Summary

  • In this anniversary year, it's time to celebrate Shakespeare

  • We're going round the clock using great performances of the Bard's time references

  • Today is Solstice Day - the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere, and the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere

  • Get involved using the hashtag #ShakespeareLives

  • Send us your pics of today's sunrise and sunset wherever you are in the world and we'll include the best in our coverage

  1. It's almost fairy time...published at 20:15 BST 20 June 2016

    Thank you for following this BBC live page, but the fun isn't over yet

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

    Follow @BBCShakespeare, external and like us on Facebook, external

    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:

    Media caption,

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

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

    Media caption,

    David Tennant, Catherine Tate, David Suchet and Judi Dench perform The Benediction from A

    The Benediction from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

  2. The Late Playspublished at 20:04

    Shakespeare Lives

    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.

  3. Ballet, Opera and the Bardpublished at 19:55 BST 20 June 2016

    Shakespeare Lives

    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. 

  4. O, I have pass'd a miserable nightpublished at 20:10

    Shakespeare's Globe

    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

  5. How to speak like Shakespearepublished at 19:50 BST 20 June 2016

    BBC Radio 4

    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.

    Media caption,

    You'll want the bard in your corner, he was sassy.

  6. McKellen on Shakespearepublished at 19:45 BST 20 June 2016

    From the BFI

    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. 

  7. The Shakespeare storytellerpublished at 19:39 BST 20 June 2016

    Mixital

    '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.

    Visit Shake It Up here, external

    Shake if Up from Mixital
  8. Patrick Stewart as Claudiuspublished at 19:35

    Royal Shakespeare Company

    Enjoy the X-Men star's Hamlet soliloquy.

  9. Postpublished at 19:34 BST 20 June 2016

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  10. Shakespeare's Restless Worldpublished at 19:30 BST 20 June 2016

    Presented by former director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor

    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.

    Media caption,

    A musical clock made in Blackfriars, 1598 by Nicholas Vallin.

  11. Quiz: Bard or Bible?published at 19:20

    iWonder guide

    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?

    Shakespeare Folio V2 Getty Images 51436564
    Image caption,

    William Shakespeare's First Folio

  12. All the fun of the fairpublished at 19:17 BST 20 June 2016

    Shakespeare on Tour

    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!

    Shakespeare on Tour
    Image caption,

    Carousel horse (c) BBC

  13. Family at warpublished at 19:10

    Shakespeare's Globe

    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

  14. Postpublished at 19:02 BST 20 June 2016

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  15. Dream On!published at 18:55

    Shakespeare Lives

    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

    Dream On! dress rehearsal
    Image caption,

    Bute Hall, University of Glasgow

  16. Just what IS the summer solstice?published at 18:47 BST 20 June 2016

    BBC Weather

    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. 

  17. How did Shakespeare shape our sense of history?published at 18:39 BST 20 June 2016

    Al Murray investigates for BBC iWonder

    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.

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    Al Murray
  18. Postpublished at 18:32 BST 20 June 2016

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