In the Studio: Erica Whyman: Directing Hamnet

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Maggie O’Farrell’s historical novel Hamnet was published in 2020 to great critical acclaim, winning the Women's Prize. It tells the story of a gifted herbalist, Agnes Hathaway, who is married to a young William Shakespeare. We follow her on her journey as they meet, marry, and later come to terms with the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet. Now, the Royal Shakespeare Company is putting Hamnet on stage for the first time in Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon. Presenter Dan Hardoon follows the RSC’s Acting Artistic Director Erica Whyman throughout the rehearsal process.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Love Genessa is the true crime podcast from the BBC World Service and
0:04.9	CBC podcasts investigating the murky world of online romance scams.
0:10.0	She was trying to get me to send her money.
0:12.6	Catch up with the whole series now. Search for Love Genessa wherever you found this podcast.
0:18.3	You win their hearts, you win their wallet.
0:23.6	It's quite a radical story. It's shaped around a woman's life in the 1580s and 90s
0:29.2	and it's about loss and love and recovery. It's about everything. It's about life itself.
0:34.1	That's Erika Wyman, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
0:39.2	In less than two months, her stage adaptation of the award-winning novel Hamlet
0:43.8	will open in Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford upon Aven.
0:48.0	I'm nervous as soon as I leave the rehearsal room because there's so much still to do,
0:53.1	there is huge anticipation. Hamlet is based on the 2020 historical novel by Maggi O'Farrick
1:00.0	It's a fictional account of the death of Shakespeare's 11-year-old son
1:03.9	and the devastating impact it had on his family.
1:06.7	You're never here. I needed you. I was longer than planned. I haven't been for a few weeks.
1:10.9	What happened to your hand? Working alongside Erika is renowned playwright
1:14.8	Lalita Chakrabati, who's adapted the novel for the stage.
1:18.2	It's quite pressured. Everyone has a very personal relationship to the book and so many people
1:23.0	were, you know, how are you going to do that bit? And I have to not hear that
1:27.6	so that I can be free to find the story.
1:31.6	Welcome to the documentary in the studio from the BBC World Service,
1:36.0	the programme that takes you behind the scenes as global artists develop their next work.
	...

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