Shakespeare and race

This week on Such Stuff, we follow up on our first ever Shakespeare and Race festival, and ask: what does it mean to be a person of colour and study, teach, perform and read Shakespeare? 

Our own Dr Farah Karim-Cooper sat down with Professor Ayanna Thompson, to hear her thoughts on casting Shakespeare here and in the US, and follow up on her controversial proposition that Othello is an irredeemable play. 

Keith Hamilton-Cobb brings us extracts of his solo play American Moor, which was part of the Shakespeare and Race festival, and which examines the experience and perspective of black men in America through the metaphor of Shakespeare’s Othello. 

Farah talks to actor Aaron Pierre, currently playing Cassio in Othello, about performing to Globe audiences, and how he sees the role of Cassio. Finally, Farah spoke to Leaphia Darko, performing in Love’s Labour’s Lost, about her experiences of studying and performing Shakespeare and classical theatre at drama school.