Biography: William Shakespeare

Viewers will get a fine overview of Shakespeare's early or "lost" years (what little is known, anyway), a taste of the plays, an introduction to Elizabethan theatre (Juliet was played by a boy, as were all female characters at the time), and a look at his fractured and tragic family life. Shakespeare's only son died leaving him without a heir, and he perhaps wasn't the happiest married man around, if his bequeathal of ‘the 2nd best bed' to his wife Anne in his will is any indication. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)