Shakespeare: Rise of a Genius

Synopsis

This documentary mini-series is a tale of ambition, showmanship, and tragedy, exploring the life and times of William Shakespeare as he seeks to change the world. Featuring reconstructions, film clips and insights from a range of contributors including actors, historians, and experts, each one-hour episode looks at Shakespeare’s greatest works, their characters and themes, and how they interact with – and are informed by – his own life. 

Episode one (59 mins): 1587: William Shakespeare leaves his family and home of Stratford-upon-Avon to embark upon a dream. He heads to London in an attempt to become a celebrated playwright despite his lowly status. After his first play becomes a hit with the masses – the provocative ‘Titus Andronicus’ – Shakespeare must contend with rival playwrights while a plague hits the city and he readies his follow-up: ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

Episode two (59 mins): Shakespeare is 30 years old and thriving. He builds on his success by producing ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and seeks to cement his newfound status by constructing a theatre of his own and applying for a coat of arms. However with the tragic news that his son has died in the summer of 1596, Shakespeare begins to question his priorities. After reflecting the politics of the time at court with ‘Julius Caesar’, he follows it up with perhaps his most personal play to date, exploring family grief in ‘Hamlet’.

Episode three (59 mins): Queen Elizabeth I dies after 44 years on the throne and her successor, James I, doesn’t share her love of theatre. Shakespeare’s security is further threatened when Guy Fawkes leads a group of Catholics in an attempted assassination of the Protestant new king which in turn unearths the secret that Shakespeare’s family are themselves Catholics, traitors to the crown. As Shakespeare’s daughter becomes implicated, he pens his latest epic – ‘Macbeth’ which appeals to James I. As the scribe gets older and confronts his own mortality, he writes about a play about aging, fathers, and forgiveness: ‘King Lear’.