ShakespeaRe-Told

ShakespeaRe-Told is the umbrella title for a series of four television adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays broadcast on BBC One during November 2005. In a similar manner to the 2003 production of The Canterbury Tales, each play is adapted by a different writer, and relocated to the present day. The plays were produced in collaboration by BBC Northern Ireland and the central BBC drama department. In August 2006 the four films aired on BBC America.

Episodes

Much Ado About Nothing

• Adapted by David Nicholls
• Directed by Brian Percival
• Broadcast 7 November 2005
• Set in a local news studio, with Beatrice (Sarah Parish) and Benedick (Damian Lewis) as feuding anchors. Hero (Billie Piper), the weathergirl and daughter of station manager Leonard (Martin Jarvis), becomes engaged to Claude (Tom Ellis), the sports presenter. Jealous visual effects manager Don^[1] (Derek Riddell), plots to break up Hero and Claude, whilst the others attempt to get Beatrice and Benedick together. Hero and Claude eventually repair their friendship, though Hero refuses to consider marriage again, the ending is left ambiguous about their future as they are the best man and maid of honour (respectively) for the finale: the wedding of Beatrice and Benedick.^[2]

Macbeth

• Adapted by Peter Moffat
• Directed by Mark Brozel
• Broadcast 14 November 2005
• Set in a three Michelin star restaurant owned by celebrity chef Duncan Docherty (Vincent Regan), with Joe Macbeth (James McAvoy) as the sous chef and his wife Ella (Keeley Hawes) as the Maître d'. Joe and his fellow chef Billy Banquo (Joseph Millson) are annoyed that Duncan takes the credit for Joe's work, and that Duncan's son Malcolm (Toby Kebbell) has, in their opinion, no real flair for the business. Then they encounter three supernatural binmen who predict that Macbeth will get ownership of the restaurant, as will Billy's children. Joe and Ella are inspired to kill Duncan, but the binmen subsequently warn that Macbeth should be wary of Peter Macduff (Richard Armitage), the head waiter.

The Taming of the Shrew

• Adapted by Sally Wainwright
• Directed by David Richards
• Broadcast 21 November 2005
• Katherine Minola (Shirley Henderson) is a politician who hopes to become the Leader of the Opposition. She is told that her abrasive personality is bad PR and that it might be good for her image to get married. When penniless nobleman Petruchio (Rufus Sewell) shows up, interested at first in Katherine's money, sparks fly as Katherine seems to have met her match. The relationship and battle of wills bring big surprises for both parties. Katherine's sister Bianca (Jaime Murray) is a supermodel whose manager is Petruchio's friend, Harry (Stephen Tompkinson). Twiggy has the role of Katherine and Bianca's mother. David Mitchell played Kate's hapless secretary Tim.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

• Adapted by Peter Bowker
• Directed by Ed Fraiman
• Broadcast 28 November 2005
• Theo (Bill Paterson) and Polly (Imelda Staunton) visit Dream Park inclusive leisure facility to celebrate the engagement of their daughter^[3] Hermia (Zoe Tapper) to James (William Ash). The engagement party is, much to the irritable Theo's horror, disrupted by Hermia's true love Xander (Rupert Evans). Despite their own disagreements, the fairy rulers of the woods around Dream Park, Titania (Sharon Small) and Oberon (Lennie James), have a duty to ensure a happy ending, so Oberon gets Puck (Dean Lennox Kelly) — portrayed as a sort of magical wide boy — to try to sort things out with "love juice" eyedrops, while Oberon and Theo discuss their marriages. Puck's efforts inevitably lead to more confusion. Comedian Johnny Vegas appears as Nick Bottom who, like the other Mechanicals, is a Dream Park security guard who hopes to make it onto the entertainment staff.

DVD

On 26 December 2005, a Region 2 DVD of the episodes was released by Acorn Media UK. A Region 1 release followed on 24 July 2007 from BBC Warner.

Notes

1. ↑ The roles of Don John and Borachio are combined into the character of Don.
2. ↑ The ending is highly modified from the original text
3. ↑ Theseus and Hippolyta are not Hermia's parents in the original.

External links

• The BBC's official ShakespeaRe-Told site
• ShakespeaRe-Told Much Ado About Nothing' at the Internet Movie Database
• ShakespeaRe-Told Macbeth' at the Internet Movie Database
• ShakespeaRe-Told The Taming of the Shrew' at the Internet Movie Database
• ShakespeaRe-Told A Midsummer Night's Dream' at the Internet Movie Database

William Shakespeare
Plays	Tragedies Antony and Cleopatra Coriolanus Hamlet Julius Caesar King Lear Macbeth Othello Romeo and Juliet Sir Thomas More* Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus and Cressida Comedies All's Well That Ends Well As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Cymbeline Love's Labour's Lost Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado About Nothing Pericles, Prince of Tyre* The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Noble Kinsmen* The Winter's Tale Cardenio* Love's Labour's Won Histories King John Edward III* Richard II 1 Henry IV 2 Henry IV Henry V 1 Henry VI* 2 Henry VI* 3 Henry VI* Richard III Henry VIII* See also Problem plays Late romances Characters A–K L–Z Chronology Performances Settings Quarto publications First Folio Second Folio
Poems	Shakespeare's sonnets comparison to Petrarch Venus and Adonis The Rape of Lucrece The Phoenix and the Turtle The Passionate Pilgrim* A Lover's Complaint
Life and works	Birthplace and childhood home Apocrypha Bibliography Complete Works of William Shakespeare Translations Early editions Editors English Renaissance theatre Family Globe Theatre Handwriting Lord Chamberlain's Men/King's Men The Theatre Curtain Theatre New Place Portraits Religious views Sexuality Spelling of his name Stratford-upon-Avon Style
Legacy	Attribution studies Authorship question Influence Memorials Screen adaptations Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Folger Shakespeare Library Shakespeare Quarterly Shakespeare's Globe (replica) Bardolatry Titles of works taken from Shakespeare
* Shakespeare and other authors Lost

William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing
Characters	Don Pedro Dogberry
Adaptations	Screen 1984 (TV) 1993 2005 (TV) 2012 Opera Béatrice et Bénédict (1862) Much Ado About Nothing (opera) (1901) Musical Much Ado (1995) The Boys Are Coming Home (2005)
Adaptations	The Law Against Lovers (1662) Dil Chahta Hai (2001)
Related	Dogberryism "Curiosity killed the cat" Pleaching

William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew
Characters	Katherina Minola Petruchio Bianca Minola Baptista Minola Christopher Sly
Stage adaptations	The Woman's Prize (c1611) Catharine and Petruchio (1754) Las bravías (1896) Der Widerspänstigen Zähmung (1872) Sly, ovvero La leggenda del dormiente risvegliato (1927) Kiss Me, Kate (1948) The Taming of the Shrew (1953) Ukroshchenye Stroptivoy (1957) Christopher Sly (1963)
Direct adaptations	1908 1929 1967 1980 (TV) 1994 (TV)
Other adaptations	Daring Youth (1924) You Made Me Love You (1933) Second Best Bed (1938) Kiss Me Kate (1953) Gundamma Katha (1962) Manithan Maravillai (1962) McLintock! (1963) Il Bisbetico Domato (1980) 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) O Cravo e a Rosa (2000; TV) Deliver Us from Eva (2003) The Taming of the Shrew (2005; TV) Frivolous Wife (2008) 10 Things I Hate About You (2009; TV) Isi Life Mein (2010)
Related	The Taming of the Shrew in performance The Taming of the Shrew on screen Shrew (stock character) Induction Love-in-idleness