The third season of Sally McLean’s award-winning Shakespeare Republic series sees actors perform monologues from Shakespeare in their own homes. The Australian director tells us about putting the season together in lockdown, and why Shakespeare resonates so strongly during the pandemic.

Leo Atkin in Shakespeare RepublicLeo Atkin in the third season of Shakespeare Republic. Photo supplied

How do you feel Shakespeare speaks to the current situation we find ourselves in?

Shakespeare was a keen observer of human nature, particularly human nature under stress. He was also quite progressive for his time, you only need to look at Emilia’s speech in Othello or any of Beatrice’s dialogue to see that. And the now infamous Thomas More ‘refugee’ speech.  His unique ability to encapsulate and express what it is to be human – be it a pauper or a prince – makes his work relevant at any time, but as he was writing during a time when plague regularly caused London to shut down, he also knew a thing or two about sheltering at home during a pandemic. You will find plague mentioned regularly in his texts, it was so common, but also many references to being isolated,...