BBC Shakespeare Live!

Source: Shakespeare Live! From the RSC (2016) (imdb.com)

So, over the weekend, it was the 400th anniversary of William Shakepeare's death, and I thought why not do something to honour the great bard - and I think I have found just the thing, with my review of Shakespeare Live, which aired from the RSC on Saturday night.
Now, I have only just been able to see this on catch-up as I was working all weekend, but now that I have now seen it, what did I think of it?

Hosted by Dr Who and Much Ado About Nothing co-stars David Tennant and Catherine Tate, the show featured many snippets from some of Shakepeare's plays (including Twelfth Night, Henry V, The Tempest and As You Like It to name only a few), as well as many other genres of art which he has influenced, including jazz, opera and dance, with apperances such diverse groups from The Royal Ballet, to the cast of CBBC's Horrible Histories and the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company (yes, such a thing exists...!).

As for the acting sections, I have already given an idea of the diversity of plays which were used, but I would like to give 3 particular mentions; one was to the hilarious (there is no other word to cover it) A Midsummer Night's Dream scene with Al Murray as Bottom and Judi Dench as Titiana; the next is to a wonderful performance of just-post-murder Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, played by Rory Kinnear and Anne-Marie Duff; the final was the genius interrupted-by-everyone-under-the-sun To Be Or Not To Be Speech that poor Papa Essiedu (who is currently playing Hamlet at the RSC at the moment) had to endure. I won't go into that any more, as I want you to go and watch that now, and be as blown away as I was....

Of course, Shakespeare has had an influence on the musical too, and this was reflected in the opening number, which included some of the country's leading drama students performing the Tonight Quintet from West Side Story (arguably one of the best musicals of all time and of course based on Romeo and Juliet). As well, as that, the brilliant Rufus Hound and Henry Goodman performing Brush Up Your Shakespeare from Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate, which is based on The Taming Of The Shrew. It was extra funny to see (I think) Hound forget his lines at one point too =P

If you haven't caught up on this yet, then it is definitely worth going on iPlayer and giving it a whirl, as it is a wonderful tribute to the huge variety of genres which Shakespeare has influenced - and also, I managed to catch a documentary on BBC4 last night all about his influence on film, which included incredible footage of Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles among others - this is also well worth a watch! There is much more to come from the BBC on Shakespeare, including filmed versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Hollow Crown (based on the Henry VI trilogy) to come in May, so it is definitely worth keeping an extra eye on the TV guide.

Oh yeah, and because his birthday was only a few days before his death too, I don't think there's anything better to end this than by saying ..... Happy Birthday Will!