A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and His Sonnets

In 1609, William Shakespeare published a collection of 154 sonnets, widely regarded as one of the greatest lyric sequences in English literature. Central to this work is a mystery that has persisted for centuries: the identities of “the young man” and “the dark lady,” to whom all but two of the sonnets refer. A performance explores the historical context of Shakespeare’s England, incorporating excerpts from his plays and poems, and presents the poet and dramatist himself as it seeks to shed light on these enigmatic figures, who remain unseen yet strongly felt in both the sonnets and Shakespeare’s life. The production stars Rupert Graves, Tom Sturridge, Indira Varma, Anna Chancellor, and Zoë Wanamaker. It contains mature themes and explicit language, with some content that may be objectionable. The production was created by the Open University.