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The Latest Breaking News from Shakespeare

It takes many ghosts to make a story: how Maggie O'Farrell’s Hamnet takes from – and mistakes – Shakespeare

In her eighth novel Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell imagines the short life and tragic death of Shakespeare’s only son, aged 11, in 1596. Although it is not known how Hamnet died, O’Farrell attributes his death to the plague. She creates a visceral and affecting portrait of his swift decline and the…

The Conversation

Paul Mescal on grief in Hamnet

Paul Mescal says Hamnet’s ending shows the impact of grief and the visually striking image of William Shakespeare covered in cracking clay at the end helps to portray this.

BANG Premier

‘That’s not how I pictured it’ – why book-to-film adaptations so often disappoint

As Hamnet arrives on the big screen, many fans of the book may feel a familiar mix of excitement and trepidation. They may wonder how the film will bring to life Maggie O'Farrell’s intimate portrayal of Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes, and the loss of their son.

The Conversation

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Hamnet review – Oscar-primed Shakespeare film isn’t as manipulative as its critics claim

4/5 Jessie Buckley, already the Best Actress Oscar frontrunner, is remarkable as William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s speculative grief drama

The Independent UK

Hamnet: by centring Anne Hathaway, this sensuous film gives Shakespeare’s world new life

For films and books about Shakespeare’s life, there is little source material to draw on beyond the few known facts of the great writer’s parentage, hometown, marriage, children, property and death. Shakespeare biopics therefore require considerable speculation and invention on the part of writers and directors.

The Conversation

Cod conflict between two Nato members

Brief letters: Allies at war | Shakespeare on tyranny | Leicester greetings | Winter style | Road sign supplements

The Guardian - UK

‘Melancholy magic’: how Judi Dench and a host of stars came under the spell of the greatest comedy in history

The Twelfth Night Reunion gathers some of the grandest names in British theatre, including Simon Callow and Stephen Fry, to explain why Shakespeare’s play continues to bewitch audiences

The Guardian - UK

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Shakespeare fans can book stay in Herefordshire farmhouse featured in Hamnet this spring

Stays at the Grade II-listed Jacobean farmhouse start from £1,547

The Independent UK

‘Shakespeare? I’d have a go!’ Paul Chuckle on his 50-year comedy career and his new gangster film

As he dons sunglasses to play a tough guy on screen, the actor, AKA Paul Elliott, answers your questions about moustaches, Gogglebox, Bond, Judge Jules, Liam Gallagher and missing his brother, Barry

The Guardian - UK

Top 2026 travel trends: Glowcations, literary tourism and year-round Alpine escapes

From visiting places associated with favourite books to travelling with multiple generations- these are the top trends likely to shape travel in 2026.

Euronews

Need cheering up after a terrible year? I may have just the story you’re looking for

A single act of kindness reminded me that, despite so much evidence to the contrary, the better angels of our nature are not necessarily doomed, says Guardian columnist Martin Kettle

The Guardian - UK

TV tonight: horny, ludicrously fun thriller The Hunting Wives

Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman star in a tantalisingly trashy series. Plus: Judi Dench digs deep into a family mystery. Here’s what to watch this evening

The Guardian - UK

‘The best thing I have ever witnessed on stage’: readers’ favourite theatre of 2025

A transcendent new take on King Lear, a thrilling Evita and a show at Glasgow’s revamped Citizens that reduced one viewer to a ‘blubbering wreck’ are among your highlights

The Guardian - UK

Johnny Flynn's guide to London: shopping at Patina and dinner at Pivaz

The Goodbye June actor used to make money busking, thinks mudlarking is a great first date and loves Clapton’s Mangal restaurants

Evening Standard

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Evening Standard

Twelfth Night at the Barbican review: A delightful maximalist feast

4/5 Director Prasanna Puwanarajah’s Shakespeare festivities are striking if a little over-stuffed in places

BANG Premier

Paul Rudd told what lie about Sir Ben Kingsley at the start of his career?

Anaconda actor Paul Rudd lied about starring in a Shakespeare production directed by Sir Ben Kingsley at the start of his career.

The Independent UK

Tourists will now be charged more than £10 to visit famous Juliet balcony

Shakespeare fans will have to pay to enter the courtyard for the first time

The Guardian - UK

Judi Dench says she ‘can’t remember what I’m doing tomorrow’ but can still recite Shakespeare

The actor has said she is increasingly facing problems with her memory as well as failing eyesight, struggling to remember appointments or see faces

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The Independent UK

Judi Dench reveals worrying extent of her short-term memory loss

IN FULL

The Independent UK

Judi Dench reveals she can still remember Shakespeare but not ‘what I’m doing tomorrow’

Oscar winner describes her degenerative eye condition as a ‘crusher’

The Conversation

From the Miller’s Tale to King Lear’s roaring sea, a history of flooding in literature

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale is renowned for its salacious storyline of sexual misadventure. Set in 14th-century Oxford, it tells the tale of John the Carpenter, a husband so terrified that another “Noah’s flood” is coming to drown the world that he sleeps in a basket in the attic – freeing…

Bored Panda

“Are You A Master Of Ridiculous Knowledge?”: Try Scoring 30/30 In This Useless Facts Test

Lately, life feels a bit too serious, doesn’t it?Bills, work, deadlines, errands, decisions - it all piles up faster than we’d like. So here’s a little break from all that: a quiz made entirely of strange, useless, and wonderfully pointless facts. From Shakespeare’s dad’s odd job to the speed of…

Bored Panda

This 30-Question Useless Facts Challenge Will Reveal How Weirdly Smart You Really Are

The Guardian - UK

Get your skates on: 10 of the best pop-up ice rinks in the UK

From city rooftops to seafront winter wonderlands, these are some of the best places to slide into Christmas

Budget and the Bees

10 Times Lending Money to a Friend Turns Into a Regret Story

Shakespeare said, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” He was right. Lending money to a friend is a noble gesture that often ends in disaster. You want to help, but money changes dynamics.

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