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Silent Shakespeare

Andy Akinwolere takes a look at the first ever Shakespeare plays on film from the BFI’s Silent Shakespeare collection, starting with King John in 1899.

Presenter Andy Akinwolere takes a look at the first ever Shakespeare plays on film, starting with King John in 1899.

He explores Shakespeare adaptations made during the silent era and looks at how early film pioneers squeezed a whole play into approximately ten minutes without words; how hand-coloured treatments were used through painstakingly touching up frame-by-frame; and some of the earliest special effects ever seen on the big screen.

Release date:

30 minutes

About Shakespeare Lives

A partnership between the country’s leading performers and arts organisations.

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Raising the curtain on performances of The Bard’s plays countrywide.