A Quick Question for William Shakespeare
If you met Shakespeare, what would you like to ask him? That's the question we've put to the stars of Hay Festival 2016...
Lindsey Russell (Blue Peter Presenter)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Lindsey Russell
The Blue Peter presenter has a soap-related question
Russell T Davies (Writer)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Russell T Davies
The Midsummer Night's Dream writer/ adaptor has a burning question...
Maxine Peake (actor)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Maxine Peake
Here's what the Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream actor wanted to know...
Ruby Wax (actor, writer and mental health campaigner)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Ruby Wax
The actor, author and mental health campaigner has a question about the Bard's well-being.
Bruce Robinson (writer, director and Withnail & I cult-hero)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Bruce Robinson
The writer and director is clearly a fan with this question...
Professor Emma Smith
What would you ask Shakespeare? Professor Emma Smith
The Shakespeare researcher asks a burning question about artistic licence...
Imtiaz Dharker (poet and film-maker)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Imtiaz Dharker
The poet asks about the creative process...
Tony Robinson (actor and broadcaster)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Tony Robinson
The actor and presenter has an archaeological question of sorts
Salman Rushdie (author)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Salman Rushdie
The author has a question for the Bard...
Kate Humble (Presenter)
Kate Humble (Presenter)
Presenter Kate Humble has a new theory about a Shakespeare collaborator.
Billy Bragg (singer-songwriter)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Billy Bragg
The musician and 'milkman of human kindness' has a great question
Jonathan Dimbleby (broadcaster)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Jonathan Dimbleby
The veteran broadcaster would like some reassurance!
Jim Naughtie (Presenter)
What would you ask Shakespeare? Jim Naughtie
You'd expect a thorny question from 主播大秀 R4's Jim Naughtie. And it's got a Royal flavour.
-
![]()
The author of 1599 offers an intimate portrait of one of Shakespeare鈥檚 most inspired moments: the year of King Lear, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra
-
![]()
Watch live as the former Doctor Who show-runner talks about his passion project, the 主播大秀 film of Shakespeare鈥檚 A Midsummer Night's Dream, with one of its stars, Maxine Peake
-
![]()
Two of the greatest modern Hamlets talk about the role. Maxine Peake played Hamlet in Sarah Frankcom鈥檚 production and Paapa Essiedu is playing Hamlet now at the RSC. They talk to the author of This Orient Isle, Jerry Brotton, who is the Shakespeare adviser to the Hay Festival
-
![]()
The novelists celebrate the 400th anniversaries of Cervantes and Shakespeare and the stories that they have written around them
-
![]()
As part of Hay Festival鈥檚 big Shakespeare 400 Celebrations, the writer and lecturer discusses the playwright鈥檚 poetry
-
![]()
The British poets respond with their own poems to their choice of Shakespeare鈥檚 14-line poems. They introduce and read the original sonnets and their own newly commissioned work
-
![]()
Why are we celebrating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare鈥檚 death? Who and what are we celebrating? How did Shakespeare get from there (the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage) to here (the global icon) and where will he go in the next hundred years?
-
![]()
The author pays tribute to Shakespeare鈥檚 400th anniversary with her new novel inspired by Othello. Her tale blends a love story with a sci-fi twist in an original space-age adventure
-
![]()
The Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company discusses Shakespeare鈥檚 legacy in 2016, the 400th anniversary of his death
-
![]()
The novelist and essayist celebrates the work and gift of the playwright. Her latest novel The Gap of Time is a retelling of The Winter鈥檚 Tale
-
![]()
The historian examines Shakespeare鈥檚 making of the myths of England. He hymns the Histories, the kings and the commoners, the band of brothers, and the spirit of Shakespeare鈥檚 greatest knight, Sir John Falstaff.
