Director Tim Etchells invites a collection of people with different relationships to Shakespeare – including actors, writers and academics – to each choose a Shakespeare play, take a seat at table and narrate / enact the story using their own selection of everyday objects as stand-ins for the characters. These comical, absurd and intimate to-camera performances are schematic diagrams of Shakespeare – lovingly made miniatures which condense the world of each play to a one metre square tabletop and summon it with a collection of banal materials and objects. Produced in collaboration with Etchells’ company – the renowned Sheffield-based experimental theatre collective Forced Entertainment – Tabletop Shakespeare explores the dynamic force of narrative and the power of language to make pictures in the spectator’s mind – echoing Shakespeare’s own words from Henry V imploring spectators to “Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts.”

What follows are the films and a brief interview with Tim Etchells.

Interview with Tim Etchells:

The Merchant of Venice performed by Yolana Wassersug:

Romeo and Juliet performed by Sam Taylor

King Lear performed by Kuselo Kamau

Hamlet performed by Nina Lampic