David Schalkwyk on the Robben Island Shakespeare

Alternative title

Cowards die Many Times Before Their Deaths, The Valiant Never Taste of Death but Once

Synopsis

Podcast from the Folger Shakespeare Library. While Nelson Mandela was incarcerated on South Africa’s Robben Island, one of the other political prisoners managed to retain a copy of Shakespeare’s complete works, which was secretly circulated through the group. At that prisoner’s request, many of the others—including Mandela—signed their names next to their favourite passages. Shakespeare scholar David Schalkwyk, also a South African, explains to interviewer Rebecca Sheir, there is something special about "a book that had passed through the hands of the people who had saved my country." Schalkwyk shares some personal history and reveals what Shakespeare might have meant to the men who signed the Robben Island Shakespeare.

Series

Shakespeare Unlimited

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Audio

Recording date

2014

Duration

20 mins

Credits

Producer

Richard Paul

Contributor

David Schalkwyk; Rebecca Sheir

Additional Details

Production type

Documentary/Educational/News

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

prisoners; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes

http://www.folger.edu/shakespeare-unlimited-episode-1 (accessed 2/2015)

Production Company

Name

R.L. Paul Productions