Follow #ShakespeareLives up to midnight for time-related Shakespeare quotations from Simon Russell Beale, Virginia McKenna, Ben Kingsley, David Tennant and many more.

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Explore a wealth of Shakespeare content from the BBC and our partners the Royal Shakespeare Company, BFI, Shakespeare's Globe, Hay Festival, the Royal Opera House and the British Council at Shakespeare Lives

We'll leave you with two clips from the RSC's Gala from 23rd April this year:

A stellar cast including Benedict Cumberbatch and Prince Charles read an iconic line from Hamlet.

The Benediction from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

With exclusive performances from inside the candle-lit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Katie Derham explores the world of Shakespeare’s Late Plays which Dominic Dromgoole has been staging to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.

A celebration of Shakespeare's lasting impact on opera and ballet. 

Join presenter Ore Oduba as he explores how the great works written over 400 years ago are still influencing composers and choreographers today. 

Richard lies, murders and cheats his way to the throne of England as he systematically slaughters his enemies, allies and family. Part of The Complete Walk.

Watch more from the Globe's Complete Walk

OK, is all this Midsummer madness tempting you to beat out a few iambic pentameters? Then worry ye not. This BBC Radio 4 guide is just what you need.

We love Sir Ian McKellen. And in this recording made at the BFI's Southbank home in London, the Oscar-nominated actor fills us in on all things Shakespeare: how quoting from the history plays got him through his Cambridge University entrance interview and a remarkable ditty on the the longest word that features in the Bard's plays. 

'Shake It Up' lets you remix the work of the Bard. Cast a scene, give it your own spin and invent new endings. Get creative with Shakespeare.

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Enjoy the X-Men star's Hamlet soliloquy.

The way we perceive and organise time is shaped to a large extent by our ability to measure it. Shakespeare’s audience would have been familiar with clocks and telling the time: there are more than 80 references to clocks in his plays, making it clear to us that ‘Shakespearean’ time was well on its way to being modern time.

There is more in common between the Bard and blockbusters than men in tights. 

BBC Culture explores the the lasting influence of William Shakespeare in superhero films and in other big budget fantasy and adventure movies that dominate the big screen.

All the world’s a stage. But who wrote the script? Many of the English phrases we use every day were popularised by Shakespeare or the King James Bible. The question is, do you know where the following phrases appear?

Victorian fairs often hosted pop-up theatres, which didn't require licences, and in which Shakespeare was performed as part of a rich mix of entertainment!

While Shakespeare was mainly performed in traditional theatres, it was also staged in less conventional settings. 

Fairs often hosted theatres, which didn’t require licensing, and Shakespeare was performed as part of a repertoire that included melodramas, burlesques, ballets, farces, nautical pieces, war spectacles and dog dramas featuring real canines!

As the War of the Roses rages, Richard, Duke of York, promises King Henry to end his rebellion if his sons are named heirs to the throne. One of 37 films that form The Complete Walk.

Watch more Complete Walk films

The famous Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean (1787 –1833) visited Guernsey where his drinking got him into trouble a few times!

B.W. Proctor's biography The Life of Edmund Kean describes what happened when the actor visited in the early part of May 1812. 

His wife followed afterwards and was greeted by an exultant Kean, delighted that brandy only cost 18p a bottle in the island!

Students from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow University and Glasgow School of Art perform a full dress rehearsal at the University's Bute Hall ahead of their performance of Dream On! for Shakespeare Lives. 

Watch the full performance

DID YOU KNOW?

• While it is the day that has the most sunlight, Britain's weather typically does not become hotter until later in the summer.
• Around the time of the summer solstice areas of Norway, Finland, Greenland, Alaska and other polar regions experience 'midnight sun'.
• In the Arctic Circle the sun does not set at all. This is down to a latitude 23 degrees from the pole, matching the angle of Earth's tilt.
• While June 20 is the summer solstice in Britain, for Australia and countries in the southern hemisphere this date marks the winter solstice.
• The summer solstice falls on June 20 in 2016, but the exact time changes each year, however it always falls on June 20 in a leap year.

Weather presenter John Hammond explains more. 

By delving into the past, Shakespeare helped his audiences confront the issues of their time.

This BBC iWonder guide includes a great 3 minute summary of Shakespeare's history plays plus find out what his plays have in common with today's blockbuster movies.