00:00 This portrait of William Shakespeare hovers near the edge of space, marking 400 years
00:07 since the first volume of the iconic playwright's works was published.
00:12 JACK JEWERS, Filmmaker: The image of Shakespeare atop the world, I mean, come on, that is a
00:20 literal metaphor, right, for Shakespeare being the world's dramatist?
00:24 ALI ROGIN: Filmmaker Jack Jewers sent the image, as well as a speech, from "A Midsummer
00:29 Night's Dream" up in a weather balloon for a film series paying tribute to the anniversary.
00:35 His six short films explore contemporary issues, such as refugees at sea or the war in Ukraine,
00:42 combined with Shakespearean speeches and poems.
00:44 JACK JEWERS: People all too often can kind of get too intimidated by his language. But,
00:51 really, once you get past that, the themes that he is exploring in his drama are every
00:58 bit as kind of gripping and relevant to our everyday lives as something we watch on TV
01:02 today.
01:03 ALI ROGIN: That first volume of plays is known as Shakespeare's first folio. It's considered
01:09 one of the most important books in English literature. Without it, plays, including "Macbeth,"
01:16 might have been lost.
01:18 Shakespeare's friends compiled the folio seven years after his death, publishing it on November
01:23 8, 1623. It's believed some 750 copies were printed, containing three dozen plays.
01:32 Will Tosh is the head of research at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London.
01:36 WILL TOSH, Head of Research, Globe Theatre London, London University: Shakespeare's colleagues,
01:38 his fellow actors, theater company owners, decided to pull that material together and
01:43 produce a kind of testament to their former colleague, to the greatest playwright that
01:48 they had certainly ever worked with, and, as it turned out, the greatest playwright
01:51 in the English language.
01:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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