Episodes
| First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 20160417 | 20241028 (BBC7) 20241029 (BBC7) |
An Excellent Dumb Discourse - Shakespeare In Silence
Isn't silent Shakespeare an oxymoron? All that's nuanced, beautiful, meaningful in the poetry - silenced. Yet between 1899 and 1927, when the first commercial sound film was released, nearly three hundred Shakespeare films were made.
Judith Buchanan, director of Silents Now and Professor in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York, celebrates this phenomenon - the muted, gesturing figures, the stop-motion magic.
She is joined by the actor Samuel West - along with Flora Spencer-Longhurst (actress, on her silenced Lavinia in the Globe's latest Titus Andronicus), Christopher Wheeldon (Choreographer, associate of the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden in London) and Paata Tsikurishvili (Director of Synetic Theatre in America).
Together they explore Shakespeare in picture and movement.
A Rockethouse production for BBC Radio 4.
Professor Judith Buchanan shares her love of silent Shakespeare on early film.
It's almost impossible to imagine how Shakespeare's plays could ever work in silent films - with all that powerfully nuanced poetic language, conveying so many emotions.
Yet, between 1899 and 1927, when the first commercial sound film was released, nearly 300 Shakespeare films were produced.
She is joined by:
* Actor, Samuel West
* Actress, Flora Spencer-Longhurst - played a silenced Lavinia in the Globe's Titus Andronicus
* Christopher Wheeldon - Choreographer, associate of the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, London
* Paata Tsikurishvili - Director of Synetic Theatre in America
A Rockethouse production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in April 2016.
Professor Judith Buchanan shares her love and knowledge of Shakespeare in early films.
How did the Bard work on silent film minus powerful language? Judith Buchanan celebrates Shakespeare in early cinema. From 2016.
It's almost impossible to imagine how Shakespeare's plays could ever work in silent films - with all that powerfully nuanced poetic language, conveying so many emotions. Yet, between 1899 and 1927, when the first commercial sound film was released, nearly 300 Shakespeare films were produced.
She is joined by the actor Samuel West - along with Flora Spencer-Longhurst (actress, on her silenced Lavinia in the Globe's Titus Andronicus), Christopher Wheeldon (Choreographer, associate of the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden in London) and Paata Tsikurishvili (Director of Synetic Theatre in America).