Voices
!['[W]ild pansy could have potential uses in the treatments of cancer.' Image (c) kahvikisu, licensed under CC-BY-2.0 and adapted from the original.](https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/styles/bc-landscape-100x56/public/wild-pansy1.jpg?itok=0nMFaNqK)
Shakespeare's plays are full of biochemical concoctions and cosmology, so how much of a scientist was he? We asked the British Council's former science adviser, Dr Tim Slingsby.
Dr Turi King combined archaeology, history, and genetics to find the remains of Richard III, who died 500 years ago. In this interview, she compares the literary figure with the real man.
Why do audiences adore Shakespeare's 'baddies', despite their dastardly deeds? We asked Shakespeare expert Alexey Bartoshevich.
Professor Michael Dobson argues that Shakespeare was a champion of free movement, and averse to insular nationalism.
What can Shakespeare's studies of power and politics tell us about the present? Dr Charlotte Scott explains why Shakespeare's history plays continue to fascinate.
Professor Richard Schoch explains how David Garrick, an 18th-century actor-manager and playwright, formed the popular attitudes towards Shakespeare that remain to this day.
Professor Ewan Fernie of the Shakespeare Institute explains how Shakespeare can help us understand who we are and what we might become.
The British Council's Anthony Cosgrove shares lines from five of Shakespeare's greatest plays to show that they are more accessible to English language learners than you might think.
Sir Andrew Motion, former British Poet Laureate, talks to journalist Georgina Godwin about his native UK as a 'country of Shakespeare', and explains how the Bard has influenced his work.
Professor Michael Dobson explains how Shakespeare manages to be simultaneously historical and contemporary, ahead of his Smart Talks on this subject in China on 21-24 September.