Shakespeare and Covid Drama in This England (Winterbottom, 2022)

Agnieszka Rasmus

doi:10.18778/2083-8530.29.09

Authors

Agnieszka Rasmus University of Lodz, Poland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-8530.29.09

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Keywords:

Shakespeare, adaptation, Branagh, Covid, Richard II, Johnson, This England, casting, reception

Abstract

This article considers the significance of different Shakespearean allusions in a political docudrama miniseries This England (2022), directed for Sky by Michael Winterbottom and scripted by Winterbottom and Kieron Quirke. The action focuses on the first crucial months in England after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, offering a panoramic view of the nation under duress as a newly formed government, with Boris Johnson at its helm, mishandles the crisis. The article seeks to explain the presence of multiple Shakespearean references, from the title alone, through numerous direct quotations to the casting of Kenneth Branagh as Johnson. Shakespearean traces play a pivotal, though confusing, role as they both critique the actions of the government and its leader by offering an ironic framing device while increasing the viewer’s sympathy for its central protagonist via the presence of a Shakespearean celebrity.

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Author Biography

Agnieszka Rasmus, University of Lodz, Poland

Ph.D., teaches at the Department of Studies in English Drama, Theatre and Film, Institute of English Studies, University of Lodz, Poland. Her research focuses on transnational cinema, seriality and adaptation. She is the author of Filming Shakespeare, from Metatheatre to Metacinema (Peter Lang, 2008) and Hollywood Remakes of Iconic British Films: Class, Gender and Stardom (EUP, 2022). She has published widely on Hollywood remakes and Shakespeare in popular culture.

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