Michael Wood: In Search of Shakespeare 2PK DVD

Lots of good information. A bit gushy.

Lets face it. Anything Michael Wood produces, is the gold standard. He is Englands Ken Burns of documentaries. And Shakespeare is right up his proverbial alley.

As a college teacher, theatre director,and psychotherapist, I find Michael Woods exploration of the Bards life much deeper than I expected. His investigation is built on historical records brought to life by visits to 16th century homes, theatres, castles and torture chambers. We see for ourselves documents showing the names of Shakespeare and his father tangled in the laws and politics of the reign of Elizabeth I, plus birth, death, tax records, letters from the Queens spies, portraits of the individuals involved. His plays are not separate from the daily power struggles of the court, the racial, religious and class prejudice, the wars and economic crises, but illuminate them. Through this video we begin to understand the very active role Shakespeare played, revealing and commenting on Her Majestys 16th century government even though many a writer was killed for speaking out. You will notice how little has changed in over 400 years. The conflicts then are much the same as in the USA news headlines today. I plan to buy these dvds for my work.

The PBS documentary Last Will and Testament which promotes Edward Devere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, as the true author of the Shakespeare works is far more convincing. It seems to me there is very little reason to believe in the Shakespeare authorship and many reasons to believe that Devere was the true author.Win

This set of DVDs provides an illuminating background for Shakespeare Uncovered.

While the show was produced for an adult audience, it set the stage nicely (no pun intended) for my Shakespeare class.

I use the first episode and a half of this DVD as an introduction to Shakespeare in my 8th Grade Language Arts class, then show the remainder throughout our Sonnet unit and Romeo and Juliet. Gives a great background/ builds schema for students who know nothing about THE BARD. As interesting as it gets for Shakespearean documentaries!

Michael Wood has given us another view into the world of William Shakespeare using 16th and 17th century documents and government records to trace Shakespeares life in Tudor London. Wills time growing up in Stratford on Avon his families history, his education and courtship of Anne Hathaway plus his time spent as a young man in London. Michael Wood is an excellent presenter. I have personally enjoyed Woods previous series, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, Legacy and others. Anyone that enjoys the plays are interested in the Tudor and early Stewart era of English Monarchy, the English language or English history should see this series.

Great story, great history, but like any great work should have been longer. Specifically I must have hoped for more discussion about Woods feelings, play by play, as are discussed by Clare Asquith in her book Shadowplay. I just hope he also did a book with FOOTNOTES, a responsiblity of any scholar! I cant as yet find it on PBS. Still, wonderful and so well done! Tom Nichols in Houston