[image]
[title]As part of London's Shakespeare400 celebrations, this weekend (April 23 10am-10pm, Apr 24 10am-8pm) Bankside will be festooned with 37 screens, each showing a specially created 10-minute film about one of the Bard’s 37 plays. Dubbed ‘The Complete Walk’ there’s no obligation to see it in any particular order, but it officially starts with ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ in St Thomas’s Hospital Garden, then just head right along the Thames for, er, well, about six-and-a-half hours and boom! You’ll be able to bluff your way through any conversation about Shakespeare. Here's our handy guide to each of the plays and where you can see them.
You can also download a version of this map to your phone to use over the weekend
1. ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’, St Thomas' Hospital Garden
Two best buddies get up to romantic shenanigans; some cross-dressing occurs.
2. ‘Henry VI part 3’, St Thomas' Hospital Garden
England erupts into an almighty ruck as the Wars of the Roses kick off.
3. 'The Taming of the Shrew', Jubilee Gardens front path
Off to a, er, bracing start: the original wife-beating comedy.
4. ‘Henry VI part 1’, Jubilee Gardens wide path
The English whale on the French – a very popular topic.
5. ‘Titus Andronicus’, behind Hungerford Bridge
Mind-bogglingly bloody revenge tragedy that culminates in history’s most upsetting pie.
6. ‘Henry VI part 2’, after Hungerford Bridge
Scheming occurs in the court of England – another popular topic.
7. ‘Romeo & Juliet’, along Riverside, Festival Pier corner
The children of mortal enemies fall for each other. It gets a bit :’(.
8. ‘Richard III’, Riverside, before book stalls
The possibly exaggerated story of literature’s most evil king and Leicester’s hometown hero.
9. ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, in front of the National Theatre
King Ferdinand and his guy pals forswear women – but uh-oh! – women turn up.
10. ‘King John’, in front of the National Theatre
The supposedly evil king from ‘Robin Hood’ beats up the French for a bit.
11. ‘The Comedy of Errors’, Observation Point
Two sets of identical twins – separated in childhood – meet up. High jinks occur.
12. ‘Richard II’, Observation Point
The weak king believes he’s untouchable; turns out he isn’t.
13. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, Gabriel’s Wharf Band Stand
A bunch of insane fairies attempt to solve the romantic problems of some mortals lost in a wood.
14. ‘The Merchant of Venice’, Riverside Slice
Things get a teeny bit anti-Semitic when a Venetian noble defaults on a loan to a Jewish merchant.
15. ‘Henry IV part 1’, Bernie Spain Gardens
The heir to the English throne gets sloshed.
16. ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, Bernie Spain Gardens
Extreme sassiness in the Sicilian countryside.
17. ‘Henry IV part 2’, behind Oxo West, Barge House
The heir to the English throne sobers up
18. ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’, Behind Oxo East, Platform @ Oxo
‘Henry IV’s Falstaff in a very silly sequel.
19. ‘Hamlet’, opposite Bankside Gallery
Student ponders the meaning of life when he should be on a killing spree.
20. ‘Henry V’, opposite Tate Modern
The King of England kicks the merde out of the French.
21. ‘As You Like It’, Tate Modern lawn
Cross-dressing adventures in the world’s busiest forest.
22. ‘Julius Caesar’, Tate Modern lawn
Rome’s greatest leader gets Jon Snow’d by his BFF Brutus.
23. ‘Othello’, before Southwark Bridge
Race relations in sixteenth-century Venice don’t go terribly well.
24. ‘Measure for Measure’, before Anchor’s Beer Garden
The Duke of Vienna goes undercover in Vienna – he does not like what he sees.
25. ‘Twelfth Night’, next to Clink St Bridge
Shakespeare trope overload: romantic cross-dressing with twins and a shipwreck.
26. ‘Troilus and Cressida’, Winchester Palace Ruins
The ‘Iliad’, but with more shagging.
27. ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’, Southwark Cathedral Garden
Nice girl falls for appalling arsehole.
28. ‘Timon of Athens’, Cathedral Square
Wealthy Athenian gentleman discovers people are awful when he loses all his money.
29. ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, City Pier West
One man’s midlife crisis almost brings the Roman Empire to its knees.
30. ‘King Lear’, City Pier East
Father-of-three takes early retirement and goes a bit nuts.
31. ‘Macbeth’, Hays Galleria
Scottish lord is persuaded to commit brutal murder by wife, who promptly gets all guilty about it.
32. ‘Coriolanus’, outside More London
Jilted Roman general teams up with his nemesis.
33. ‘Henry VIII’, The Scoop
Propaganda play about what a totally awesome guy Queen Elizabeth’s dad was.
34. ‘Pericles’, Potters Fields lawn
Prince Pericles enjoys sundry adventures including a shipwreck.
35. ‘Cymbeline’, Potters Fields
In ancient Britain, Posthumus lays an ill-advised wager on his wife Innogen’s fidelity.
36. ‘The Winter’s Tale’, Potters Fields
Cursed with anger management issues, King Leontes ruins everything for everyone.
37. ‘The Tempest’, Potters Fields
Sorcerer and single dad Prospero takes revenge on his enemies – magic style.