As part of Shakespeare Lives, the British Council and GREAT Britain campaign commissioned a series of short films from the UK's creative sector which reimagined some of Shakespeare's most famous works for a modern audience.
Watch the full collection here!
SBTV presents Twelfth Night
Five UK artists – Maverick Sabre, Nego True, NoLay, Eyez and Mic Righteous – produced new lyrics that drew inspiration from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Shot in The Globe's gilded Sam Wanamaker theatre with music by DJ Harry Love.
Star Cross'd by Laura Dockrill
A contemporary retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, set on a British beach, where two families 'both alike in common crime' wage a turf war over ice-cream.
Julius Caesar: Act 1, Scene 2
In director Pedro Martín-Calero’s sci-fi interpretation of Julius Caesar, we see Brutus and his conspirators plotting the assassination of Julius Caesar. The film was shot on location at the Treasury Bowl and in various locations in the Foreign and Commonwealth office, with Durbar Court being the striking marble floored room that Brutus sits in.
Macbeth: Act 1, Scene V
Lady Macbeth, played by Vicky McClure, summons up her demons in this soliloquy from Act 1 Scene V in Macbeth. This menacing and dark film, directed by David Wilson, combines performance with Manga animation.
Miranda's Letter
Inspired by Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', Miranda’s Letter, is a tale about mother-daughter relationships, or more often the lack thereof in Shakespeare's work. Shot on the beautiful South Devon coast, the film stars Raffey Cassidy as Miranda, and Anne-Marie Duff as the mother.
Come To Me: Blues inspired by As You Like It
Taking inspiration from the songs found in As You Like It, actor and musician Anjana Vasan performs her original piece Come To Me, a musical triptych that takes the audience on an emotional journey charting the beginning of a relationship through to its disintegration.
The Prince of Denmark
A comically dark take on Hamlet, we join the young protagonist after completing university and returning home. However things have changed and Hamlet suspects there might be 'something rotten' in his family's pub, The Prince of Denmark'.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is bionic artist Viktoria Modesta and director Sing J. Lee's take on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Set in a near future, Oberon makes Titania the subject of his latest experiment she is transported to a virtual world where she engages in a courtship dance with a mysterious figure.
Dear Mister Shakespeare
Multimedia visual artist Phoebe Boswell has written an original piece, ‘Dear Mister Shakespeare', in which she questions Shakespeare on the inherent racial tensions within his writing of Othello in the 1600s, and how these tensions continue to resonate today.
King Lear: Act II, Scene IV
BAFTA nominated director Billy Lumby explores ageing and mental health in his modern retelling of King Lear for the Shakespeare Lives short film collection. Starring Phil Davis, we see the world through Lear's eyes become increasingly erratic as his mental health declines
A Winter's Tale
Adapted by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Carl Hunter from Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale', this film uses the otherworldly landscape of Crosby beach and Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ sculptures to create a fantastical modern version of the play. In this modern retelling, the roles are reversed and 'Dad' is turned to stone and left on a beach of forgotten souls after his wife and daughter become obsessed with technology.