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Sally-Beth, What an exciting project. Terrific work for REED, too. Roz ________________________________________ From: REED-L: Records of Early English Drama Discussion [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Sally-Beth MacLean [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Monday, March 21, 2016 9:00 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: REED/BBC/BL announcement The Records of Early English Drama (REED) project is pleased to announce the launch of a new partnership project with the BBC, the British Library and Dr Siobhan Keenan at Simon De Montfort University. The project is titled ?Shakespeare on Tour?, involving the broadcast of over 200 stories across all BBC Local Radio stations and regional television in England and at bbc.co.uk/shakespeareontour. Shakespeare on Tour includes stories that are all linked to specific places across the country as part of a season of BBC programming to mark 400 years since Shakespeare?s death in 1616. This unique and ambitious broadcasting event will uncover surprising stories about where Shakespeare?s plays were performed, along with other iconic moments such as the first black actor to perform Shakespeare on the British stage, the rise of the female star and notable Shakespearean child actors It also charts locations where Shakespeare?s acting companies performed before 1642 - a number of which survive to this day. To help bring these stories to life, the BBC has been working closely with the British Library to unearth stories from their historic collection of theatre playbills relating to Shakespeare performances across the UK, and with the Records of Early English Drama. Craig Henderson, Head of Programmes, BBC English Regions, said: ?This unique project brings together on-going academic research as well as stories of Shakespeare performances told through original playbills from the late 18th century onwards. For audiences, this will create a rich collection of stories relating to locations of performances of Shakespeare?s work, starting with his own troupe of performers, to highlights from more recent times. The stories reveal familiar places from all corners of the country in a new and fascinating light, places that we might drive or walk past every day without realising their historical resonance. Audiences will be able to discover factual details about their local town halls, pubs and private houses around the country where Shakespeare?s plays were performed; how much Shakespeare?s players were paid; and the project will travel forward from the late 16th century to track other iconic moments such as the first ? and controversial - appearance of black and female performers on stage.? The stories are now available online at bbc.co.uk/shakespeareontour (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03fcz11) where they can be enjoyed for many years to come. Circulated by Sally-Beth MacLean REED Director of Research/General Editor