The Stage

Exclusive: Starry line-up for BBC Shakespeare documentary

Published Friday 18 November 2011 at 10:43 by Matthew Hemley

Judi Dench, Simon Russell Beale, Harriet Walter and Tim Piggott-Smith are to discuss their experiences playing Shakespeare, as part of a BBC2 documentary exploring the historical context of the playwright’s works.

Shakespeare and Us is a two-part documentary presented by Simon Schama that will be included in the BBC’s Shakespeare season to be broadcast next year.

The documentary is being produced by Oxford Film and Television, which is also behind Sky Arts’ forthcoming Stagestruck series.

According to the production company, Schama will use the documentary to argue that it is impossible to “understand how Shakespeare came to belong ‘to all time’ without understanding just how much he was of his time”.

Schama will examine how questions raised in Shakespeare’s plays are rooted in the historical context of the writer’s era. By exploring Shakespeare’s history plays, he will reveal how the playwright tried to “compose a real picture of England”.

As well as interviews with Dench, Russell Beale, Walter and Piggott-Smith, the documentary will include an interview with Roger Allam, who earlier this year won an Olivier Award for his performance as Falstaff in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Marissa Erftemeijer, production manager on the show, said: “They have spent a lot of time getting to know the characters and talk about their experiences of this. It’s very much a conversation between them and Simon, who will talk about the history of what was going on in Shakespeare’s time.”

The documentary will also include contributions from playwright David Edgar and Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Michael Boyd, as well as short performances from actors including Tobias Menzies, who will perform soliloquies from the history plays straight to camera.

The BBC’s Shakespeare season will also feature new screen versions of Richard II, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and Henry V, made by Neal Street Productions, with Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris executive producing.