Mickey B

Magill, Tom 2007 | 5 Comments

Mickey B (2007) A feature film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, written and performed by serving prisoners inside Maghaberry Prison in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Read More

Richard III

Wang, Xiaoying 2012

Richard III (Li cha san shi), directed by WANG Xiaoying, The National Theatre of China (Beijing) | Premiered at the London Globe during the 2012 Globe to Globe Festival Read More

King Lear by the Belarus Free Theatre

Shcherban, Vladimir 2012

This production of King Lear by the Belarus Free Theatre was first staged at the Globe Theatre in London as part of the 2012 Globe to Globe Festival (April 23 to June 9), and brought back to the Globe in 2013 (September 23 to 28). A theatre in exile from a totalitarian state, the Belarus Free Theatre drew on the history of reading Shakespeare in the Soviet Union, as well as on the current situation in Belarus, to comment on the cruelty, violence, and individual vulnerability generated under the conditions of dictatorship. Read More

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Brook, Peter 1970

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Le songe d’une nuit d’été), directed by Peter Brook, Royal Shakespeare Company. Also known as Peter Brook’s Dream. Premiered in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1970 and then moved to the Aldwych Theatre in London’s West End in 1971. World tour in 1972-3. Read More

Life Goes On (King Lear)

Datta, Sangeeta 2009

A contemporary film adaptation of King Lear, set in modern-day London, centred on the life of three generations of immigrants of a Hindu family from Bengal. Read More

Ur-Hamlet

Barba, Eugenio 2006

Ur-Hamlet is a multicultural project by Odin Teatret: a performance that brings together the Odin Teatret ensemble, a group of actor-dancers from Bali, Japan, Brazil, musicians from different parts of the world, and a long-term pedagogical project for young trainees from all over the world. Read More

The Hollow Crown: Henry V

Sharrock, Thea 2012

Henry V is the fourth and final episode in The Hollow Crown TV series aired in 2012 and produced by Sam Mendes. Thea Sharrock directed this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play. The other three episodes are: Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; and Henry IV, Part 2. Read More

The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, Part 2

Eyre, Richard 2012

Henry IV, Part 2 is the third of four episodes in The Hollow Crown TV series aired in 2012 and produced by Sam Mendes. Richard Eyre directed this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play and adapted the screenplay. The other three episodes are: Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; and Henry V. Read More

The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, Part 1

Eyre, Richard 2012

Henry IV, Part 1 is the second of four episodes in The Hollow Crown TV series aired in 2012 and produced by Sam Mendes. Richard Eyre directed this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play and adapted the screenplay. The other three episodes are: Richard II; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V. Read More

The Hollow Crown: Richard II

Goold, Rupert 2012

Richard II is the first of four episodes in The Hollow Crown TV series aired in 2012 and produced by Sam Mendes. Rupert Goold directed this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play and collaborated with Ben Power on the screenplay. The other three episodes are: Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V. Read More

King John

Dando, Walter Pfeffer; Dickinson, Laurie; Kennedy, William 1899

King John is the earliest film adaptation of one of William Shakespeare’s plays. The short silent film was made in 1899 and depicts the death of King John. It was directed by William Kennedy, Laurie Dickinson and Walter Pfeffer Dando and produced by British Mutoscope and Biograph Company. Read More

Macbeth

Goldberg, Andrew; Tiffany, John 2012

From the National Theatre of Scotland comes a one-man production of William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Directed by John Tiffany and Andrew Goldberg, this re-imagined production is set in a psychiatric unit. This performance is approximately one hour and 45 minutes, with no intermission. Read More

Much Ado About Nothing

Branagh, Kenneth 1993

In this Shakespearean farce, Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and her groom-to-be, Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), team up with Claudio’s commanding officer, Don Pedro (Denzel Washington), the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) — a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John (Keanu Reeves) plots to ruin the wedding. Read More

Hamlet

Branagh, Kenneth 1996

Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the titular role as Prince Hamlet. Read More

Cymbeline

Moshinsky, Elijah 1982

This 1982 BBC produced film Cymbeline was directed by Elijah Moshinsky and stars Richard Johnson as Cymbeline, Helen Mirren as his daughter Imogen, and Michael Pennington as her beloved Posthumus. Read More

Coriolanus

Fiennes, Ralph 2011

Ralph Fiennes stars as the title character and makes his directorial debut in this 2011 adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Coriolanus. The film was shot in Belgrade, and the story was updated to a contemporary setting. John Logan wrote the screenplay. Read More

The London 2012 Summer Olympics

Boyle, Danny 2012

Kenneth Branagh dressed as Isambard Kingdom Brunel during the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics (directed by Danny Boyle) and recited Caliban’s lines from The Tempest 3.2.138-145 (2005 Oxford edition). The closing ceremony featured Timothy Spall’s Winston Churchill reciting the same passage spoken by Branagh earlier. Read More

Hamlet

Plumb, Hay 1913

Released in 1913, Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson’s Hamlet is a black and white silent film with English subtitles. The film is a 22 minute version of the play, directed by Hay Plumb and produced by Cecil M. Hepworth. Other cast members include Gertrude Eliot, Adeline Bourne, and J.H. Barnes.

Antony and Cleopatra

Doran, Gregory 2006

Cast

Patrick Stewart … Antony
Harriet Walter … Cleopatra
John Hopkin … Octavius Caesar

Stephen Brimson-Lewis … Set Designer

Additional resources can be found for this production here.

For more information about the stage performance, see the RSC website.

 

Walter's Cleopatra and Stewart's Antony dancing

Harriet Walter as Cleopatra and Patrick Stewart as Antony are dancing on stage

 

 

 

Romeo and Juliet

Bartlett, Neil 2008

This 2008 production of Romeo and Juliet was set in 1940s/50s Italy, and costumes were inspired by The Sopranos and The Godfather. Director Neil Bartlett also made the decision to have Juliet deliver her lines in the balcony scene from a cast-iron bed frame.

Cast

Anneika Rose … Juliet
David Dawson … Romeo

Credits

Director … Neil Bartlett
Designer … Kandis Cook

 

Additional resources can be found for this production here.

Article “Sweet Sorrow” by Neil Bartlett which addresses why Romeo and Juliet remains popular and is a good introduction into the subject of Shakespeare.

For more information about past productions of Romeo and Juliet by the Royal Shakespeare Company, see the RSC Archive.

 

 

Hamlet

Doran, Gregory 2008

Shakespeare’s immortal “To be, or not to be” takes on a whole new meaning (and medium) as classical stage and screen actors David Tennant and (recently-knighted) Sir Patrick Stewart reprise their roles for a modern-dress, film-for-television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) 2008 stage production of Hamlet. Read More

Macbeth

Goold, Rupert 2010

Director Rupert Goold’s gripping stage production of Macbeth was filmed for television at the end of 2009. Patrick Stewart in his triumphant, Tony-nominated performance as the ambitious general, and Tony-nominated Kate Fleetwood as his coldly scheming wife. Read More

King Lear

Nunn, Trevor 2007

King Lear is a 2008 television film based on the William Shakespeare play of the same name, directed by Trevor Nunn. It was broadcast on More4 in the UK on Christmas Day, and shown on PBS’ Great Performances in the United States in March 2009. The production was filmed mainly at Pinewood Studios in England. Read More

Titus

Taymor, Julie 1999 | 2 Comments

Titus is a 1999 film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s revenge tragedy Titus Andronicus, about the downfall of a Roman general, the first theatrically-released feature film adaptation of the play. Starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange, it was the directorial debut of Julie Taymor, who co-produced with Jody Patton and Conchita Airoldi, and wrote the screenplay. Read More

Taitasu Andoronikasu (Titus Andronicus)

Ninagawa, Yukio 2006

Taitasu Andoronikasu was performed in England in June 2006, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and the Theatre Royal in Plymouth, United Kingdom. This production was directed by Yukio Ninagawa.

 

Reviews

Billington, Michael. Review of “Titus Andronicus,” The Guardian, 22 June 2006.

Curtin, Sean. Review of “Titus Andronicus,” The Japan Society.

Kirwan, Peter. “Titus Andronicus (Ninagawa Company) @ The Royal Shakespeare Theatre,” The Bardathon, University of Nottingham, 24 June 2006.

 

 

Lear’s Daughters

Tse, David 2003 | One Comment

What happened to the three daughters of King Lear before they made their entrances in Shakespeare’s classic? Yellow Earth Theatre presents this seminal work exploring the formative years in three young women’s lives. Read More

King Lear

Tse, David 2006 | 4 Comments

Lear hands over control of his global business empire to his daughters. In his Shanghai penthouse, he asks them to justify their inheritance. The older sisters flatter their father in elegant Chinese but English educated Cordelia, no longer fluent in her father’s tongue, says “Nothing” and the loss of face sends Lear into a spiral of fury and madness. Read More

Golden Bowl

Ivory, James 2000

An intricately plotted tale of thwarted love and betrayal, “The Golden Bowl” tells the story of an extravagantly rich American widower (Nick Nolte) and his sheltered daughter (Kate Beckinsale), both of whom marry only to discover that their respective mates, a beautiful American expatriate (Uma Thurman) and an impoverished Italian aristocrat (Jeremy Northam), are entangled with one another in a romantic intrigue of seduction and deceit. Read More

Coriolanus (Korioreinasu)

Ninagawa, Yukio 2007

Coriolanus (Korioreinasu) was performed at the Barbican Theatre in London 2007.

Cast

Toshiaki Caracara as Coriolanus
Masanobu Katsumura as Aufidius
Kotaro Yoshida as Menenius

Crew

Choreography – Masahiro Kunii
Set Designer – Tsukasa Nakagoshi,
Costume Designer – Lily Komine
Lighting Designer – Tamotsu Harada

 

 

 

As You Like It

Branagh, Kenneth 2006

Witty, playful and utterly magical, the story is a compelling romantic adventure in which Rosalind and Orlando’s celebrated courtship is played out against a backdrop of political rivalry, banishment and exile in the Forest of Arden – set in 19th-century Japan. Read More