Shakespeare and the American Dream - Part Two
How Shakespeare became part of the fabric of early American life. With Stephen Sondheim and Alec Baldwin.
Robert McCrum travels to the United States in search of Shakespeare and the American Dream and hears how he became part of the very fabric of early American life soon after the colonists arrived in New England and has remained an important cultural reference point for Americans.
Robert talks to composer Stephen Sondheim and actor Alec Baldwin along the way. As author James Shapiro puts it: βAmericans use Shakespeare to talk about the things that divide us or that we donβt want to talk aboutβ.
Photo: Leonardo Dicaprio is Romeo In the movie adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. (Credit: Getty Images)
Last on
Broadcasts
- Thu 28 Apr 2016 01:06GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Thu 28 Apr 2016 02:06GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service UK DAB/Freeview & Online only
- Thu 28 Apr 2016 03:06GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East Asia
- Thu 28 Apr 2016 04:06GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service South Asia & Australasia only
- Thu 28 Apr 2016 06:06GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa
- Thu 28 Apr 2016 14:06GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
- Thu 28 Apr 2016 21:06GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa & News Internet
- Sat 30 Apr 2016 02:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Europe and the Middle East, East Asia & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 30 Apr 2016 19:32GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 1 May 2016 09:06GMTΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
Featured in...
![]()
Shakespeare—Shakespeare on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
Commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death
The Documentary Podcast
Hear more documentaries from the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ World Service
Podcast
-
![]()
The Compass
With ideas too big for a single episode, The Compass presents mini-series about society
