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The Play's the Thing

Actors Rory Kinnear and Adjoa Andoh join musicians including baritone Roderick Williams in celebrating Shakespeare's legacy in theatre and the art of acting.

'The Play's the thing': actors Rory Kinnear and Adjoa Andoh join baritone Roderick Williams, pianist Iain Burnside and lute player Elizabeth Kenny with poems, songs, readings and music, celebrating Shakespeare's legacy in theatre and the art of acting. Live from the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Other Place Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon as part of Radio 3's Sounds of Shakespeare weekend.

大象传媒 Radio 3 is marking the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare with a season celebrating the four centuries of music and performance that his plays and sonnets have inspired. Over the anniversary weekend, from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th April, Radio 3 will broadcast live from a pop-up studio at the RSC's The Other Place Theatre and other historic venues across Stratford-upon-Avon.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 24 Apr 2016 17:30
大象传媒 Radio 3

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Byrd arr. Keith Snell

    Earl of Oxford's March

    Performer: Steve Lee (trumpet), Angela Whelan (trumpet), Francesca Moore-Bridger (horn), Kevin Pitt (trombone), Andy Johnson (tuba).

  • William Shakespeare

    Henry V Prologue read by Rory Kinnear

  • 00:06

    John Dowland

    The King of Denmark's Galliard

    Performer: Liz Kenny (lute).

  • Elizabeth Jennings

    A Performance of Henry V at Stratford read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:11

    Frank Bridge

    Sonnet 43 聭When most I wink聮arr. Roderick Williams

    Performer: Roderick Williams (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano), 440 Quartet.

  • EA Bucchianeri

    Brush strokes of a Gadfly read by Rory Kinnear

  • 00:14

    Anon.

    Kemp's Jig

    Performer: Liz Kenny (lute).

  • William Shakespeare

    As you like it read by Rory Kinnear

  • 00:16

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    String Quartet No. 19 in C Major Dissonance, 2nd Mvt.

    Performer: 440 Quartet.

  • Jane Austen

    Mansfield Park read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:25

    Joseph Haydn

    E minor Sonata HXVI: 34, 3rd Mvt Vivace molto

    Performer: Iain Burnside (Piano).
  • 00:28

    Robert Johnson

    Pavan

    Performer: Liz Keny (lute).

  • William Shakespeare

    Hamlet Act 2 Scene 2 read by Rory Kinnear

  • 00:31

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    String Quartet No. 8, in C minor (Op. 110) 3rd Mvt.

    Performer: 440 Quartet.

  • Charles Dickens

    Nicholas Nickleby read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:37

    Stephen Oliver

    Farewell Song and Mantalinis Sewing Room from Nicholas Nickleby Suite

    Performer: Steve Lee (trumpet), Angela Whelan (trumpet), Francesca Moore-Bridger (horn), Kevin Pitt (trombone), Andy Johnson (tuba).

  • Angela Carter

    Wise Children read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:42

    Franz Schubert Arr. Peter Dickinson

    Who Is Sylvia?

    Performer: Roderick Williams (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano).

  • Dorothy Parker

    Actresses read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:46

    Ivor Gurney

    Prelude in D flat

    Performer: Iain Burnside (piano).

  • Thomas Hardy

    To an Actress read by Rory Kinnear

  • 00:49

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    String Quartet Op 18/1 2nd Mvt. (based on Tomb scene from Romeo and Juliet)

    Performer: 440 Quartet.

  • R.S. Thomas

    Acting read by Rory Kinnear

  • 00:59

    Gerald Finzi

    Fear no more the heat o聮 the sun

    Performer: Roderick Wiliams (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano).

  • Sara Teasdale

    Broadway read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 01:05

    George Gershwin

    Selection

    Performer: Steve Lee (trumpet), Angela Whelan (trumpet), Francesca Moore-Bridger (horn), Kevin Pitt (trombone), Andy Johnson (tuba).
  • 01:11

    anon

    The Countess of Pembroke's Paradise

    Performer: Liz Kenny (lute).

  • William Shakespeare

    The Tempest. Act 4 Scene 2 read by Rory Kinnear

  • 01:12

    Robert Johnson

    Full fathom five

    Performer: Roddy Williams (baritone), Liz Kenny (lute).

Producer's Note - The Play's the Thing

In a special edition of Words and Music聽 broadcast live from the RSC's The Other Place, theatre and the Art of Acting take centre stage. Actors have fascinated audiences from ancient Greece through to the groundlings of Shakespeare's Globe, on into聽 the cinemas of today, and the theatre has been both celebrated as a grand metaphor for life and denigrated as the site of moral decay. Where better to celebrate the vicissitudes of theatrical life than in Shakespeare鈥檚 home town? 聽Actors Rory Kinnear and Adjoa Andoh read poetry and prose by The Bard and a range of others: from Thomas Hardy to Angela Carter, Jane Austen to Dorothy Parker. The baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Iain Burnside perform settings of Shakespeare and lutenist Elizabeth Kenny plays music written by his contemporary Robert Johnson. 440 Quartet play the second movement of Beethoven鈥檚 String Quartet Op. 18 No. 1, based on the tragic tomb scene in Romeo and Juliet. The programme opens with music by Shakespeare鈥檚 near contemporary William Byrd performed by brass quintet. His militaristic Earl of Oxford鈥檚 March sounds the upbeat for the prologue to Henry V, where the Chorus entreats us to transcend the 鈥榰nworthy scaffold鈥� of the stage and allow theatre to do its magic; so that we, the audience, 聽might have the patience: 鈥楪ently to hear, kindly to judge, our play鈥�.

Broadcast

  • Sun 24 Apr 2016 17:30
    大象传媒 Radio 3

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