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John Bell will be in conversation with Kate Flaherty on his new book Living Shakespeare, in which he draws on his lifetime of personal and professional experience, speaking to Shakespeare's most absorbing stories, questions and characters-from the complexities of casting Hamlet to an examination of the Bard's malleable relationship with time.

Shakespeare's plays bring us face to face with the reality of evil, the magic of the natural world, the convolution of moral behaviour, and the brevity and preciousness of our existence. As founder of Australia's Bell Shakespeare Company, renowned actor and director John Bell has spent his life in the company of these stories and knows perhaps better than anyone what it takes to put these complexities on stage.  In these pages,.  Peppered with passages, recommendations, and anecdotes from on and off the stage,

Living Shakespeare is the perfect mix of academic and personal, drawing from a lifetime of study, fellowship and performance to bring together a guided exploration of Shakespeare's work through Bell's eyes, perfect for enjoyers of theatre, literature, acting and, of course, Shakespeare.

John Bell AO OBE, actor and director, is one of Australia's best-known theatre personalities. His theatre credits include work for the Old Tote Theatre Company, all of the major state theatre companies as actor and/or director and five years in the UK with The Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1990 . John Bell founded The Bell Shakespeare Company, which has mounted acclaimed productions of many Shakespeare plays. Bell has acted for the company in the roles of Shylock, Richard III, Macbeth, Malvolio, Coriolanus, Leontes, Prospero and King Lear. In 2002, his Richard III earned him a Helpmann Award and in 2003  received the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Cultural Leadership Award. Designated a National Living Treasure, he has two honorary doctorates.

Dr Kate Flaherty is Senior Lecturer in English and Drama, Australian National University. Her first book, Ours as we play it: Australia plays Shakespeare, examines contemporary Australian performance of Shakespeare. In other books, articles, and chapters, Kate has analysed theatrical touring, theatrical rivalry, civic disorder, sectarian tension, military commemoration, and education through their intersections with Shakespeare in 19th and early 20th-century contexts.

The vote of thanks will be given by Dr Claire Hansen, Senior Lecturer in English, Australian National University. Claire’s second book, Shakespeare and Place-Based Learning, is published by Cambridge University Press.  

Books will be available for signing from 5.30pm and again after the event. 

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A podcast will be made available after the event.

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