Purists may flinch but pure delight is in store when four Shakespearean plays get a contemporary makeover on BBC America’s “ShakespeaRe-Told.”
The series comes to praise Shakespeare, not to bury him, with lively adaptations that give devotees a chance to appreciate anew his grasp of human nature and allow the wary a new way into the writer’s storytelling.
If fine actors including Imelda Staunton (“Vera Drake”), Shirley Henderson (“Trainspotting”), Damian Lewis (“Band of Brothers”) and Rufus Sewell (“The Legend of Zorro”) were game for it, who are we to turn up our noses?
The plays begin with “Much Ado About Nothing,” at 7 p.m. Sunday. Lewis and Sarah Parish (“The Wedding Date”) star as Benedick and Beatrice, former lovers and rival TV co-anchors.
Colleagues trying to end their on-air hostility conspire to reunite them, while weather girl Hero (Billie Piper) and sports anchor Claude (Tom Ellis) discover how volatile love, or at least passion, can be.
In one charming scene, Benedick reads one of Shakespeare’s sonnets aloud while Beatrice translates it into modern-speak.
Other films in the series, airing on consecutive Sundays:
“Macbeth,” starring James McAvoy as top London chef Joe Macbeth, beset by jealousy and a scheming wife, Aug. 13.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” about the magical wedding anniversary of ex-hippies Theo and Polly (Staunton, Bill Paterson), Aug. 20.
“The Taming of the Shrew,” with Henderson as a ruthless politician who realizes a husband could mean votes and Sewell as the man for the job, Aug. 27.
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