Prefaces to Shakespeare | Henry VIII

Henry VIII

Donald Sinden presents a personal view of Shakespeare's Henry VIII, referring to the politics of the age, and problems posed to the actor, especially in the wearing of the costume. Sinden played the title role in the 1969 Royal Shakespeare Company production directed by Trevor Nunn. "Henry is one of those few historical characters whose appearance is known to every man in the street, because of the endless reproductions of Holbein's portrait. There he stands, this great bulk of a man, his feet astride, hands on hips, with vast hunched shoulders. All the poor actor can do is to try to look like that portrait and therein lies the problem."

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Access

Licence: ERA Licence required

Content
  • Type: Factual, Plays
  • Channel: BBC Radio 4
  • Duration: 24'15''
  • Broadcast date: 1979
Usage

UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted

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  • Shakespeare Archive Resource
Similar plays, poems and sonnets
Henry VIII | BBC Radio 3

Free Thinking | Tudor Families

Henry VIII from a female perspective is on offer at the Globe Theatre this summer in a new adaptation of the play written by Shakespeare and John Fletcher. Globe writer in residence Hannah Khalil explains some of the more surprising innovations in this production, while New Generation Thinker Emma Whipday presents the familiar saga of Henry VIII as the story of a step-family, and historian Joanne Paul reveals the machinations of the Dudley family in its quest for power and influence at the Tudor court. Catherine Fletcher presents.
Henry VIII | BBC Third Programme | 1966

Henry VIII Part I (1966)

The first part of a production of William Shakespeare's classic history play, adapted for radio and produced by R D Smith.