Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Behind the Scenes

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

BBC Radio 4 LW

Behind the Scenes: Robert Icke

Robert Icke

BBC Radio 4 - Behind the Scenes, Robert Icke

Acclaimed theatre director Robert Icke followed as he works on plays in London and Basel.

Robert Icke has been described as the great hope of British theatre. Famous for his re-invention of the classics, he is followed while working on productions in London and Basel.

Robert Icke is one of Britain's most exciting and feted young theatre directors. His reputation has been built on re-visiting the classics and updating them - re-writing where necessary and insisting that the plays speak thrillingly to the contemporary audience. 

This programme goes behind the scenes at a production of Ibsen's Wild Duck at the Almeida Theatre, samples Robert  Icke's acclaimed production of Hamlet, and also follows him to Basel in Switzerland where he produces a German language version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

The contributors include Juliet Stevenson who works frequently with Robert Icke, Helen Lewis of the New Statesman, designer Bunny Christie, Andreas Beck of the Basel Theatre and critic Michael Billington who is not a fan of Robert Icke's method of updating plays - which he considers impudence. 

Narrator: Noma Dumezweni

Produced by Susan Marling
A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Behind the Scenes

Robert Icke

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4