A MORI poll conducted on behalf of the Royal Shakespeare Company has revealed that Shakespeare?s history plays are considered by the public to still have some relevance today.
Coinciding with the culmination of the RSC History Cycle, ?This England - The Histories?, the research has found that twice as many agree as disagree (40 per cent versus 16 per cent) that Shakespeare?s history plays have some relevance to contemporary politics. Despite being set in the Middle Ages, they nonetheless cover contemporary political issues such as sleaze, devolution and poll tax riots.Top of the list of contemporary dramas most likely to say something important about Britain in 2001 were Coronation Street and EastEnders, with Brookside and Hollyoaks scoring well among teens and twenty-somethings.
The poll, conducted amongst a representative sample of 1,857 adults across Great Britain using MORI?s omnibus survey, also reveals that half the British public has seen a theatre production of one of Shakespeare?s plays, nearly a third of these in the past six years. Older people are somewhat more likely to have attended than younger people, though there are more significant disparities of experience between those of different income levels. Attendance of a Shakespearean production is highest among those with household incomes over £30,000, of whom 70 per cent have attended; and 85 per cent of those educated to degree level or higher have attended, over a third of these within the past five years.