Although oratory is generally assumed to be dying, dead or irrelevant to the new technologies of communication, in fact hundreds of people are making speeches every day of the week.
In the third of five programmes on the state of the art, Melvyn Bragg examines the role of oratory in the theatre.
Ian McKellen , Dame Judi Dench ,
Howard Brenton and Sir Peter Hall are among those who talk about the contemporary challenge that oratory offers to directors, actors and dramatists on the stage, with examples from Shakespeare and Shaw. Researcher SALLIE DAVIE Producer ANNE SLOMAN
(Re-broadcast next Wednesday)