Shakespeare Uncovered What? Shakespeare Uncovered is a television documentary series about the performance and production history of Shakespeare’s plays. Each episode of the two seasons features a different play with the aim of providing viewers an insight into the historical and present-day significance of each of the plays. Who? Each episode has a well-known actor with a personal connection as host. Each host has a personal connections to the play he or she presents. Some of the hosts include Ethan Hawke on Macbeth, David Tennant on Hamlet, Kim Cattrall on Antony and Cleopatra, David Harewood on Othello, and Morgan Freeman on The Taming of the Shrew. The hosts consult other actors, theatre directors, and also Shakespearean scholars and historians. In the episode on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, for example, host Hugh Bonneville talks to a fairy expert from the University of Oxford. Including interviews with such a broad range of guests, Shakespeare Uncovered is able to offer education and entertainment to a wide audience. Whether you’re new to Shakespeare’s plays or an expert, Shakespeare Uncovered provides excellent presentation of each play by covering plot summary, explaining the plays’ historical and contemporary significance for performers and directors, and delivering some fascinating trivia facts. Where? Shakespeare Uncovered was first broadcast on BBC Four in June 2012 viewed online on the PBS Shakespeare Uncovered web page. The show is available on different screen mediums making it accessible option for the twenty-first century viewer who wants to learn about Shakespearean theatre. Alice Black Shakespearean Theater on Screens Alice Black, Connor Emmert, and Kyle Laurita-Bonometti English, Colby College, Waterville, ME Slings & Arrows, Season One: Hamlet Slings and Arrows is a Canadian Television series which is set at the fictional New Burbage Festival. The show follows a group of actors that puts on Shakespearian plays, and there are often parallels between the characters themselves and their Shakespearian roles. Season 1 is heavily focused on the New Burbage production of Hamlet. The three main characters are Geoffrey Tennant, Oliver Wells, and Ellen Fanshaw (pictured on right). Geoffrey is a former actor who previously suffered a mental breakdown during his performance as Hamlet. Like Hamlet, his loss of mental stability leads to the loss of his lover, Ellen Fanshaw. Upon Geoffrey’s return to New Burbage, he is constantly struggling with his sanity. He has conversations with the ghost of his dead friend Oliver, and similar to Hamlet, he must decide if he is insane, or if he can trust his haunting encounters with the dead. Oliver Wells is a struggling director at the beginning of Season 1. His attempt to direct New Burbage’s Midsummer Night’s Dream fails miserably on opening night. Following a drunken phone call with his long lost friend Geoffrey, Oliver stumbles into the street and is killed by a truck. However, like Hamlet’s father, Oliver’s ghost stays behind and haunts Geoffrey. While King Hamlet’s ghost seeks revenge in the play, Oliver is seeking the return of greatness to the New Burbage Festival, and he knows that Geoffrey can rekindle New Burbage’s former prowess. Ellen Fanshaw is an actress who used to be in love with Geoffrey, but stayed at New Burbage after his breakdown. Ellen has portrayed both Ophelia and Gertrude in New Burbage productions of Hamlet, and she has similarities to both of her characters. Similar to Ophelia, Geoffrey’s mental breakdown causes her to become suicidal, and she jumps into a river in an attempt to kill herself. However, right before Geoffrey’s final performance, he discovered that Ellen had slept with Oliver. Like Gertrude, Ellen’s lust is what drives Geoffrey mad. Connor Emmert Slings & Arrows, Season Two: Macbeth Season 2 concludes the Hamlet arc and dives into Macbeth. At the beginning of Season 2 Geoffrey is confronted by Moira (pictured to left), who, like the witches of Macbeth, precipitates the story by prophesying that Geoffrey will take on the cursed play and suceed in bringing a play to life so evil that it bested even the genius of Oliver Wells. In Season 2 Oliver’s ghost returns to plague Geoffrey and, like Macbeth, steadily drives him toward the brink of madness. Like the ghost of Banquo, Oliver appears only to Geoffrey, confronting him for “ruining his play” and as a result we get scenes of Geoffrey speaking to ‘empty’ chairs. In Episode 1 of Season 2, Ellen, who wants desperately to play Lady Macbeth, compels Geoffrey to stay with the New Burbage Festival and take on Macbeth (scene pictured above). Throughout the season she both reproaches Geoffrey for not being able to put on face in public and distresses for his well being as he sinks lower and lower into the depths of his own mind. Kyle Laurita-Bonometti About Our Project In exploring how Shakespearean theater is depicted on screens other than film screen, we have research two TV shows concerned with theatre on screen. One is a documentary series that follows the history behind the performance of Shakespeare’s most famous plays and the other a fictional series about the actors and crew a Canadian theater company. Both provide insight into the world of Shakespeare’s theatre, but on screens. How does the screen format work with the theatrical subject? Bibliography Shakespeare Uncovered, Series One. Prod. Bill O’Donnell. Blakeway Productions, DVD. Shakespeare Uncovered, Series Two. Accessed on “PBS Shakespeare Uncovered Web Page.” Accessed April Web. Osborne, Laurie E. "Serial Shakespeare: Intermedial Performance and the Outrageous Fortunes of Slings & Arrows." N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr "Spotlight." Slings & Arrows. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr then shown in the United States on PBS in January The second season began airing on PBS in January Each season has six episodes. While the first season is available on DVD, the second can be Geoffrey Tennant (Hamlet/Macbeth) Ellen Fanshaw (Ophelia/Gertrude/La dy Macbeth) Geoffrey Tennant (Hamlet/Macbeth) Oliver Wells (Ghost of King Hamlet/Ghost of Banquo) Moira (Witches of Darkness)