1
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This is the National Theatre.

2
00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:28,400
We're in the Olivier,
which is the biggest arena.

3
00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,200
For the last three months, I've been
doing Comedy of Errors here.

4
00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,000
He that commends me
to mine own content

5
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,720
commends me to the thing
I cannot get.

6
00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,880
There's going to be a global telecast

7
00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,640
and I'm going to be performing
on this stage

8
00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:46,320
with my fellow cast members to
an audience of potentially thousands,

9
00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,840
maybe millions, all over the world.

10
00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:50,920
Thou art a villain
to impeach me thus:

11
00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:52,800
I'll prove mine honour
and mine honesty

12
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,080
Against thee presently,
if thou darest stand.

13
00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,720
There are two cameras on tracks, like
railway tracks that move up and down.

14
00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,000
We've got little cameras
dotted around.

15
00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:10,240
I'm nervous. Somebody will be going,
'Aaaargh!'

16
00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,840
But what's been amazing
is that it's Shakespeare

17
00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,360
that's introduced me
to this global audience.

18
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Because it didn't speak to me
as a human being,

19
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it didn't seem meant for me.

20
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Go master, go master,
go master, go master!

21
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:28,960
(LAUGHTER)

22
00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:33,000
How strange that Shakespeare
has got me on the world stage.

23
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I would never have dreamed.

24
00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,400
(APPLAUSE)

25
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(ALL PLAY MUSIC)

26
00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,320
I to the world
am like a drop of water

27
00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,200
that in the ocean seeks another drop,

28
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Who, failing there
to find his fellow forth,

29
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Unseen, inquisitive...

30
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'Playing the lead role
in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors

31
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has been a huge challenge for me.'
But, soft! who wafts us yonder?

32
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,400
'It's only the second time
I've ever been in play

33
00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,800
and only my second go
at performing Shakespeare.'

34
00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,280
What, was I married to her
in my dream?

35
00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,480
Or sleep I now
and think I hear all this?

36
00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,240
I play a guy called
Antipholus of Syracuse,

37
00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,000
who arrives in a very busy
cosmopolitan city

38
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to look for his mother
and his brother.

39
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:28,200
Erm...it's an unusual play
because Antipholus is a twin

40
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and so is his manservant.

41
00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,840
Both sets of twins
are called Antipholus and Romeo,

42
00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:36,560
so many, many complications ensue
because of this.

43
00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:40,800
'It's a funny, poignant story
about mistaken identities.'

44
00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,600
Which of you two
did dine with me today?

45
00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:47,560
(LAUGHTER)

46
00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:51,400
'It's incredible
that I'm doing this play

47
00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:55,720
because for most of my life,
I'd kept well away from Shakespeare.

48
00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:00,520
Like many others, I thought I wasn't
clever enough to understand it.

49
00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,200
But where does this mental block
about Shakespeare come from?

50
00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,000
And what are we missing out on
if we don't get past it?'

51
00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:18,400
This is Rollason Road in Dudley

52
00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,960
where I used to live
and mostly grew up.

53
00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:25,120
I used to sleep
in that bedroom there. (CHUCKLES)

54
00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,760
We were pretty much the only
black family on the street.

55
00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:30,840
I could have had a fight every day.

56
00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,760
I was called nig-nog, coon, wog,
every day by various people

57
00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,400
and was rolling around
on the floor of the playground.

58
00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,480
And it wasn't until I discovered
that you could actually not fight

59
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:42,800
and you could walk away
or say something funny

60
00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:48,040
to kind of dispel the argument
or the confrontation -

61
00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,000
It wasn't until I discovered that

62
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,960
that actually my life started to
change for the better.

63
00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:00,520
I was a daydreamer at school,
I looked out of the window a lot.

64
00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,160
And there was one year -
I think fourth year or something -

65
00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:05,640
where we were made to read
Romeo and Juliet.

66
00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,320
It was a whole class
of disinterested kids

67
00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:10,840
reading from this old, tattered book.

68
00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,520
(LAUGHS) It was... When you hear,

69
00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,400
(DUDLEY ACCENT) 'Romeo, Romeo,
wherefore art thou Romeo?'

70
00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,240
it's sort of mind blowing.

71
00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:22,160
So anyway, a few months later,
I had a mini ping moment,

72
00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,280
a mini revelation, where we went to
The Plaza in Dudley,

73
00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:27,200
which is now a bingo hall, I think,

74
00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,880
and we watched
Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet.

75
00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,200
I've got a bit of it on here
on this little iPad.

76
00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,120
It is my lady,

77
00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,080
O, it is my love!

78
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,080
Incredible Italian Renaissance
feel to it.

79
00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,560
Beautiful colours,
incredible costumes.

80
00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,640
Olivia Hussey slightly naked.

81
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,400
O Romeo, Romeo!

82
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,800
wherefore art thou Romeo?

83
00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,680
It blew my mind that Shakespeare
could be like that, you know.

84
00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,240
We worked out that it was a play
and it could be sexy and exciting

85
00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:11,000
and adventuresome. I remember lots of
us crying when Mercutio died.

86
00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,960
They've made worms' meat of me:

87
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And I remember lots of us being moved
and swept away by the majesty of it.

88
00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:23,680
(LAUGHTER)

89
00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,920
And then, of course,
it sort of fell out of your mind

90
00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:32,760
because I'm of Jamaican heritage,
working class, from Dudley,

91
00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,280
and Shakespeare's
nothing to do with us, is it?

92
00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:43,240
In 1975, I performed on a television
programme called New Faces

93
00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,560
and my life changed overnight.
Come and look, this way.

94
00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:48,680
This is my mum.

95
00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,760
That was in the paper after I won.

96
00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,120
I think she thought that
going into showbusiness

97
00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,320
was a bit of a flibbertigibbet idea.

98
00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,640
(THUNDER)

99
00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,840
My mum passed away in 1998

100
00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:08,800
and erm...it sort of turned my world
upside down, really.

101
00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,200
She'd always wanted me to
continue my education.

102
00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:16,920
I also wanted to prove to myself
that I wasn't thick.

103
00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,360
I wanted to prove to myself
that I could do something.

104
00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:24,160
So for six years, while I was doing
the Lenny Henry Show,

105
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I was actually studying for
a BA in English Literature.

106
00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:33,000
'To-morrow, and to-morrow,
and to-morrow,

107
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Creeps in this petty pace...'

108
00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:40,000
I used to drive into London
and listen to part one of a play

109
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and then drive back to Reading
and listen to part two of the play.

110
00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,400
'To be abused by one that looks...'

111
00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,000
'And even now,
To crown my thoughts with acts...'

112
00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,080
'You have been a boggler ever:'

113
00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,800
I liked listening to Othello. I liked
listening to the Scottish play.

114
00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:58,960
'..not mad, sweet heaven;'

115
00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,720
'It is too full
o' the milk of human kindness

116
00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,000
To catch the nearest way:'
'I am a man

117
00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,560
More sinn'd against than sinning.'

118
00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,280
'..unsex me here,'

119
00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,160
I made a radio show for Radio 4
called Lenny and Will.

120
00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,000
And in that radio show,
I met Barrie Rutter,

121
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who absolutely rocked my world.

122
00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:22,800
I met Barrie at Broadcasting House.

123
00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:27,240
We rehearsed the last scene
of Othello, which is 14 lines,

124
00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,800
and begins, 'Soft you;
a word or two before you go.'

125
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And we rehearsed that for four hours.

126
00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,960
And he will bollock you
if you keep doing it wrong.

127
00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,920
..in Aleppo once, Where a malignant
and a turban'd Turk

128
00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,560
Beat a Venetian
and traduced the state,

129
00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,640
I took by the throat
the circumcised dog,

130
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And smote him, thus.

131
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(GASPS)

132
00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,400
And that's what we had -

133
00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,520
And I remember saying, 'Don't do it
casual. Don't throw away a gesture.'

134
00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:03,480
'Barrie is the director of
theatre company Northern Broadsides.'

135
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:05,360
And then you can start to
walk around -

136
00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,480
I don't mean in this camp way
that I'm doing now. (LAUGHS)

137
00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:10,200
'It's the first time I've seen him

138
00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:12,360
since he gave me my first crack
at Shakespeare,

139
00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:14,840
playing Othello in 2009.'

140
00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:16,920
O my fair warrior!

141
00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:18,560
My dear Othello!

142
00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:21,840
It gives me wonder great
as my content

143
00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,720
To see you here before me.
O my soul's joy!

144
00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,200
If after every tempest
comes such calms...

145
00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,240
When I first did
the 14 lines of Othello with you,

146
00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,000
on the way there...
that was early morning,

147
00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,640
but if there'd been a pub open,
I would have probably -

148
00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,360
BARRIE: Had a large one?
(LAUGHS)

149
00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,080
I would have a livener,
cos I was very, very frightened.

150
00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:48,880
Because it was like a big closed
door, Shakespeare and theatre, to me.

151
00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:52,280
It was like a big closed door
with a boulder against the other end

152
00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:54,200
and my mum standing there like this.

153
00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,920
It felt like something
that I couldn't get through

154
00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,640
because I had this massive
inferiority complex about it.

155
00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,640
I was nervous as well and thought,
'What are we gonna get here?'

156
00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,200
In terms of what you'd asked me
to look at -

157
00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,640
you doing a speech of Othello.

158
00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,640
You first off said,
'I know nothing.'

159
00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:16,880
So your modesty was a big plus
in the first five seconds.

160
00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,880
'I know nothing.'
But you'd learnt the bugger. Hm.

161
00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:23,720
So I thought, 'He might be modest
but he's put some work into this.

162
00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,360
He's a grafter.'
'20 years ago

163
00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:28,560
when Barrie's company,
Northern Broadsides,

164
00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:31,160
began performing Shakespeare
in regional voices,

165
00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,760
it was revolutionary. And it was
that down to earth approach

166
00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,320
that made me feel comfortable
with Shakespeare for the first time.'

167
00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:43,760
Look to your wife;
observe her well with Cassio;

168
00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,200
Dost thou say so?
She did deceive her father,

169
00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,160
marrying you;
And when she seem'd to shake

170
00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:54,560
and fear your looks,
She loved them most.

171
00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:56,880
And so she did.
Why, go to then;

172
00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:01,440
They are great stories
told in a muscular way.

173
00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,440
And that's the other thing -
they're bloody muscular. Yeah.

174
00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,160
You know, the iambic pentameter,
although it's poetry,

175
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,720
is based on the heartbeat.
And what's what the centre of it is.

176
00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,960
'Barrie's evangelical approach
to Shakespeare

177
00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:16,520
is about more than
how you perform it.

178
00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,760
It's also about where you perform it
and who gets to see it.'

179
00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:23,040
I think Broadsides is very much like
the original concept

180
00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,200
of a group of people
showing up somewhere

181
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,280
and being able to put on a show
anywhere in any room.

182
00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,120
Yeah. Skipton Cattle Market.
That's right.

183
00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:35,120
We pioneered it. It's the only
cattle marked in the land

184
00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:36,840
with a theatre licence.

185
00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:38,680
What are you doing
in a cattle market?!

186
00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:41,560
It sells sheep on a Wednesday
and Shakespeare on a Thursday.

187
00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:43,560
I mean, the two oldest arts

188
00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:48,760
are probably cave painting
and storytelling round a campfire.

189
00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:54,960
And these are sophisticated stories
for a very, very vibrant population.

190
00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:57,840
So you had a spellbinding language

191
00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,480
with incredibly wonderful
and vibrant stories.

192
00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,000
And they were for everybody then.

193
00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,880
There's no reason why they
can't be for everybody now.

194
00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:09,520
I mean, I don't set out
to proselytise that -

195
00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:11,680
I would be a fool and fatuous
if I did -

196
00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,720
but bloody hell,
that's what excites me.

197
00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,000
I marvel thy master
hath not eaten thee for a word...

198
00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,360
And I had but one penny in the world,

199
00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,040
thou should'st have it
to buy gingerbread:

200
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,240
hold, there's the very...

201
00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:32,280
'I'm at the New Vic Theatre
in Newcastle-under-Lyme

202
00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:34,040
where director Barrie Rutter

203
00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:36,400
is rehearsing Shakespeare's
Love's Labour Lost

204
00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,640
with his company,
Northern Broadsides.'

205
00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:43,520
..thou halfpenny purse of wit,
my pigeon-egg of discretion.

206
00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:48,160
Good, good, good. Just enjoy
those two descriptions of him more.

207
00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:52,400
It's the sheer pleasure
of the vocal delivery

208
00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,080
and the rhythms and physicality
that goes with.

209
00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,840
You know, you often hear me say,
'Stop shuffling. Stop slouching.'

210
00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,640
He's laughing cos it was
his first bloody note.

211
00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:05,720
Stop shuffling!
'Stop shuffling!'

212
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:10,160
A general wouldn't shuffle.
'A general wouldn't shuffle.'

213
00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,480
Most military sir...
'It's been three years

214
00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:17,160
since Barrie gave me my first role.
And he's still working with actors

215
00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,400
who never thought
they could do Shakespeare.'

216
00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,920
..an the heavens were so proud
that thou wert but my bastard...

217
00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:26,480
'Adam Fogerty is a former
professional boxer and rugby player.

218
00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,080
Like me, he had never done any
Shakespeare before he met Barrie.'

219
00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:32,040
It's the repetition of the word.

220
00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:34,760
Shakespeare likes it.
That's why he's repeating it.

221
00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,160
Don't get me wrong,
I'm no Shakespeare buff,

222
00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:39,520
but I'm starting to
understand this play now.

223
00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:41,880
Uh-huh.
Well, that's all you need to do.

224
00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,320
You'll read them and think,
'Why is this funny?'

225
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,240
And then when you start
walking around and doing it,

226
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:50,320
you suddenly find that it is funny.

227
00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,520
And I think Barrie's great
at pulling things out

228
00:12:54,520 --> 00:12:57,160
that you don't notice,
and putting a little move in there

229
00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,240
or a little turn there
that makes it funny. Mm-hm.

230
00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,200
I think I'm enjoying it
a lot more as well

231
00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:04,400
because I'm doing it
with Northern Broadsides

232
00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:06,720
in our own accents and...

233
00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:08,720
I always had an attitude
about Shakespeare

234
00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,200
that it wasn't for
working class people. Yeah.

235
00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:13,360
(YORKSHIRE ACCENT)
Nobody spoke like that.

236
00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:19,120
Everybody was posh. And it's a real
barrier when you're a kid. Yeah.

237
00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,280
So to hear Shakespeare done
with Hull accents,

238
00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:26,920
Manchester accents, Welsh accents,
you know, it's wonderful,

239
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:28,440
cos it makes it more accessible.

240
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:38,840
'Working with a director like Barrie

241
00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,720
finally freed me from the idea
I'd held onto from my schooldays -

242
00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:46,320
that Shakespeare was
completely beyond my reach.'

243
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,120
Rutter allowed me to become
childlike again and play,

244
00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,800
because he did not put the weight of

245
00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,920
'you're learning Othello so you'd
better be good' on my shoulders.

246
00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:00,480
He just said, 'This is us. How are we
gonna tell the story of Othello?'

247
00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,680
I do not think but Desdemona's
honest.

248
00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:09,880
Long live she so!
and long live you to think so!

249
00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,200
And yet, how nature
erring from itself,--

250
00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:15,000
Ay, there's the point:

251
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:16,840
What gets me is
I'd always wanted to act

252
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:18,920
but I didn't know
whether I could do it or not.

253
00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:21,440
And Shakespeare seemed to be
the pinnacle of that,

254
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:23,360
cos it's so hard.

255
00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:26,520
It is like juggling while
trying to speak Mandarin Chinese.

256
00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,320
'But does performing Shakespeare
get any easier?

257
00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:36,400
I've come to talk to Dominic West.

258
00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:40,000
He's most famous for his role
in the hit US cop show The Wire,

259
00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,440
but he's also an accomplished
Shakespearean actor

260
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,960
and recently played Iago in a highly
acclaimed production of Othello.

261
00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,920
I want to find out what keeps
drawing him back to Shakespeare.'

262
00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:52,720
Why did you like Shakespeare so much?

263
00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:54,960
Did you have a teacher
that went 'ding' to you?

264
00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,200
How did you discover him?
Well, I suppose it was -

265
00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:01,440
my mum was in an amateur theatre
company in Sheffield

266
00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:03,720
and they used to do
quite a lot of Shakespeare.

267
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,000
There is that thing where you'd feel
it's from another time

268
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,680
and it's nothing to do with you.
I suppose having that

269
00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:12,680
as an eight or nine-year-old...
Made it normal.

270
00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:15,600
.made it normal. And my mum
and sisters were in it, so...

271
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:19,200
It's interesting, cos I didn't think
I'd ever do anything like Othello.

272
00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:23,000
It was not on the radar. I'd seen
Olivier's version of it lots of times

273
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,480
and just thought, 'There's one of
the greatest actors of his generation

274
00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:29,520
wearing shoe polish
and rolling his eyes.' (LAUGHS)

275
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,080
All that. And I had to watch it
a lot of times.

276
00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:35,320
Have you always wanted to play Iago?
I think so.

277
00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,000
Cos I did it for O Level.
I did Othello, the play.

278
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,200
So I always really liked the play.

279
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,200
Shakespeare does this with a lot
of plays. A strangely amoral play.

280
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,440
Not wagging the finger at us,
but showing us things. Yeah.

281
00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:50,800
I suppose in the same way
David Simon of The Wire

282
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,120
was very keen that every villain's
got something redeemable about them

283
00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,680
and every hero has got a flaw,
you know.

284
00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,800
The Wire is often compared
with Shakespeare.

285
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,400
Why do you think that is?
I suppose in its scope.

286
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,400
It had enormous scope.
And it wasn't like The Sopranos

287
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:09,320
and just about a family.
It was about a major city. Mm-hm.

288
00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:14,520
And within that city, you saw
the whole of America, really.

289
00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:19,600
And I suppose in the same way
you get in most Shakespeare plays,

290
00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:24,000
you get the life of kings
and the life of the bellows-mender.

291
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,440
And he understood
all levels of society.

292
00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:31,240
I feel old.

293
00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,000
I've been out there since I was 13.

294
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,800
I ain't never fucked up a count,
never stole off a package,

295
00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,920
never did some shit
that I wasn't told to do.

296
00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:43,560
I've been straight up.

297
00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,520
This game is rigged, man.

298
00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,800
We're like the little bitches
on the chessboard. Pawns.

299
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,080
What's great with Shakespeare

300
00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,240
is we can see
where the villain's coming from.

301
00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,320
We can see it's horrible
what he's doing,

302
00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:01,200
but we can understand
why he's doing it.

303
00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,520
And as soon as you've got that,
you understand more about humanity.

304
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:06,480
And it's so funny -
This is 400 years old.

305
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:09,120
Yeah, but that's why -
We're still the same.

306
00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:10,920
We're human experience

307
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,600
and our elemental jealousies
and emotions

308
00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:17,520
and thoughts are all the same.
It's what it is to be human.

309
00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:19,520
You're a soldier, Bodie.

310
00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:24,160
Hell yeah.

311
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,400
I've always tried to
keep doing Shakespeare.

312
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,760
And I find it's more rewarding
than anything else,

313
00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,920
just in terms of
how much it stretches your...

314
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,200
..ability to empathise with humanity

315
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,560
and to understand why people
do what they do.

316
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,080
And the amazing thing about it is,
whatever part you play,

317
00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:44,840
whether he's the nastiest guy
in the world like Iago,

318
00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:51,520
you-you have to take your tiny self
and make it big to match him.

319
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:53,520
You feel -
To inflate.

320
00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,160
Yeah, it's much bigger than you.
And it'll always be too big for you,

321
00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,840
but it's great
trying to reach for the heights.

322
00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,720
'It's clear from talking to Dominic
that he has no fear of Shakespeare

323
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,040
because he grew up with it.

324
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,160
But because I didn't,
I've never felt comfortable with it.

325
00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,880
This is the world many people
associate with Shakespeare -

326
00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:31,880
the lofty academia
of Oxford University.

327
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:35,880
I've come to meet
Professor Jonathan Bate,

328
00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,400
Provost of Worcester College
and leading Shakespeare scholar,

329
00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:41,880
to see where this perception
comes from.'

330
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,240
Certainly when I was growing up,
Shakespeare did seem to be

331
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:49,280
the sole property of people that went
to grammar schools and universities.

332
00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:51,280
I'll tell you
exactly when you can date it.

333
00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,440
Middle of the Victorian period,
you have universal state education

334
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:56,200
introduced for the first time.

335
00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:00,400
But you can't expect these working
class types to do Latin and Greek,

336
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,920
so what do you give them instead?
You give them Shakespeare.

337
00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:04,800
So Shakespeare was, as it were,

338
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,800
for the people who couldn't quite
cope with Latin and Greek.

339
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,000
That was when Shakespeare became
part of the educational syllabus.

340
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,560
And then what happened
through the 20th century,

341
00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:17,080
as the study of the classics
declined,

342
00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,360
Shakespeare kind of took over
from the classics.

343
00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:23,760
And so by the time you get to
when you and I went to school,

344
00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:28,000
it was the absolute centre of
the academic curriculum.

345
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,840
Taught at universities, you know.
Appropriated by the elite.

346
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:32,640
The really interesting thing

347
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:36,400
is that Shakespeare's father was
a glove maker, a local businessman.

348
00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,520
So little William
goes to grammar school.

349
00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:40,280
But what then happens

350
00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:43,840
is that Shakespeare's father
runs into financial problems.

351
00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,360
There's a kind of credit crunch
and he runs out of money

352
00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:50,480
and so William,
instead of going on to university

353
00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,160
and a career in the law or whatever,
is taken out of school.

354
00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:57,040
And what do you do
if you're stuck in the provinces?

355
00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:59,080
You head off to London.
You get on your bike.

356
00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:00,800
Get on your bike.
Was it unusual

357
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,800
as a playwright in London or were
there other guys like him around?

358
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:06,760
People thought he was
a country bumpkin

359
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,280
with that Warwickshire accent.
Straw in his hair. Yeah, exactly.

360
00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:12,720
And he was definitely
a little bit of an outsider.

361
00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:14,680
Nearly all the successful
playwrights

362
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:16,520
have got university degrees.
Uh-huh.

363
00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,320
People like Christopher Marlowe,
who went to Cambridge.

364
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,320
So someone like Shakespeare, OK,
a grammar school boy as an actor,

365
00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,440
but him becoming a script writer -
that was unusual.

366
00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,320
I think that is one of
the great things about Shakespeare.

367
00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:33,680
Suppose he had gone to Oxford.

368
00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,920
Would we have Shakespeare's plays
as they are? I think we wouldn't,

369
00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:44,320
because I think the fact of not
getting a very high level education

370
00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:46,040
kept Shakespeare grounded,

371
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,760
kept him in touch with
the voice of the ordinary person.

372
00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:51,920
I mean, you know,
in Shakespeare's time,

373
00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,800
the plays weren't for posh people -
they were for everybody.

374
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,840
He gave a voice to the common man.

375
00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:03,280
'It's really interesting to find out
that Shakespeare was an outsider

376
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,880
and wasn't part of
the academic elite,

377
00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,920
and that that gave him
a better understanding of humanity.

378
00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:13,640
But today his 400-year-old language

379
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,680
stops most of us being able to
relate to his work.

380
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:22,240
I've come to South London to meet
MOBO Award-winning rapper Akala.'

381
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,240
# Shall I compare thee
to a summer's day?

382
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:26,120
# Thou art more lovely
and more temperate

383
00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:27,800
# Rough winds do shake
the darling buds of May

384
00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,240
# And summer's lease
hath all too short a date #

385
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,960
'Akala believes we can still connect
with Shakespeare

386
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,920
if we can just get over
our fear of the language.'

387
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,840
Brilliant!

388
00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,480
'He helps kids get Shakespeare

389
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,840
by presenting it to them in a form
they can understand - hip hop.'

390
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,080
# So long lives this,
and this gives life to thee #

391
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,280
Yeah, boy! Stratford-upon-Avon posse!

392
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,120
Peace!

393
00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:54,320
Shakespeare - the main MC. Get me?

394
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,480
Both these art forms
are very misrepresented.

395
00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,880
The mainstream brand of hip hop
has kind of given hip hop as a whole

396
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,680
a particular public persona
for some people.

397
00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,600
What would that persona be?
Misogyny, violence, materialism.

398
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,640
Then with Shakespeare, similarly,
he's marked as, 'Wow, Shakespeare.'

399
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,120
This kind of intellectual deity
that all of us average people

400
00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:17,640
should just stand in reverence of
and not touch.

401
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,560
But to me, Shakespeare's
incredibly violent. Very violent.

402
00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:22,640
In Titus Andronicus,
a man getting carved up

403
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:24,360
and put in a pie
and fed to his parents.

404
00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:26,320
If Biggie Smalls said that,
it'd be like,

405
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,960
'Biggie's a sadomasochist!'
Never heard that in a rhyme.

406
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:31,720
Do you understand that I'm saying?
Macbeth was a gangster.

407
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,320
Really, when you look at it,
Lady Macbeth and that whole,

408
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,080
'Take my milk for gall.'
'Turn me into a man,' she's saying.

409
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,880
'I wanna be bad.' And for me
to be bad, 'Unsex me here.'

410
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:41,600
'I don't want to be a woman no more.

411
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,000
Take all this female love and energy
out of me

412
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,880
and let me be a gangster.'
That's what Lady Macbeth's saying.

413
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,440
A rapper says the same thing,
she's held to different standards.

414
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:53,000
So are we gonna drop a beat?
We are gonna drop the beat.

415
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,960
That's not what we're gonna do first
though. I've got a challenge.

416
00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,800
These quotes are either hip hop
or Shakespeare.

417
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:01,520
So you're gonna read each one out

418
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,720
and decide whether you think
it's hip hop or Shakespeare. OK.

419
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,280
READS: Fair is foul and foul is fair.

420
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,800
That's the Scottish play.
Yeah, very good.

421
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,560
READS: As we engage in battle.
That sounds like a rap to me. Yeah.

422
00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,120
READS: There's daggers
in men's smiles.

423
00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:18,680
That's rap.

424
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,240
Is it?
That's the Scottish play. Ah! Ooh.

425
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:23,400
READS: Who inflicted
this bitter sickness?

426
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,640
That's Shakespeare.

427
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,720
That's Inspectah Deck from
the Wu-Tang Clan. You're kidding me!

428
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,080
No. It's a track called
A Better Tomorrow. Damn.

429
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,520
READS: Hear my soul speak.

430
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,480
Is that a rap?
It's from The Tempest.

431
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,640
Damn!

432
00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,840
READS: Maybe it's hatred I spew,
maybe it's food for the spirit. Rap.

433
00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,080
That one is. That's Eminem.
Yeah.

434
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,160
READS: Sleep is the cousin of death.
That's Shakespeare. Sure?

435
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,160
Yes, I am sure.
You sure? Yeah, I am.

436
00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,360
No, that one's Nas.
Oh, my God!

437
00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:55,000
So as you can see, when we
do this exercise with people,

438
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,960
no-one gets them all right.
That's amazing.

439
00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:00,320
We've done this with some of
the highest ranking people

440
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,120
at Shakespearean institutions
and they've got some wrong.

441
00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:05,720
It's no reflection on any group,
but the point is,

442
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,360
once you take away the context,
your personal perception

443
00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:11,120
of what a rapper should say
and what Shakespeare should say -

444
00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:14,680
we've found that people will
generally get a good chunk wrong.

445
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,320
People misunderstand
both Shakespeare and hip hop.

446
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,480
And by misunderstanding
these human stories

447
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:22,440
or these vehicles for human stories,

448
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:24,800
they're missing out on
self-expression.

449
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,400
The moment it's humanised,
there's a certain confidence.

450
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:29,240
'Right, if I can get Shakespeare

451
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,080
and I'm told he's the most
unattainable guy in the world,

452
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:34,960
then I can get anything.'
That's really what it's about.

453
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,200
We're not trying to turn everyone
into rappers.

454
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:41,200
It's about using lyricism
and hip hop and Shakespeare

455
00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:44,240
as a vehicle for self-confidence
and a vehicle for education.

456
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,080
Brilliant.
(LOUD BEAT PLAYING)

457
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,520
That's really loud, Akala.
Sorry about that.

458
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,280
All the wax shot out of my ears then.

459
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,160
One, two, three, four.

460
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,360
# Shall I compare thee
to a summer's day?

461
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:56,040
# Thou art more lovely
and more temperate

462
00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:57,840
# Rough winds do shake
the darling buds of May

463
00:24:57,840 --> 00:24:59,600
# And summer's lease
hath all too short a date #

464
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,320
# Sometime too hot
the eye of heaven shines

465
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,040
# And oft' is
his gold complexion dimm'd

466
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,000
# And every...#
Argh!

467
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,880
Almost, almost. Let's go again.
Almost. Almost.

468
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,160
I'm impressed by that. There's a lot
of people that call themselves MCs

469
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,600
that can't do this.
I'm being deadly serious. Whoo!

470
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,880
# Shall I compare thee
to a summer's day?

471
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:17,480
# Thou art more lovely
and more temperate

472
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,200
# Rough winds do shake
the darling buds of May

473
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,000
# And summer's lease
hath all too short a date #

474
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:22,640
# Sometime too hot
the eye of heaven shines

475
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:24,320
# And oft' is
his gold complexion dimm'd

476
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,160
# And every fair from fair
sometimes declines

477
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:28,000
# By chance or nature's
changing course untrimm'd

478
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:29,480
# But they eternal summer
shall not fade

479
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:31,240
# Nor lose possession
of that fair thou owest

480
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:33,080
# Nor shall death brag
thou wanderest in his shade

481
00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:34,600
# When in eternal lines to time
thou growest

482
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,200
# So long as men can breathe,
or eyes can see

483
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,040
# So long lives this,
and this gives life to thee #

484
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,200
Whoa, I'm very impressed.

485
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,800
You're gonna have to beat my tongue
to death with a stick.

486
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,560
I'm very impressed, man.
I'm very impressed. Well done.

487
00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:53,720
'I think Akala's right

488
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:57,440
about Shakespeare being a vehicle
for confidence. It has been for me.

489
00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:00,560
Doing Othello
was a huge turning point.

490
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:04,000
But I think how you're
first introduced to it is key.

491
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,800
I've arranged to meet a friend
of mine, actor Adrian Lester,

492
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,480
who's letting me join in
a Shakespeare school workshop.'

493
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:15,400
Hello.
Hey.

494
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,120
How are you, man?
Hello. Are you all right?

495
00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:20,200
How you doing?
I'm good, I'm good, I'm good.

496
00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,400
Adrian Lester.
(LAUGHS)

497
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,000
What we're kind of doing here
is debunking Shakespeare.

498
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,600
My thinking was to
take a group of kids

499
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:31,360
who wouldn't have done
a lot of Shakespeare beforehand.

500
00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:34,400
Who I suppose, really,
were like me with Shakespeare

501
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:38,120
when I was at school. Because I felt
that I needed an English degree

502
00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:40,120
to even read one of the plays.

503
00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:42,400
Well, I got one
and I still don't understand 'em!

504
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,320
See, you're ahead of me.
What I'd like to do

505
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,240
is do what was never done for me.

506
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,240
I know the road is paved with
good intentions,

507
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:54,520
but I would like to somehow explode
and go, 'Here it is!' Yeah.

508
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:59,360
Well, we don't want to say to them,
'Forget all your references

509
00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:01,720
as a young person
living in Britain today.'

510
00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:05,840
No. Use all your references,
keep those references,

511
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,680
keep your emotional life
and the observations you have

512
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,880
because they are relevant
to approaching Shakespeare.

513
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,560
'We're doing the workshop
at a school in South London.'

514
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:22,400
I've been to the toilet,
in case you were worried.

515
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,120
I was gonna ask.
Why am I nervous? I'm so nervous.

516
00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,160
It is a bit - It's nerve wracking.

517
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,000
Now we know how teachers feel.
Yeah.

518
00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:44,960
Have a seat.

519
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:47,960
Right...

520
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:49,920
'I'm at Norwood School
in South London

521
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,280
with my friend and fellow actor
Adrian Lester.'

522
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:55,080
I'm Adrian Lester. I'm an actor.

523
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:59,040
I'm Lenny.
I'm an actor and a comedian.

524
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:00,760
'We're about to do a workshop

525
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:02,920
with a group of kids
from year eight and nine.

526
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,360
I'm hoping we'll be able to really
bring Shakespeare to life for them.'

527
00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:11,320
For the purposes of today,
we're gonna treat you like actors.

528
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:13,000
So I want you to
take your jackets off

529
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:14,840
and put them by your bags.

530
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,920
'In this lesson, the kids won't be
sitting at a desk reading out loud

531
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:20,800
like we had to
when we were at school.'

532
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:23,240
Pull up some chairs
and sit facing this way.

533
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,040
'The first thing Adrian does
with them is play a game

534
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:30,160
that shows the important of hierarchy
and status in Shakespeare's plays.'

535
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:37,920
One of the rules that all of
Shakespeare's plays used is status.

536
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,400
The top was the king,
then the lords have their position,

537
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,240
and then ladies,
and you went all the way down.

538
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,920
Everyone has their place.
Like ranks in the army.

539
00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:49,720
Like ranks in the army,
like people at this school.

540
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:51,880
Do you all understand that?
Yeah.

541
00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:56,760
OK. So I'm gonna show
you how we can interpret,

542
00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:00,800
how we can look at status and
positions and order in Shakespeare.

543
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:04,720
Status two, going to
the most powerful of status ten.

544
00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,080
This is status two.

545
00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:09,120
(MEEKLY) Hello, my name is Adrian.

546
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,520
(LAUGHTER)

547
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:19,000
Now, what did you notice about that?
You were slouching. Slouching.

548
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:20,800
You looked quite shy.
Quite shy.

549
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:25,720
You weren't very proud of yourself.
I was proud of myself? Wasn't. OK.

550
00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,480
Let's take it up a little notch.
Lenny's an eight.

551
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:30,560
Er...

552
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,120
Yeah, erm...
(LAUGHTER)

553
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,080
My name's Lenny, yeah?

554
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,480
OK, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(CHUCKLES)

555
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,920
Who would like to have a go?
Do you want to have a go? Come up.

556
00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:47,760
And go.

557
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,800
Well, my name is Ben
and I think this -

558
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:57,600
I'm going to go.

559
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,560
'As they act different positions
in Shakespeare's hierarchy,

560
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,160
the group gets a real feeling
what it might be like

561
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,760
to be one of his characters.'
What did that have?

562
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,720
Strong minded.
He came in strong minded.

563
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,640
Strong minded. There was a bit of
a showman about it as well.

564
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,040
It was like,
'Yeah, you're pleased to meet me.'

565
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,640
There was that little touch
about it. OK, come and have a go.

566
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,160
'Watching Adrian work with the class,

567
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,600
it's obvious that
taking Shakespeare off the page

568
00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:23,680
really does work.'
My name is Neddy.

569
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:25,960
I mean Kato.
(LAUGHTER)

570
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,600
'They really do seem to be
enjoying themselves.

571
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,840
They're not staring out of the window
like I did.'

572
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:35,360
I've gotta say, you lot are good.
If I was to ask you a question -

573
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,560
what was the most famous
Shakespeare speech?

574
00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,480
What speech comes to your mind?
Romeo, Romeo!

575
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:42,280
Romeo, Romeo!
wherefore art thou Romeo?

576
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,680
She's saying,
'Why are you called Romeo?

577
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:46,440
Why can't you have another name?

578
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:49,480
Why do you have to be
from that house, from that family?'

579
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,080
Exactly.
Everyone always thinks that.

580
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,880
Romeo, Romeo!
wherefore art thou Romeo?

581
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:57,080
To the left, to the right.

582
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,600
On the beat. Da-da-da-da,
da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da.

583
00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,960
ALL: Da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da,
da-da-da-da-da.

584
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:06,880
T-t-t-t, p-p-p-p, t-t-t-t, kah.

585
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:09,560
ALL: T-t-t-t, p-p-p-p, t-t-t-t-kah.

586
00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:13,360
Very good. Anybody listen to rap?
I know you've all heard some rap.

587
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,320
Shakespeare did that first.

588
00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:18,560
So I'm gonna do a beat and we're
gonna go round two lines at a time.

589
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:22,680
Are you all ready?
Yeah. Four, three, two, one.

590
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,240
(BEAT-BOXING)
# Through the forest have I gone

591
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,640
# But Athenian found I none

592
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:29,880
# On whose eyes I might approve

593
00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,720
# This flower's force
in stirring love

594
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,480
# Night and silence - who is here?

595
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:37,640
# Weeds of Athens he doth wear

596
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,120
# This is he, my master said

597
00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:42,520
# Despised the Athenian maid #

598
00:31:42,520 --> 00:31:44,680
Brilliant.
(LENNY WHOOPING)

599
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,920
(LAUGHTER)
You know why it was good?

600
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:51,640
It's like the rhythms
telling you how to say it. Exactly.

601
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:57,440
And if you use the rhythms - And all
the 'kah' sounds and 'pah' sounds,

602
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,000
they really push the line along.

603
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,560
So you should really dance
those rhythms, rock 'em and roll 'em.

604
00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,080
They sound great.
OK, all together. Hit it!

605
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,520
Four, three, two, one.

606
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,280
# Through the forest have I gone

607
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:14,920
# But Athenian found I none

608
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:17,480
# On whose eyes I might approve

609
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:20,040
# This flower's force
in stirring love

610
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,520
# Night and silence - who is here?

611
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,160
# Weeds of Athens he doth wear

612
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,520
# This is he, my master said

613
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,280
# Despised the Athenian maid #

614
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:32,360
Stop there, stop there. Very good.

615
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,000
(CHEERING)
We're done for today.

616
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,000
Thank you very much.

617
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:39,200
(APPLAUSE)

618
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,200
I get to be in this one.

619
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:46,040
If Adrian Lester had come to my
school when I was 15 and done that,

620
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:49,160
I'd walk out of the door skipping.
How fantastic is that?

621
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,280
Do you know stuff about Shakespeare
you didn't before? ALL: Yeah.

622
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:54,280
Has it changed your idea
of Shakespeare?

623
00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:58,240
I thought Shakespeare was only for
people that are 16 and up,

624
00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:01,840
like smart university people, yeah,
cos it's difficult to analyse.

625
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:06,280
But I understand it. When you think
about it, it's not that difficult.

626
00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:08,200
OK, great.
You lot are funny.

627
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,240
It was great that the girl said
at the end,

628
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,480
'I thought it was for people 16
and up, people going to university.

629
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:18,360
I didn't think this stuff was for me
but now I think it is.'

630
00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,240
Whatever she said.
I'm paraphrasing, obviously.

631
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,120
But it was a wonderful moment.

632
00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:28,040
And erm...these things are good.
It made my heart feel good.

633
00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:32,080
These young people are taking it on
and not scared of it like I was.

634
00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:45,760
What I've gleaned so far is that
Shakespeare is about performance.

635
00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:48,760
It's no good just reading it out.
You've got to get it in the body.

636
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,000
Storytelling in the body.

637
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:54,920
'And if there's one place
to get to grips

638
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,800
with how Shakespeare's plays
were meant to be performed,

639
00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,320
it's the Globe Theatre.

640
00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,280
Its artistic director,
Dominic Dromgoole,

641
00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,320
is passionate about debunking
the snobbery of Shakespeare

642
00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:10,400
and putting it back where it belongs,
in front of a rowdy audience.'

643
00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:12,760
Oh, look at this, Dominic.
Here we are.

644
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,360
This is your place.
This is my personal home.

645
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,280
This is my home.
It's beautiful, isn't it? Yeah.

646
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,400
Are you gonna get the roof to
come across like at Wimbledon?

647
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,240
That would slightly spoil
the point of it. Would it? Yeah.

648
00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:27,360
Watching Shakespeare
with the rain pissing down?

649
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:30,240
It's what people like.
They stand here - (LAUGHS)

650
00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:34,480
We give them plastic macs.
They put the macs on themselves

651
00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:36,360
and stand here like 600 condoms.

652
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:38,120
(LAUGHS)

653
00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:39,880
Brilliant.
Wobbling in the rain.

654
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:43,200
Essentially, we're standing
where most of the audience stands.

655
00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:45,960
600 people stand down here
in the yard.

656
00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:51,760
Then on each of these galleries, you
get 300 there, 300 there, 300 there.

657
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:55,360
The classic academic treaty
about it has been, you know,

658
00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:58,200
poor people, rich people,
rich people, rich people.

659
00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:00,760
And then with that
there's been an idea

660
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,520
that the intelligence goes up
as you go up. (LAUGHS) Yeah.

661
00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,280
And I think that's balls,

662
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:09,880
cos, actually, this place is where
all the electricity and excitement

663
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,640
for the whole theatre is generated.

664
00:35:11,640 --> 00:35:14,360
And if this place isn't lively
and happening

665
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:17,160
and enjoying itself
and sharing jokes,

666
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,000
then the rest of the place
goes dead.

667
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:23,040
I'd be frightened of this because
I'm worried about seeing faces.

668
00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:25,720
It's petrifying
before you come out, terrifying,

669
00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:30,560
but then once people are on and they
feel this warmth and embrace,

670
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,280
it's just the best thing
in the world.

671
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:36,120
I guess for a while,
before this place got built,

672
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:37,840
there was a sense that Shakespeare

673
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:39,720
was only for people
who went to Stratford

674
00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:41,920
and the National Theatre
and stuff like that.

675
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:45,640
This is what you wrote about. This is
about your colleagues at school.

676
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:47,400
I wasn't rude about anyone, was I?

677
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:49,760
READS: They had behind them
the whole piss-elegant,

678
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,200
Stratford-worshipping,
relentlessly bourgeois,

679
00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,560
quietly racist, deeply English
orthodoxy about Shakespeare,

680
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,560
the holy and the wonderful.
Well, it's true.

681
00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:01,120
And it pertained
for a hell of a long time.

682
00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:03,240
And there was
a sort of hieratic thing

683
00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:05,760
that there were priests
who understood.

684
00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:08,760
You know, that certain actors
got it, the rest didn't.

685
00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:10,960
Certain academics got it,
the rest didn't.

686
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:14,680
And you had to sit there
in dumb silence in the congregation

687
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:16,760
being frightened of your priest

688
00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:20,360
because they had some sort of mystic
knowledge not available to everyone.

689
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,720
And that's not what he wrote for.
He wrote for events

690
00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:25,600
when a hell of a lot of people -

691
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,360
Of all sorts. It doesn't matter
if they're archbishops

692
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:32,360
of punks or if they're politicians
or thieves or whatever.

693
00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:34,400
They altogether get it.
Mm-hm.

694
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:36,320
Do you mind if I go onstage?
Yeah, go on.

695
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,520
Do you feel that there's
still an elitist thing going on?

696
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,680
I think this place
has had a big effect

697
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:44,880
and has broken down a lot of
barriers that were there before.

698
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:48,760
The key thing about it is the
architecture Shakespeare wrote for.

699
00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:51,480
He didn't write for
a little black studio box,

700
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:55,240
he didn't write for a senior march
with gilt frame. He wrote for this.

701
00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,640
God!
How does it feel?

702
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:00,400
I think it's incredible.

703
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,840
It's about breaking down the divide
between the stage and the audience.

704
00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:05,640
So that you can come there

705
00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:07,840
and somebody in the front row
will be like that.

706
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,560
They'll have their arms there,
they'll grab your foot.

707
00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:14,240
No way! That would really
put you off, wouldn't it?

708
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:18,040
I have done the stage some service.
Put the phone away!

709
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:20,760
(LAUGHS)
You'd love it. Would I?

710
00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:24,760
You would. Cos you'd get an
enthusiasm off them and excitement.

711
00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:26,880
So instead of this...
Yeah.

712
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,120
He that commends me
to mine own content

713
00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:31,400
Commends me to the thing
I cannot get. Yeah.

714
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:33,720
It's... He that commends me
to mine own content

715
00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:36,040
Commends me to the thing
I cannot get. Exactly.

716
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:37,800
I to the world
am like a drop of water

717
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,560
That in the ocean seeks another drop,

718
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:42,840
Who, falling there
to find his fellow forth,

719
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:45,880
Unseen, inquisitive,
confounds himself:

720
00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,560
Exactly.
And it's to them and them. Yeah.

721
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:52,120
You look them in the eye
and it's an honest conversation.

722
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:55,320
And you spread it round gently.
A bit here, bit there, bit up there.

723
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:58,160
Your voice is great in here.
Thanks.

724
00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:00,240
I'd still be scared, though.

725
00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:04,480
Tell me about your experience of
Shakespeare when you were a kid.

726
00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:08,200
If you grew up like I grew up,
without any religion of any sort,

727
00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,840
and you needed a big canonical thing

728
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,400
that you can help
define your own shape through

729
00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:18,360
by how you talk to that and how you
hurl yourself against it,

730
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:20,280
Shakespeare was that.

731
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,320
The complete works
sat in the middle of our house

732
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:27,280
just emitting all of this generous,
warm, brilliant energy. Hm.

733
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:32,160
That was the thing that we used to
understand ourselves and the world.

734
00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:35,240
As a guide to life kind of thing.
As a guide to life.

735
00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:37,240
Thank you so much
for giving me the time.

736
00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:39,120
Huge pleasure.
It's great.

737
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:42,440
Come and play here some time.
You must be joking! (LAUGHS)

738
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:44,680
Not that big a worry.

739
00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:57,160
Meeting all these people
has just confirmed to me

740
00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:01,160
how universal
Shakespeare's appeal is.

741
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:06,280
It's sort of made me think...
that I could have done it before.

742
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,800
I could have done it earlier.

743
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:15,040
'The National Theatre

744
00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:18,480
is preparing for the global telecast
of Comedy of Errors.

745
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:27,240
I've come to run through a scene with
one of my co-stars, Michelle Terry.'

746
00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:29,600
She goes over there
and she's really worried now.

747
00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:32,040
Your sister's husband
has now fallen in love with you

748
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:35,320
and you're having feelings, too.
I'm going to woo you now.

749
00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:37,360
This is a woo, isn't it?
It's a woo.

750
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:39,920
(CLEARS THROAT)

751
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,480
Sweet mistress--what your name
is else, I know not,

752
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:45,680
Nor by what wonder
you do hit of mine,--

753
00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:49,200
Less in your knowledge and your grace
you show not

754
00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:52,520
Than our earth's wonder,
more than earth divine...

755
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:54,240
I've always wanted to act.

756
00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:56,560
I've always wanted to
be in films and stuff.

757
00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,520
But it feels like erm...

758
00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:03,560
..the comedy took precedence.

759
00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:07,000
He gains by death
that hath such means to die:

760
00:40:08,240 --> 00:40:12,600
Let Love, being light,
be drowned if she sink!

761
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:16,400
There wasn't regret, but there was
a slight feeling of

762
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:18,960
that thing of putting a ladder
against a building

763
00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:22,240
and then looking, realising your
ladder's against the wrong building.

764
00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:24,960
Why call you me love?
call my sister so.

765
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,120
Thy sister's sister.
That's my sister.

766
00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:32,320
No; it is thyself,
mine own self's better part,

767
00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:35,080
Mine eye's clear ear,
my dear heart's dearer heart.

768
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:37,160
My food.

769
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:40,520
I feel like I've slightly missed out
and I'm anxious for more.

770
00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:43,200
It's weird doing it
in a rehearsal room again.

771
00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:45,480
It's strange. It's odd doing it.

772
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:47,400
How do you feel about the live thing?

773
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:50,680
Cos I've done lots of live telly
but this is a different thing.

774
00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:53,520
It is different. I did All's Well
and everyone was, like,

775
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:56,240
'Do the play as the play.'
Then you get out there and go,

776
00:40:56,240 --> 00:40:59,040
'How can I do that when you've
removed half the audience?

777
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:01,120
Why are all these cameras
everywhere?'

778
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:03,000
We're just going to do the show,
aren't we?

779
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:04,840
We're just going to do the show.

780
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:15,480
It's been three years

781
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:20,520
since I first stepped on a stage
and did Othello.

782
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:23,320
And I think it's fair to say

783
00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:26,480
that many people thought it was going
to be a car crash of some kind.

784
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:28,880
But that didn't happen.

785
00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:32,680
And suddenly, here I am
about to do this broadcast.

786
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:42,680
After 35 years on stage, this will be
the biggest show I've ever done.

787
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:48,640
Comedy Of Errors is about to be
beamed live around the world

788
00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:51,160
to 700 cinemas in 22 countries.

789
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:57,320
It would be stupid to say
that I'm in love with Shakespeare

790
00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:00,600
because I'm not, I find it very,
very difficult and hard to learn.

791
00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:03,120
But I do feel like I've climbed
a mountain, as it were.

792
00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:05,520
There's many more mountains
to go but I feel like

793
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:08,480
I'm in the foothills, as it were,
of trying to figure it out.

794
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:10,680
I'm richer for the experience,
certainly.

795
00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:20,160
I had a manager once who said,

796
00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:23,200
'One day, chap, you're going to be
as big as Max Bygraves.'

797
00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:25,760
But not really what I wanted to do
with my life.

798
00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:28,320
I was a big fan of Richard Pryor
and everything

799
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:32,240
and I thought I was going to be in
America, playing big clubs and stuff.

800
00:42:32,240 --> 00:42:34,920
But actually, here I am,
performing this play.

801
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:37,120
It's a massive journey.

802
00:42:45,720 --> 00:42:49,000
12, 11. Ten seconds.

803
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:51,000
Nine, eight...

804
00:42:53,720 --> 00:42:57,360
Three, two, one, zero.

805
00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:01,880
So I, to find a mother and a brother,

806
00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:04,760
In quest of them, unhappy,
lose myself.

807
00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:07,880
Here comes the almanac
of my true date.

808
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:10,680
What now? How chance thou art
return'd so soon?

809
00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:13,960
Return'd so soon!
Rather approach'd too late:

810
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:17,240
The capon burns,
the pig falls from the spit.

811
00:43:17,240 --> 00:43:20,880
Comedy Of Errors is a farcical story
of mistaken identity,

812
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:25,080
in which two sets of twins, separated
at birth, end up in the same town.

813
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:29,520
(LAUGHTER)

814
00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:31,760
As from a bear a man
would run for life,

815
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:33,920
So fly I from she
that would be my wife.

816
00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:35,800
Then she bears some breadth?

817
00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:38,720
She is spherical, like a globe;

818
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:41,840
I could find out countries in her.

819
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:45,760
How extraordinary that this material,

820
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:49,760
which is at once parochial
and universal,

821
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:54,000
is able to penetrate
to such a huge audience.

822
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:59,160
It's seen and performed all over the
world and enjoyed all over the world.

823
00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:02,840
If this be not a dream
I see and hear.

824
00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:08,680
That is the chain, sir,
which you had of me.

825
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:12,760
It's a very funny play.

826
00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:15,200
But among all the laughs
and crazy plot twists,

827
00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:18,280
the genius of Shakespeare
is his brilliant insight

828
00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:20,440
into what it means to be human.

829
00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:27,520
We in your motion turn
and you may move us.

830
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:31,040
He writes about big emotions
we can all relate to.

831
00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:34,640
(SHUDDERS)

832
00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:36,760
(LAUGHTER)

833
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:39,040
Why call you me love?
Call my sister so.

834
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:41,120
Thy sister's sister.
That's my sister.

835
00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:43,160
No;

836
00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:46,760
It is thyself,
mine own self's better part,

837
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:50,680
Mine eye's clear eye,
my dear heart's dearer heart,

838
00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:54,480
My food, my fortune
and my sweet hope's aim

839
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:58,440
My soul earth's heaven
and my heaven's claim.

840
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:01,520
The fact that there is a movement

841
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:03,920
to make Shakespeare more populist
is right.

842
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:05,960
And what I've noticed more and more

843
00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:09,800
is that there is a more multi-ethnic
audience coming to see theatre

844
00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:12,840
because people are realising
that it's for them too.

845
00:45:15,320 --> 00:45:19,960
At its heart, Comedy Of Errors
is about the reunion of a family.

846
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:24,400
This family has been torn apart
by all manner of situations

847
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:27,880
and slowly but surely,
they are being reunited

848
00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:31,200
and that's an incredibly moving
situation.

849
00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:33,200
Everybody can relate to that.

850
00:45:36,080 --> 00:45:37,960
Everybody deserves to have

851
00:45:37,960 --> 00:45:40,360
some Shakespeare in their lives.
It's for you.

852
00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:50,440
(APPLAUSE)

853
00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:57,520
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