Few other writers are still so widely read and performed almost five centuries after their death. So, what is it about Shakespeare's dramas that people across the world find so compelling?
In this episode our guest Ben Crystal talks about his own personal journey with Shakespeare's plays – how, from hating them at school, he grew to love them so much, that he dedicated his whole career to them. "When you’re doing Shakespeare right, he says, it’s like standing under the waterfall. And these words, the feelings, the characters, they live and thrive through you." He emphasizes that Shakespeare should be performed, not read in silence in order to have an impact.
We talk about the universality of Shakespeare's writing, the specificity of his theatre company, the importance of poetry in everyday life, and about those plays that, perhaps, are not the best of the Bard's works.
Ben Crystal is an author, creative producer and explorer of original practices in Shakespeare rehearsal and production. He is an Associate Artist at the Shakespeare North Playhouse, and a patron of Shakespeare Week. His book, Shakespeare on Toast – Getting a Taste for the Bard from 2008 was shortlisted for the 2010 Educational Writer of the Year Award.
Host: Maria Łusakowska, Faculty of Modern Languages at the University of Warsaw
Guest: Ben Crystal
Mentioned in this episode:
Everyday Shakespeare: Lines for Life (2023) with David Crystal
Plays:
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Henry IV
All's Well That Ends Well
Troilus and Cressida
King Lear
Romeo and Juliet
Hamlet
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