Love, conflict, family - nobody's done it better. Acting legends reflect on the greatest writer who ever lived – and the dangerous, exciting world that ignited his creativity.

Shakespeare waves goodbye to his family to follow his dream of becoming a playwright. He enters a world of plague, rivalry and every possible kind of danger.

As Shakespeare achieves fame and fortune, a political scandal threatens his life and a family tragedy sees him question the cost of his success.

In the fallout of the Gunpowder Plot, a family scandal threatens Shakespeare’s reputation. Creating his most epic and tragic work yet, his legacy is at risk of being lost forever.

A modern re-telling of the classic fantasy drama by William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream holds a star-studded cast with euphoric effects and melodramatic storytelling.

From the silent days of cinema, Shakespeare's plays have often been adapted to the big screen. Film-makers relished his vivid characters and dramatic plots as well as the magic and poetry of his work.

Documentary exploring the rich, global history of Shakespeare in the cinema, with a treasure trove of film extracts and archival interviews with their creators.

After the overthrowing of Duke Senior by his tyrannical brother, Senior's daughter Rosalind disguises herself as a man and sets out to find her banished father while also counseling her clumsy suitor Orlando in the art of wooing.

A daughter of the powerful Duke must show her courage and inventiveness to be with the man she loves.

By William Shakespeare. A Play of the Month presentation starring Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay with Charles Gray and Christopher Gable.

A banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.

The heir to the throne, Prince Hal, defies his father, King Henry, by spending his time at Mistress Quickly's tavern in the company of the dissolute Falstaff and his companions. The King is threatened by a rebellion led by Hal's rival, Hotspur, his father Northumberland and his uncle Worcester.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Shrewsbury, Northumberland learns of the death of his son. The Lord Chief Justice attempts on behalf of the increasingly frail King to separate Falstaff from Prince Hal.

The gritty adaption of William Shakespeare's play about the English King's bloody conquest of France.

The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.

An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.

Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.

Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.

Macbeth and his wife murder Duncan in order to gain his crown, but the bloodbath doesn't stop there, and things supernatural combine to bring the Macbeths down.

King Richard is called upon to settle a dispute between his cousin Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray. Richard calls for a duel but then halts it just before swords clash. Both men are banished from the realm. Richard visits John of Gaunt, Bolingbroke's father, who, in the throes of death, reprimands the king. After seizing Gaunt's money and land, Richard leaves for wars against the rebels in Ireland.

Shakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed King and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.

Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.

Simon Godwin (The Two Gentlemen of Verona 2014) directs Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet in Shakespeare's searing tragedy. As relevant today as when it was written, Hamlet confronts each of us with the mirror of our own mortality in an imperfect world.

King Lear has ruled for many years. As age begins to overtake him, he decides to divide his kingdom amongst his children, living out his days without the burden of power. A proud man, he allows vanity to cloud his judgment, believing that he can relinquish the crown, but enjoy the same authority and respect he has always known.

Shakespeare's psychological thriller marks Christopher Eccleston's RSC debut and Niamh Cusack's return to the Company.

The first broadcast of the Royal Shakespeare Company's "Live from Stratford-upon-Avon" will be William Shakespeare's Richard II. Richard is king. A monarch ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100 years.

Michelle Terry and Edward Bennett star as Beatrice and Benedick in an acclaimed RSC production, set at the end of WWI, of Shakespeare's much-loved comedy.

Originally directed for the stage by Blanche McIntyre, this contemporary production of Shakespeare’s enduring dark comedy - exploring themes of romantic fantasy, toxic masculinity and consent – ran in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in 2022.

Vengeful Iago seeks to bring down the general Othello, his Lieutenant and his wife in this RSC production of Shakespeare's tragedy.