BBCs' SHAKESPEARE: THE KING'S MAN AND SUGARTOWN Coming to DVD 4/16

Broadcast on the BBC in 2012 and making its North American debut with this release, the illuminating series SHAKESPEARE: THE KING'S MAN AND SUGARTOWN debuts on DVD from Athena on April 16, 2013.

American scholar James Shapiro examines the plays Shakespeare wrote during the turbulent reign of Elizabeth's successor, King James I. He argues that the dark, complex plays of Shakespeare's last decade-King Lear, Macbeth, and The Tempest, among others-mirrored both royal life and the era's profound social changes. The DVD 2-disc set includes three episodes, plus a bonus disc with the BBC's 1983 production of Macbeth (148 min.) and a 12-page viewer's guide ($39.99, AcornOnline.com).

Shakespeare's life and work are sometimes romanticized as a product of the golden age of Elizabeth I. But the bard produced some of his finest plays after the Virgin Queen's death. One of the new king's first official acts was to name Shakespeare a "king's man." Overnight, the dramatist attained security, prestige, and an up-close view of the Jacobean court. Visiting sites that Shakespeare would have known, scouring archives, and consulting leading historians, literary experts, and directors, Shapiro reveals a Shakespeare we've never seen.

"As accomplished a storyteller as he is a scholar" (Radio Times), James Shapiro has been a professor of English at Columbia University since 1985. He is the author of the acclaimed books 1599 and Contested Will.

Episodes: Incertainties, Equivocation, Legacy

BONUS FEATURES: Bonus disc with the BBC's 1983 production of Macbeth (148 min.); 12-page viewer's guide with a timeline, "A Theatre for Every Age" by Mark Olshaker, and articles on the arts of the Jacobean era, the history of London theatre, the Gunpowder Plot, and Shakespeare's source material; Biographies of other prominent playwrights of Shakespeare's day and of host James Shapiro

Street Date: April 16, 2013 SRP: $39.99
DVD 2-Disc Set - 3 episodes, plus bonus disc - Approx. 177 min., plus bonus - SDH subtitles
Contains violent images

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