Lenny Henry - Finding Shakespeare

Synopsis

Documentary. Lenny Henry tells how a comedian had a burning ambition to act in Shakespeare’s plays. There are brief extracts (rehearsal and performance) of Henry in Othello (Rutter’s 2009 production) and The Comedy of Errors (Cooke’s 2011 production). Henry speaks of how Zeffirelli’s ROMEO AND JULIET (1968) made a big impact on him, and there is a clip from the film. Henry talks to Barrie Rutter, Northern Broadsides, about speaking Shakespeare with local accents. Henry visits The New Vic, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and there are brief scenes from a Northern Broadsides production of Love’s Labour’s Lost and an interview with boxer Adam Fogarty who played Costard. Dominic West tells of how he came to love Shakespeare and the connections between the television drama THE WIRE and Shakespeare. Jonathan Bate and Henry talk about the value of an academic education into Shakespeare. Rapper Akala and Henry rap "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day’ and Akala challenges Henry to guess which lines written on cards were written by Shakespeare and which by rappers. Henry joins a Shakespeare workshop at a school in Norwood, South London led by Adrian Lester - they enact scenes displaying status and rap together. Finally Henry talks to Dominic Dromgoole in the interior of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Henry speaks some lines from Othello from the stage.

Series

Perspectives

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Medium

Television

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Transmission details

1 Apr 2012 at 22:15 (Channel: ITV1)

Duration

60 mins

Credits

Director

Elizabeth Dobson

Contributor

Adam Fogerty; Adrian Lester; Akala; Dominic Dromgoole; Dominic West; Jonathan Bate; Lenny Henry

Additional Details

Production type

Documentary/Educational/News

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Rehearsals; Rap music; Hip Hop; Northern Broadsides

Production Company

Name

Matchlight

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web

http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7436 0165

Address

21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

Name

BoB

Email

bob@learningonscreen.ac.uk

Web

https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand External site opens in new window

Phone

020 3743 2345

Address

Learning on Screen - the British Universities and Colleges Film and Video Council
330 Holborn Gate
1st Floor, Suite 120
London
WC1V 7QH

Notes

Formerly a service from BUFVC, British Universities Film & Video Council

Name

Learning on Screen Off-Air Recording Back-up Service

Email

services@bufvc.ac.uk

Web

http://bufvc.ac.uk/tvandradio/offair External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7393 1514

Fax

020 7393 1555

Address

For Learning on Screen Members only
77 Wells Street
London
W1T 3QJ