Across The World

Shakespeare Day Live and Shakespeare Lives

On April 23rd 2016, some of the nation’s greatest performing arts institutions will mark 400 years since Shakespeare’s death with Shakespeare Day Live.

This digital event - accessible anywhere in the world - will be hosted in Birmingham and co-curated by the BBC and the British Council, in collaboration with the Royal Opera House, Shakespeare’s Globe the British Film Institute, Hay Festival and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Shakespeare Day live will also inaugurate Shakespeare Lives, a six month online festival It is also supported by the GREAT Britain campaign.

Shakespeare Lives will bring a remarkable collection of interpretations of Shakespeare’s work together in one digital space, for audiences in the UK and around the world to experience. Following the live stream on April 23 this diverse collection of work will be available internationally for six months at www.bbc.co.uk/shakespearelives.

Shakespeare In The World - BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service

Shakespeare may be a universal figure but his plays take on new meanings depending on where they are staged. Shakespeare In The World - four programmes co-commissioned by the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4 - looks at the role and interpretation of Shakespeare across different countries.

Travelling to India, South Africa and the USA, the series finds that the Bard means something different in New York than in Kolkata; that Henry V changes if it is watched by a Civil War battlefield in Nashville; and that Julius Caesar, a play about tyranny and the perils of vengeance, was smuggled between prisoners on Robben Island in Cape Town.

In every case, Shakespeare stimulates conversations about issues that matter right now – as the US biographer James Shapiro, says: “Shakespeare remains at the centre of the things we fight over and disagree about”.

This is not just a series about Shakespeare, it is a conversation about the contemporary world conducted through the works of a 400 year-old playwright. His preoccupations about power and tyranny, war and corruption, race and ambition, are as alive in America, South Africa and India today as they ever were in 16th century England.

Shakespeare Speaks - BBC World Service - BBC Learning English

The world’s mine oyster… All that glisters is not gold… A tower of strength… In a pickle… Dead as a doornail… Even a small selection of these descriptions of the human condition, coined by Shakespeare, shows how he lives on in the English we speak today. In Shakespeare Speaks, a series of 20 short animations launching on Friday 22 January 2016, BBC Learning English - a world leader in using international broadcasting to teach English - brings to life the author for language learners and for anyone who wants to know more about Shakespeare’s life, times and language.

The origin and meaning of the phrases is explained by The Bard himself and a cast of real and imagined characters from his life and times. Each episode tells a story, with characters developing and their lives intertwining. Real-life examples of these phrases in modern and popular use give additional context to learners.

Millions of English learners around the world will benefit from this engaging content, which includes quizzes, games and other activities, giving them opportunities to reinforce learning, practise the language and connect with their fellow learners via social-media. Shakespeare Speaks is also available in radio and TV broadcast formats.

Each new episode will go live every Friday for 20 weeks and will be available on demand and via podcasts.

Shakespeare Speaks is a BBC and Open University Partnership production.