing Arts at Collarts, and Professor David McInnes who teaches Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at the University of Melbourne.  

Nicci Wilks is a sharp and very physical actor and circus performer who has collaborated with major figures in Australian theatre, including Patricia Cornelius, Angus Cerini and Susie Dee. Her new show traces the life of a rodeo clown. The surprisingly heart-wrenching one-person show, called Rodeo Clown, is at this year's Darwin Festival.

Also, having lost the support of their host university, the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) announces a new partnership with Collarts, Nadine Garner reads from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with two superstar classical musicians, and we meet a couple with no dance experience planning an elaborate duet for their wedding day.

The Welsh playwright Gary Owen writes authentic portrayals of working people living tough lives with wit, passion and dignity. Right now, three of his plays are being staged in Australia. Romeo and Julie and Iphigenia in Splott are both at Red Stitch and his reworking of The Cherry Orchard is at the Old Fitz Theatre in Sydney.

Also, rising Australian playwright Benjamin Nichol delivers two blistering new one-person plays in a double bill at fortyfivedownstairs, Milk and Blood, and we meet John 'Divine G' Whitfield, the man whose story inspired Sing Sing, a new film about prisoners participating in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts theatre program at New York's Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

The Australian playwright Ray Lawler has died at the age of 103. Lawler wrote Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, which spurred a growing movement of artists telling Australian stories in Australian voices on the mainstage. To pay tribute to Ray Lawler, we're joined by theatre legends Robyn Nevin and Neil Armfield and we hear interviews with Ray from the ABC archives.

Also, the musical Wicked will soon celebrate one year on stage in Australia. Ahead of their transfer to Brisbane, Sheridan Adams (Elphaba) and Courtney Monsma (Glinda) perform for us. And we meet two British actors who staged Hamlet in the ultra-violent and unpredictable video game world of Grand Theft Auto. A documentary about their efforts, Grand Theft Hamlet, is screening at this year's MIFF.

Since Hamilton debuted in Australia in 2021, the American founding father has been played by the South African-born, Perth-raised performer Jason Arrow. He's now been in the role for longer than the show's writer and original star, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

After being selected to lead the international tour to New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates, Jason is back where his journey began at Sydney's Lyric Theatre.

Australian writer James Elazzi has garnered acclaim for his frank and funny plays that dramatise the lives of Lebanese Australians. He has been nominated for a slew of awards in his young career, including this year's Martin-Lysicrates Prize. His sixth play, Karim, is coming to Riverside's National Theatre of Parramatta.

Also, a city-wide lockdown indefinitely confines two people on a blind date from hell to the same apartment in Van Badham's razor-sharp musical comedy, The Questions, which is coming to the State Theatre Company of South Australia, and how does one go about adapting one of the most famous plays of all time, Hamlet, into an opera?

It's been 100 years since the death of the Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini. From La bohème to Turandot, Puccini's operas remain some of the most popular around the world. To explore Puccini's life and legacy, we're joined by musicologist Dr Linda Fairtile and hear performances from two upcoming Opera Australia productions.

Also, over their 20-year history, Brisbane's contemporary circus company Circa have grown enormously in scale, reputation and ambition. Right now, the entire ensemble are at home in Brisbane rehearsing seven different shows that are bound for stages right across the world, including a major new production of Dido and Aeneas with Opera Queensland.

It's been 100 years since the death of the Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini. From La bohème to Turandot, Puccini's operas remain some of the most popular around the world. To explore Puccini's life and legacy, we're joined by musicologist Dr Linda Fairtile and hear performances from two upcoming Opera Australia productions.

Also, over their 20-year history, Brisbane's contemporary circus company Circa have grown enormously in scale, reputation and ambition. Right now, the entire ensemble are at home in Brisbane rehearsing seven different shows that are bound for stages right across the world, including a major new production of Dido and Aeneas with Opera Queensland.