Simon Amstell, The Taming of the Shrew, Mind the Gap's learning disability theatre

Available for over a year

Comedian Simon Amstell discusses his new film, Benjamin, based on his own life, and which he's both written and directed. He describes how making the film - about a rising young filmmaker who uses his real life relationships as material for his work - has helped him with his own anxieties. Gender swapping in The Taming Of The Shrew. Two radical new productions of Shakespeare’s misogynistic comedy are currently playing at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff and at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford. In the original, a man marries a woman who speaks her own mind, and then starves her, deprives her of sleep, and constantly contradicts her until she becomes a docile, obedient victim of his abuse. Now, in the new productions, the genders have been swapped and the women wield the power. Kirsty Lang talks to Justin Audibert, Director of the Royal Shakespeare’s production, and to Jo Clifford, who has re-written the play for the Sherman, about what their re-imaginings reveal and how the work impacts on us today. As part of the BBC’s We Are Bradford - a new project exploring people’s stories and issues in the city - we meet Bradford based Mind the Gap, England’s largest learning disability theatre company. Next month they stage their largest and most ambitious production yet: Zara - an outdoor theatrical spectacle with a puppet baby larger than a double decker bus. Reporter Sharuna Sagar visited their rehearsals. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Emma Wallace