Stratford-upon-Avon

Another of Mark Steel's short series of shows recorded outdoors during the coronavirus pandemic.

The bubonic plague didn't stop Shakespeare from working.

So for this show, Mark performs on a tree stump in The Dell Gardens, Stratford-upon-Avon in front of a small but lovely local crowd.

In between being interrupted by geese, Mark asks the people gathered on the grass in the RSC's outdoor performance area on the banks of the River Avon, just by the church where Shakespeare is buried, across from the Shakespeare ice-cream boat, not far from the Hamlet statue, if they've noticed any sort of theme to the place.

Mark also looks at what else Stratford has to offer and visits the Butterfly Farm, the Tudor World museum and he discovers that the town was also once the home of the Teletubbies.

Written and performed by Mark Steel.

Additional material by Pete Sinclair.

Production co-ordinator: Beverly Tagg
Sound Manager: Jerry Peal

Producer: Carl Cooper

A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4 Extra, first broadcast in November 2020.