Who Was Rosalind?

In 'As You Like It', Shakespeare created one of his greatest and most complicated female roles.

At a time when women were not allowed to act on stage, the role would have been taken by a young boy.

But who?

Susan Hitch tries to find out.

The actor, critic and academic looks at how Shakespeare wrote for his actors, the educational culture of Elizabethan England, and the brilliance of the makeup artists of Shakespeare's company.

Susan talks to academic experts, to actor Adrian Lester who has played Rosalind, and to contemporary schoolboys and teachers about boys playing girls.

She also discovers how radically our ideas of intimacy and desire have changed in the last 400 years and how strong the power of theatre still is today.

Producer: Martin Smith

First broadcast in BBC Radio 4 in February 2013.