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Woman's Hour: Shakespeare's Women, Izzy Judd, Women in the metaverse

Shakespeare's Women, Izzy Judd, Women in the metaverse

BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Shakespeare's Women, Izzy Judd, Women in the metaverse

What if Shakespeare's female characters got together to share their stories?

A new play - Shakespeare’s Women - transports ten of Shakespeare’s female characters from the 16th century to 2024, placing them in the same domestic abuse support group. Written by Lorien Haynes, this dark comedy gradually exposes each woman’s darkest secrets and asks what would happen if these protagonists survived their men and traditional narratives, to become flesh and blood today? Lorien and the director Jude Kelly, join Emma Barnett in the Woman’s Hour studio.

Violinist Izzy Judd trained at the Royal Academy of Music and was an original member of the string quartet Escala, who shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent in 2008. She met her husband Harry on the McFly Wonderland tour. Following marriage and three small children, Izzy has written two books - Dare to Dream and Mindfulness for Mums. She has now returned to her love of playing the violin, with a forthcoming EP - Moments, and a single - Somewhere in My Memory. Izzy joins Emma to talk about her music and motherhood.

Police are investigating what is possibly the first crime of its kind: a British schoolgirl playing a game in the metaverse was allegedly sexually assaulted by a group of online strangers. Given that this happened in a virtual reality game, it is not yet clear whether there is any crime here to prosecute. Emma is joined by Helen Rumbelow from The Times and her colleague Sean Russell, who has gone into the metaverse as both a man and a woman, and was struck by how different it was.

In 2015, BAFTA-winning film-maker Leslee Udwin decided that making programmes to raise awareness about issues like rape was not enough for her. Her investigation India’s Daughter - about Jyoti Singh Pandey who was raped, tortured and killed by six men on a bus in Delhi in 2012 – asked why men rape women. Leslee spoke to one of the attackers, who blamed the victim. Leslee decided to campaign for a revolution in education, not just in India, but in the UK and theoretically, every country. Her aim is to equip all children with the tools to ‘think equal,’ and reduce violence against women. She joins Emma.

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