'Shakespeare Uncovered'
“Shakespeare Uncovered” has become a highbrow cheat-sheet, a play-by-play way to brush up your Shakespeare. The PBS television series, which begins its third and final season in October, is aimed at people who might feel they suffer from shameful gaps in their Shakespearean expertise.
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Each one-hour episode examines a different Shakespeare play, sometimes two. They include scenes from Hollywood movies and stage performances. Scholars and actors comment on the plays’ love affairs and moral quandaries the way pop-culture pundits on the E! network might gossip about Justin Bieber. An accomplished performer hosts each episode, discusses personal experiences with the play, and occasionally delivers dramatic readings. It doesn’t feel like 10th-grade homework.
Scholars still disagree about some details of Shakespeare’s life, and this is hardly the first effort to make his work accessible. Books have ranged from the Folger Library’s well-annotated volumes of the plays to “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Shakespeare.” BBC Two’s “Shakespeare: The Animated Tales” was for children, and there have been educational videos, but this project is unusual in sending A-list actors around the globe for movie-quality documentaries. The series has cost $7 million for its 18 episodes altogether, according to Stephen Segaller, executive in charge of the series and vice president of programming for New York’s PBS station WNET.
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Actress Romola Garai discusses the obvious relevance in a current-season episode on “Measure for Measure.” The 400-year-old play depicts a powerful man who sexually assaults a woman, then tells her: “Who will believe thee, Isabel? My unsoil’d name, the austereness of my life, my vouch against you, and my place in the state will so your accusation overweigh.”
More..
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-plays-the-thing-in-a-new-season-of-shakespeare-uncovered-1537803195 (paid subscription)
Starts Oct. 12. I remember watching the series a couple of years ago but must have missed the second.
