Shake & tumble

A great interview with Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery, the creators of Kill Shakespeare. Note: the website contains potentially spoilery images from Vol. 2 of the trade paperback.

National Theatre Podcast: Dominic Cooke on The Comedy of Errors

The British Library’s remarkable ‘eBook Treasures’ series allows users to explore some of the British Library’s most treasured manuscripts in detail, together with text, video and audio interpretation. Developed with Armadillo Systems, our eBook Treasures are viewable in full-screen high-definition, with realistic page-turning capabilities and, once downloaded, can be read offline. They can be read on the iPad, iPhone (3GS and 4) and iPod Touch (3rd and 4th generations).

William Shakespeare’s First Folio is the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays and was published in 1623, seven years after his death. This enhanced edition includes audio extracts from the plays, with the 17th century pronunciation Shakespeare would have heard.

More importantly, Bebe Neuwirth as Titania!

For those in London:

With the forthcoming release on 20th January of his film Coriolanus, Ralph Fiennes reflects on playing the title role in his directorial debut. Chaired by Mark Lawson. Jan 6, 2012, 6:00pm. Tickets £4 (£3 concessions).

The creators of Kill Shakespeare talk about Vol. 2 of the trade paperback version (now released! I am currently reading it ;)), adapting the comic for the recent stage production (for more on this read this great article), and why they chose Hamlet as the main character for their story.

Much Ado About Nothing Original London Cast Recording

A conversation with distinguished Australian actor and director John Bell, who founded the Bell Shakespeare theatre company in 1990.

The definitive cast list for the BBC Two Shakespeare films encompassing Richard II, Henry IV (Parts I and II) and Henry V has been confirmed.

Richard II

In the first film of the cycle, Ben Whishaw (The Hour) will play King Richard II with Rory Kinnear (The NT’s Hamlet) as his challenger, Bolingbroke. John of Gaunt will be played by Patrick Stewart (The RSC’s Merchant of Venice), with David Suchet (Poirot) as The Duke of York and David Morrissey (South Riding) as Northumberland. Tom Hughes (Silk) will play Aumerle and Mowbray will be played by James Purefoy (Rome). Clemence Poésy (Harry Potter) will play the role of Queen Isabella and Lindsay Duncan (Alice in Wonderland) will play The Duchess of York. Other confirmed cast members include Lucian Msamati (The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) and David Bradley (Harry Potter).

Completing the confirmed cast of Richard II are Isabella Laughland, Daniel Boyd, Finbar Lynch, Richard Bremmer, Harry Hadden Paton, Ferdinand Kingsley, Samuel Roukin, Tom Goodman-Hill, Adrian Schiller, Peter De Jersey, Simon Trinder and Rhodri Miles.

Richard II Production designer is Andrew McAlpine (An Education, The Piano), with Danny Cohen (The King’s Speech) as Director of Photography and Odile Dicks Mireaux (The Constant Gardner) as Costume Designer.

Richard II is directed by Rupert Goold who also adapted the play with Ben Power, Associate Director of the National Theatre. Richard II completed filming in July 2011 and is currently in post-production.

Henry IV (Parts I and II)

The second and third films will see Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) playing Henry IV, supported by Tom Hiddleston (Thor) as Prince Hal. Simon Russell Beale (Spooks) will play Falstaff and Julie Walters (Mamma Mia, Mo) will play Mistress Quickly. Hotspur will be played by Joe Armstrong (Robin Hood) and Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) is to play Lady Percy alongside Maxine Peake (Criminal Justice) as Doll Tearsheet. Lady Northumberland will be played by Niamh Cusack (A Touch of Frost) with Alun Armstrong (New Tricks) as Northumberland. Reece Shearsmith (The League Of Gentlemen) will play the role of Davy, Tom Georgeson (Notes on a Scandal) will play Bardolph, Pistol will be played by Paul Ritter (Friday Night Dinner) and Douglas Henshall (South Riding) will play Mowbray. Iain Glen (Downton Abbey) will play Warwick and Geoffrey Palmer (As Time Goes By) will play Lord Chief Justice.

Completing the confirmed cast of Henry IV are Henry Faber, James Laurenson, David Hayman, Robert Pugh, Alex Clatworthy, Stephen McCole, David Dawson, Ian Conningham and Nick Jones.

Henry IV Production Designer is Donal Woods (Downton Abbey, Cranford). Director of Photography is Ben Smithard (Cranford) with Annie Symons (Gideon’s Daughter, The Crimson Petal and the White) as Costume Designer.

Henry IV is directed and adapted for the screen by Richard Eyre (Notes on a Scandal, Iris). Filming on Henry IV will begin in January 2012.

Henry V

Tom Hiddleston (Thor) will play Henry V in the final film. John Hurt (Merlin, Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy) will play The Chorus and Julie Walters (Mamma Mia, Mo) will play Mistress Quickly. Lambert Wilson (The Matrix) will play the King of France with Mélanie Thierry (Babylon A.D) as his daughter, Princess Katherine. Anton Lesser (The Hour) will play Exeter, Paterson Joseph (The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) will play York and Edward Akrout (The Borgias) will play Louis, The Dauphin. Stanley Weber (Borgia) will play the Duke of Orleans, Owen Teale (Game of Thrones) will play Fluellen and Richard Griffiths (The History Boys) will play the Duke of Burgundy. Tom Georgeson (Notes on a Scandal) and Paul Ritter (Friday Night Dinner) return as Bardolph and Pistol.

Completing the confirmed cast of Henry V are Malcolm Sinclair, Nigel Cooke, James Laurenson, Richard Clothier, Tom Brooke, George Sargeant, Gwilym Lee, John Dagleish, Paul Freeman, Geraldine Chaplin, Thomas Dennis, Philippe De Brougada, Maxime Lefrancois and Jeremie Corvillault.

Henry V has been adapted by Ben Power, Associate Director of The National Theatre. Production Designer is Alan MacDonald (The Queen). The Director of Photography is Michael McDonough (Winter’s Bone) with Annie Symons (Gideon’s Daughter, The Crimson Petal and the White) as Costume Designer.

Henry V is directed by the acclaimed theatre director Thea Sharrock (Equus, The Misanthrope). Filming on Henry V begins in late November 2011.

Executive Producers are Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Stuart A Life Backwards) and Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Jarhead) for Neal Street Productions, Gareth Neame (Downton Abbey, State of Play) for NBCUniversal International and Ben Stephenson for the BBC. The Producer is Rupert Ryle-Hodges, co-producer of Cranford.

Goodbye George.

Digital Theatre is pleased to announce William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing as its latest release available to watch online or download to the desktop, available from today at www.digitaltheatre.com.

Starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate as Benedict and Beatrice, Josie Rourke’s production of Much Ado About Nothing enjoyed a record breaking run in the West End earlier this year breaking all previous Wyndham Theatre Box Office records.

The Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse production of Macbeth is now available exclusively from www.digitaltheatre.com.

I’m always interested in how other teachers approach Shakespeare:

Instead of using an Old English Dictionary to study Shakespeare, one class is putting its own spin on the bard’s complex work to create students’ final projects.

“The class is about engaging the text but also engaging the fun of Shakespeare,” Burton said. “Its not just reading a textbook in a classroom or watching a performance, it’s about engaging, understanding and enjoying Shakespeare on a broader level.”

I’m quite interested in the ways in which Shakespeare is marketed, transformed, and performed for children/young adults. The RSC has the Young People’s Shakespeare and now this. Such excellent work being done.

Guardian review of Michael Grandage’s Donmar Warehouse production of Richard II starring Eddie Redmayne.

Looking forward to seeing this next year via my local NT Live broadcast.