The BBC recently announced the 2016 Shakespeare Festival, with big star names involved in the celebrations including David Tennant, Judi Dench and Benedict Cumberbatch. Tennant will host the programme, which will be broadcast during the weekend of Shakespeare’s birthday in April. Directed by Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Gregory Doran, the cast will include – aside from Dench – Ian McKellen and Joseph Fiennes. With such stars’ names associated with the plans, the programme looks set to be a triumph.
The programme will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and will include the line-up for BBC Two’s Shakespeare Live! from the RSC. Shakespeare Live! will act as a variety bill, performed by some of the greatest classical actors today, to epitomise Shakespeare’s work with live performance.
Further highlights of the celebration include BBC Two’s The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, featuring a wealth of talent including Cumberbatch, Dench, Keeley Hawes, Sophie Okonedo and Sir Michael Gambon. Additionally Matt Lucas, Maxine Peake and Elaine Paige will star in A Midsummer Night’s Dream on BBC One. Back on BBC Two, David Mitchell will play the role of the bard opposite Liza Tarbuck as his wife, and Horrible Histories returns to CBBC with a special episode about the life and times of Shakespeare.
The festival will also feature new Radio 3 dramas inspired by the life and work of Shakespeare, with focuses on The Merchant of Venice, a new version of King Lear and Julius Caesar in a new three-part production. This is a fantastic initiative to bring Shakespeare’s legacy to audiences all over the UK, using household names and providing many chances for everyone to experience the work. Shakespeare fans around the world will be able to join in the celebrations with Shakespeare Day Live on 23 April, hosted in Birmingham and co-curated by the BBC and British Council. This will bring together interpretations of Shakespeare’s work in one digital space for audiences around the world to experience.