Shakespeare and the Boyer Lectures

I have been enlivening my walk by listening to an ABC podcast of the Boyer Lectures. These are an annual series of lectures by eminent Australians, on issues of significance, probably the equivalent of the Reith Lectures in England. This year’s Boyer Lectures were given by John Bell, who is a towering figure in Australian theatre, as actor, director and tireless champion of theatre and in particular of Shakespeare. Naturally therefore the subject was Shakespeare and his relevance to current issues.
 
John Bell is a joy to listen to, he has such a deep knowledge of Shakespeare’s works and he reveals so much in them that is relevant to the present day.
 
This took me back to my battered old ‘Complete Works, a school prize in 1958! All our prizes were for ‘General progress’. What a pity they couldn’t find anything more interesting or indeed unique to acknowledge us for.