Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20160714 | 20170814 (R4) | Fiona Lindsay listens in to the table talk of the actors and director as they begin work to bring Shakespeare's Othello from text to performance. Fiona has spent years at the RSC working with actors and directors as they look afresh at the play texts to which we return again and again. What interests her is how new connections and insights are drawn from stories so well known that they have almost become national myths. In the first in the series, Fiona takes her panel to The Brooksbank Schook in Elland, West Yorkshire, where students are hard at work bringing the play to life. Her panel includes Carol Rutter, Professor of Drama and Shakespeare Studies at the University of Warwick, director and dramaturg Tom Cornford, and actors Jonjo O'Neill, fresh from a season at Shakespeare's Globe, and Karl Collins, a regular on Hollyoaks. The panel is joined by a local audience as well as the students, and together they put the words from the page on their feet for the first time. They try out practical exercises to unearth new questions in order to see what surprising new connections they might be able to make about this tale of jealousy and masculinity. A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4. A fresh look at Shakespeare's Othello through the prism of the rehearsal room. Fiona Lindsay listens in on actors and directors as they work on dramatic productions. |
| 02 | 20160721 | 20170821 (R4) | Fiona Lindsay and a panel of play-makers join in the table talk with the actors and director as they begin work bringing the York Mystery Plays from page to stage. Fiona has spent much of her career working at the RSC with actors, writers and directors as they gather round the table to begin work getting a classic text to its feet and looking for new insights and connections in classic texts for contemporary audiences. Though they have been performed regularly since the 1300s, it's only the second time in their near-700 year history that the York Mystery Plays have been staged in the Minster itself. It's an epic production, with many hundreds involved, including a large community cast of non-professional actors, joining the professional lead actor, Phillip McGinley playing Jesus Christ. Joining Fiona Lindsay as they focus their work on the staging of The Crucifixion are the writer and adaptor Mike Poulton, who recently wrote the acclaimed stage version of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies for the RSC, actor Philip McGinley whose credits include Game of Thrones and seasons at the National Theatre, and Director Phillip Breen. They read the text out loud for each other and try out exercises to try and find surprising new insights into the greatest story ever told. In what new ways can this play compel a modern audience? A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4. Eavesdropping on actors and director as they prepare to stage the York Mystery Plays. Fiona Lindsay listens in on actors and directors as they work on dramatic productions. |