Synopsis
Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare, or could this be, as Henry James remarked, 'the biggest and most successful fraud ever practised upon a patient world'? On his birthday, the programme explores the facts we have about Shakespeare. Are there enough to confirm his authorship? Mark Twain and Freud didn't think so. Who else could have written the works of the Bard? Robert Robinson talks to Professor Sam Schoenbaum of the University of Maryland about Shakespeare and to supporters of alternative candidates: Francis Bacon, Edward de Vere and Christopher Marlowe.
Digging for Britain | Shakespeare's First Theatre
Alice visits excavations at Shakespeare's first theatre in London's Shoreditch, where the Bard began his career and Romeo and Juliet was first performed.
Arena | The National Theatre - Learning Zone
Made especially for schools, this version of the BBC Four Arena programme examines the history and purpose of the National Theatre as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. Short films on Othello and Hamlet, using both rehearsal and performance footage, consider how the National Theatre takes a contemporary approach to Shakespeare's work.