Simon Russell Beale on Shakespeare, from Hamlet to Titus

Simon Russell Beale on Shakespeare, from Hamlet to Titus

Called “the finest actor of his generation,” Sir Simon Russell Beale has played just about everyone in Shakespeare’s canon—Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Falstaff, Malvolio, Iago—and most recently, Titus Andronicus, for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In this episode, Beale reflects on the Shakespearean roles that have shaped his career and how his approach to them has evolved over time. He shares what drew him to Titus, and how he found surprising tenderness in Shakespeare’s brutal tragedy. The actor revisits past performances, exploring grief in Hamlet, aging and dementia in King Lear, and how time has deepened his connection to the plays and the characters. Beale’s memoir, A Piece of Work: Playing Shakespeare & Other Stories, is a moving and often humorous reflection on acting, Shakespeare, and the power of performance to reveal something essential about being human. Sir Simon Russell Beale studied at Cambridge before joining the RSC. Described by the Daily Telegraph as “the finest actor of his generation,” he has been lauded for both his stage and TV work, winning many awards including the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Evening Standard Best Actor Award, and the BAFTA Best Actor Award. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published June 17, 2025. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica. Garland Scott is the executive producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. We had help with web production from Paola García Acuña. Leonor Fernandez edits our transcripts. Final mixing services are provided by Clean Cuts at Three Seas, Inc.

Jaksot(296)

Adjoa Andoh on Shakespeare

Adjoa Andoh on Shakespeare

Known to many as Lady Danbury in Netflix’s Bridgerton, Adjoa Andoh, MBE, is also a celebrated Shakespearean actor and director. Across her career, Andoh has returned to Shakespeare not as a fixed can...

23 Maalis 37min

Thinking Through Shakespeare, with David Womersley

Thinking Through Shakespeare, with David Womersley

Many readers turn to Shakespeare for the beauty of his language or the power of his stories. But in Thinking Through Shakespeare, Oxford scholar David Womersley suggests that the plays offer something...

10 Maalis 34min

The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery

The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery

When you visit a new city, one of your first stops might be a museum. It turns out that public art galleries are largely an 18th-century invention. In London in 1789, publisher John Boydell helped sha...

24 Helmi 36min

Whitney White and Shakespeare

Whitney White and Shakespeare

Whitney White is a theatrical powerhouse. A director, writer, actor, and musician, White’s work has been seen on Broadway, Off Broadway, and at major institutions including The Public Theater, the Bro...

10 Helmi 34min

Shakespeare and Mathematics

Shakespeare and Mathematics

Many Shakespeare fans don’t think of themselves as “math people.” They’re theater kids, poetry lovers, bookworms, right? But in Shakespeare’s world, math and literature were deeply intertwined. In Muc...

27 Tammi 34min

Spain's Golden Age of Theater

Spain's Golden Age of Theater

While Shakespeare was reshaping English drama, a parallel theatrical revolution was unfolding in Spain. During the Spanish Golden Age, playwright Lope de Vega pioneered the comedia nueva, a bold new d...

13 Tammi 31min

The Strange History of Samuel Pepys's Diary

The Strange History of Samuel Pepys's Diary

Why does Samuel Pepys’s diary still matter 200 years after it was first published? In her new book, The Strange History of Samuel Pepys’s Diary, historian Kate Loveman examines how Pepys’s extraordina...

29 Joulu 202536min

Celebrating Elizabethan Cooking, with Sam Bilton

Celebrating Elizabethan Cooking, with Sam Bilton

What did people really eat in Shakespeare’s England? In her new book, Much Ado About Cooking, food historian Sam Bilton uncovers the vibrant and surprising world of early modern cuisine—where sugar wa...

16 Joulu 202534min

Suosittua kategoriassa Premium

nikotellen
anni-jaajo
jaljilla
tuplakaak
olipa-kerran-otsikko
antin-matka
grekovit
hei-baby-3
maanantaimysteeri
i-dont-like-mondays
sita
terveisia-perheesta
palmujen-varjoissa
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
kaksi-aitia
murhan-anatomia
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
the-harlin-show
backmanholmavuo
ihan-oikeesti