Staging Shakespeare

Director Kenny Leon’s production of Much Ado About Nothing mesmerized audiences during the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park (now available on PBS’s Great Performances). Leon shares how he approaches a new production and how Shakespeare’s comedies speak to our present moment.

In 2012 the Royal Shakespeare Company staged the first-ever, high-profile, all-black British Shakespeare production, Julius Caesar, set in Africa. The actor who played Brutus, Paterson Joseph, wrote a book about the experience. He also talks about his early work, his thoughts about race in the British theater, about the proper way to play Brutus, and much more.

21st-century wizardry meets the 17th-century kind in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Tempest with digital effects created by The Imaginarium, a performance-capture company that’s best known for movie and video game animations.

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 4 Pack the picnic basket. Grab a blanket. Don’t forget the bug spray. Shakespeare under the stars is a long-standing tradition in America and around the world.