"To Be Or Not To Be" – it’s the most famous speech in all of English drama, but what on earth is Hamlet actually talking about? In this podcast series, we talk to some of the world's leading Shakespearean actors, directors and scholars - and our conversations often end up in the most unexpected of places. The series, made by Emmy Award winning documentary producer Andrew Smith, features contributions from Adrian Lester, Harriet Walter, Sir Mark Rylance, Samuel West and many more. It was recorded during lockdown to raise awareness for theatres and for actors in a time of pandemic and theatre closures.
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"To Be Or Not To Be" – it’s the most famous speech in all of English drama, but what on earth is Hamlet actually talking about? In this podcast series, we talk to some of the world's leading Shakespearean actors, directors and scholars - and our conversations often end up in the most unexpected of places. The series, made by Emmy Award winning documentary producer Andrew Smith, features contributions from Adrian Lester, Harriet Walter, Sir Mark Rylance, Samuel West and many more. It was recorded during lockdown to raise awareness for theatres and for actors in a time of pandemic and theatre closures.
Such is the uncanny power of "To Be Or Not To Be", it's been used by politicians and leaders for their own political purposes, from the current Chinese leader to Adolf Hitler; and as this episode reveals, it's also been a rallying cry for activists and protesters down the decades. We take a whistle-stop tour of the world, finding out how Hamlet's soliloquy is regularly used to evade censorship and speak truth to power. With Basharat Peer, investigative journalist, author and writer of Haider; Professor Margaret Litvin, and Professor Mark Burnett.
The speech readings are by Emma Fielding and Simon Paisley Day.
Haider (2014) was produced by VB Pictures, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, and is showing on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/70303432
For more information on the podcast and how you can help theatres and actors during the COVID lockdown crisis: http://www.fleetingyearfilms.com/podcast.html#, or email Andrew@fleetingyearfilms.com
To Be Or Not To Be: Shakespeare Unlocked
"To Be Or Not To Be" – it’s the most famous speech in all of English drama, but what on earth is Hamlet actually talking about? In this podcast series, we talk to some of the world's leading Shakespearean actors, directors and scholars - and our conversations often end up in the most unexpected of places. The series, made by Emmy Award winning documentary producer Andrew Smith, features contributions from Adrian Lester, Harriet Walter, Sir Mark Rylance, Samuel West and many more. It was recorded during lockdown to raise awareness for theatres and for actors in a time of pandemic and theatre closures.
