The Shakespeare Sessions BBC Radio 3

Toby Jones on playing the boisterous and fun-loving knight Falstaff. Toby Jones stars as Falstaff in our full-length version of Henry IV Part 1, which you can find in your podcast feed.

Rebellion is brewing in Britain.
King Henry must reunite his country but how when even his own family is divided?
As Henry's rule is threatened his son Hal appears unconcerned, wasting his time in the company of the comically corrupt Falstaff and common thieves, apparently more interested in play than the politics of state. Yet what kind of leadership is needed to unite the country might well be found in the taverns of Eastcheap as within the Palace of Westminster.
King Henry ..... Iain Glen
Falstaff ..... Toby Jones
Hal ..... Luke Thompson
Hotspur ..... Tom Glynn-Carney
Worcester .....Mark Bonnar
Lady Percy .....Natalie Simpson
Glendower ..... Steffan Rhodri
Lady Mortimer ..... Bettrys Jones
Westmoreland ..... Roger Ringrose
Northumberland/Douglas ..... John Dougall
Bardolph/ Sir Walter Blunt ..... John Lightbody
Peto/Sherriff/Vernon ..... Sargon Yelda
John/Mortimer ..... Chris Lew Kum Hoi
Poins/Messenger ..... Hasan Dixon
Mistress Quickly ..... Elizabeth Counsell
Written by William Shakespeare
Music composed by John Nicholls.
Adapted and directed by Sally Avens.

Khalid Abdalla, Matthew Needham and Cassie Layton star in Shakespeare's tragedy. This version is staged in an imagined near future, in which a power-hungry Turkish president attempts an attack on Cyprus. The western forces rush to Cyprus' defence, under the command of the fearless General Othello. But can an Arab-born, Christian convert ever be truly accepted by the people he serves?
Adapted and directed for radio by Emma Harding
You can listen to Dr Islam Issa giving us a quick rundown of events in the 1600s that influenced the character of Othello, in your podcast feed.
And don't forget to check out Looking for the Moor, also in your podcast feed, which sees Hugh Quarshie explore Othello and ask if the play is racist.
Cast
Othello.....Khalid Abdalla
Iago.....Matthew Needham
Desdemona.....Cassie Layton
Cassio.....Max Bennett
Brabantio.....Neil McCaul
Roderigo.....Clive Hayward
Duke of Venice.....Jessica Turner
Montano.....Peter Polycarpou
Emilia.....Bettrys Jones
Lodovico.....Ian Conningham
Bianca.....Heather Craney
All other parts played by Sargon Yelda and Hasan Dixon

Dr Islam Issa, Senior Lecturer at Birmingham City University, gives us a rundown of events in the 1600s that influenced the character of Othello.
You can listen to our full-length version of Othello, set in an imagined near future, in your podcast feed.

A whistle-stop tour through Ancient Rome with writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes.

Imagine where we'd be without Shakespeare's plays. It's difficult to contemplate now. But it was thanks to another man that many of them were brought to life.
Today, Richard Burbage is a not a household name. But he should be. He's the man for whom many of the great Shakespearean roles were created. One of the founding members of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, playing at the newly built Globe in 1599, he's one of the foundations upon which British theatre was built. Andrew Dickson talks to leading actors, rummages among the archives and dissects some of the greatest parts in acting to discover Burbage's crucial role - and realises that without Richard Burbage, there could be no Shakespeare.
Producer: Penny Murphy