Shakespeare Is, a new documentary project for radio, television, education and on-demand media, will be broadcasting a six-part public radio series on Shakespeare in 2013.

The series is being produced by two-time Peabody Award winner, Steve Rowland, (The Miles Davis Radio Project and Leonard Bernstein: An American Life) in conjunction with consulting producer David Chambers of the Yale School of Drama.

The underlying assumption is that Shakespeare’s works have taken on a universal nature – and are becoming more and more a standard basis for the discussion of life’s most vexing issues.  These include religion, class, race, the role of women – as well as deeply human issues like power, love, warfare, betrayal, loyalty, and ambition.

Robert Miller, responsible for the educational component of the project: “Until now, there has been no major documentary for television or radio that gives us a broad overview of Shakespeare’s works or the world of Shakespeare ‘now’: how Shakespeare is read, studied and performed, in the present.  Shakespeare Is will do both.”

The project website will include a rich and detailed educational repository with a major offering of on demand content.