plays like 12th night. what kind of man is he? ..the tempest. our revels now are ended. ..julius caesar. friends, romans, countrymen. ..and macbeth. stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more. these plays would all have been lost had it not been for the first folio. do you want me to do a clap? i am the bbc s culture editor, katie razzall, and i caught up with david during his rehearsals for macbeth and asked him about the role shakespeare s first folio has played in his life. the reason that shakespeare is the cultural colossus that he is is because that book was published. you know why we re here. it is 400 years since the first folio and i wondered, as somebody steeped in shakespeare like you, what does the first folio mean to you? well, i mean, it contains so many of the plays that are the reason why shakespeare is the cornerstone of our cultural life in the way that he is. he simply wouldn t exist as part of the kind of national conversation in the way that he does witho
fellow actors seven years after his death. it includes 18 plays that had never been printed before. plays like 12th night. what kind of man is he? ..the tempest. our revels now are ended. ..julius caesar. friends, romans, countrymen. ..and macbeth. stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more. these plays would all have been lost had it not been for the first folio. do you want me to do a clap? i am the bbc s culture editor, katie razzall, and i caught up with david during his rehearsals for macbeth and asked him about the role shakespeare s first folio has played in his life. the reason that shakespeare is the cultural colossus that he is is because that book was published. you know why we re here. it is 400 years since the first folio and i wondered, as somebody steeped in shakespeare like you, what does the first folio mean to you? well, i mean, it contains so many of the plays that are the reason why shakespeare is the cornerstone of our cultural life in the way that he is.
was 400 years old this year. to celebrate, the king and queen played host to an original copy and theatre s royalty, many of whom can thank the folio for their most memorable roles. chatter will these hands ne er be clean? the collection of plays was put together by two of shakespeare s fellow actors seven years after his death. it includes 18 plays that had never been printed before. plays like 12th night. what kind of man is he? ..the tempest. our revels now are ended. ..julius caesar. friends, romans, countrymen. ..and macbeth. stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more. these plays would all have been lost had it not been for the first folio. do you want me to do a clap? i am the bbc s culture editor, katie razzall, and i caught up with david during his rehearsals for macbeth and asked him about the role shakespeare s first folio has played in his life. the reason that shakespeare is the cultural colossus that he is is because that book was published. you know why we re h
what does the first folio mean to you? well, i mean, it contains so many of the plays. ..that are the reason why shakespeare is the cornerstone of our cultural life in the way that he is. he simply wouldn t exist. ..as part of the kind of national conversation in the way that he does without the first folio. those. we would have lost so many of those plays. you know, i m sitting here at the end of my first day of rehearsals for macbeth, a play that s been in performance now for over 400 years. but it wouldn t exist. we wouldn t have a copy of it. and even those that we did have, that we do have other sources for, the folio was the kind of.the prestige edition. and the reason that those plays are still performed around the world, the reason that shakespeare is the cultural colossus that he is, is because that book was published. great glamis. ..worthy cawdor. greater than both, by the all hail hereafter. let s take just macbeth. what would it have meant if macbeth, we d never
you know, there s obviously particularly famous lines from macbeth, as there are from any play. mm. are those lines harder to say, or is it you know, because we all know them, or do you get to that bit where you re like, i m going to say this now ? how does it work? it s a bit of both, isn t it? they re sort of the greatest hits so, of course, there s a thrill in being able to deliver that but at the same time, you have to sort of dispense with the idea that the audience might be chanting them along with you. the famous speeches are famous for a reason. i mean, to be, or not to be is an examination of what it might be to is there another life? is this.? what are humans? it s so fundamental to who we are. possibly the most famous speech from macbeth, tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day, is just an examination of what it is to to look eternity in the face and to feel like you are shelled out, hollowed out, and those words express th