Shakespeare on the RadioA Century of BBC Plays

An indispensable guide to the huge (and largely free) treasures of our greatest writer. It’s often said that radio plays have the best scenery; this book proves that they have the best words as well.

Forget the old chestnut that if Shakespeare were alive now, he’d be writing for Hollywood: Andrea Smith makes clear that he’d be writing for the verbal, imaginative medium of radio. This revelatory book opens a fascinating new field of study.

Smith (Univ. of Suffolk, England) offers a fascinating history in an underrepresented area of Shakespeare studies. Treating radio adaptations of Shakespeare as texts in their own right, with their own performance traditions and technical practices, this volume places (mostly BBC) radio adaptations in their historical and cultural contexts, in chronological order, organized in chapters of roughly 20-year spans from the origins of radio to the present. The introduction serves as a history of British radio engineering practice. Radio as a medium offers a fascinating way to consider Shakespeare’s language in performance, as the artists must convert any visual elements of performance to the purely aural, with all the challenges that entails. Smith’s chronicle demonstrates the significant role of Val Gielgud, brother to the more famous actor John, in shaping radio Shakespeare. One of the strengths of the volume is Smith’s detailed case studies of exemplary radio productions from each period, tracking changes in preferred plays, actor choices, and audience and critical responses. Perhaps the most surprising element: for much of the history of radio Shakespeare, men produced the shows, but in the 21st century, female producers dominate the form.

As a synoptic overview of the field, and as an introduction to methodologies for its study, including when no recordings exist, Shakespeare on the Radio is a valu­able primer. It is also persuasive in arguing for the interest and value of the recordings available for others to enjoy, to explore and to extend the critical strat­egies initiated here. With streaming, audiobooks and additional forms of digital dis­tribution, these riches are available as never before.