Paapa Essiedu, Arts Minister Caroline Dinenage, Turning our tragedies into comedy

Arts Minister Caroline Dinenage on the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis. We put questions to her from arts organisations around the country.

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of Shakespeare’s birthday. To celebrate, actor Paapa Essiedu performs the iconic “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy from Hamlet for us live from his home. Paapa played Hamlet in Simon Godwin’s highly acclaimed 2016 production at the RSC, which transplanted the action from Denmark to West Africa. It will be available to watch on iPlayer from tomorrow as part of the BBC’s Culture in Quarantine series.

How can personal tragedy inspire comedy? Alice Fraser and Darren Harriott discuss talking about the death of a parent on stage – why do it, how do they make it work, and what has been the audience’s reaction.

Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: Tim Heffer