during our shoot, the group was working on macbeth.wer. >> i take macbeth to the streets. and what he did, he bring to the hoods, to the housing projects, you know, guys that don't got nothing, and he used nobodies, nobody know. >> leon vincent, serving 60 years for murder, read one of his passages to the group. >> you read my eyes like parables. i was pressed for time because of my special preparations for tonight's special feast. >> i really like that not for metaphor that you used. you read my eyes like parables. that's almost something like shakespeare himself would write. so i really like that. >> i'm from the hood, you know, not to separate the hood from anything. shakespeare was something, you know, i never thought i would experience in my life. you know, since i came in contact with shakespeare, i see a lot of those parallels that correlate with urban life. >> essentially macbeth and the rest of the characters are committing either immoral, unethical or criminal acts. where we would say criminal acts, right? of course, that's w

"hamlet," ""king lear" othello, macbeth, romeo and juliet. these plays have been passed down through generations, they dazzle us with an appeal that transcends time and culture. tonight in our first episode of the charlie rose shakespeare series we start with conversations on the greatness and the anything ma. we'll talk to oskar eustis, a director of the new york public theater. barbara gaines, director of the the chicago shakespeare theater. we'll also hear from some other shakespeare devoe taes from previous appearances on our program. they include shakespeare scholar steven greenblatt and harold bloom, also the director of the royal shakespeare coany, michael boyd. we then conclude our evening looking at "hamlet." sir john gielgud, whose portrayals were considered among the finest, described the part as summing up the process of living. helping us understand the play will be oskar eustis and steven greenblatt. with that, i'd like to welcome you to the first episode in our charlie rose shakespeare series we call "why shakespee? " iope you

i don't think we could have predicted that it would be "macbeth", cleopatra. king lear. the astonishing outpouring of genius. tragic genius. tragic comedy. i think that "hamlet" is the pivot point. there's a kind of volcanic eruntion of language in hamlet, though we had already written about 20 or so plays, there are suddenly 600 words not only that he had never used before, but that had never been used before in any printed text that survived from the english language that is astonishing. something erupting from him. and then -- >> did he invent the language? >> he did largely invent the language. i mean, he invented it -- he's very cunning at telling you what the words actually mean. when lady macbeth says that blood on her hands -- she's imagining her hands is going to make -- the next line is making the green one red. that is to say it means making something red, but shakespeare if he's introducing a very fancy 50 cent word will usually will give you a five cent explanation afterwards so you're not completely lost in the plays. i couldn't off the top of my head recit

. >> i actually went and watched "macbeth" and they looked really good. >> during the video you can click or places or themes and it gives you a longer description of what's going on. >> pure entertainment, intense drama. nonstop laughs. and of course -- good old-fashioned back-stabbing. >> how long are they? >> each one is six minutes, six of the classics, six minutes long. it's quick, you can sit down and watch them and you get the gist of everything. they're coming from mark burnett and coalition films. they're really well produced. >> am i going to be able to write about the protaganist and antaganist? >> you're not going to be able to go out and write a 40-page dissertation. >> if you want to check out the videos you can get them at cambio.com, they're all on there, all six of them, great to watch. >>> that's it for today's show, thanks so much for joining us, everybody, we'll see you thanks so much for joining us, everybody, we'll see you tomorrow. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

you know, "macbeth" and the "merchant of venice" and that kind of stuff.ke, "what's happening? i don't smell anything." [ laughter ] and i say, "no, it's the hand. it's the hand part." >> jimmy: yeah. >> and he's be like, "no, no, but it makes no sense. that noise is usually followed by a smell." [ laughter ] and then, i say, "no." >> jimmy: he just got freaked out. >> he called -- bobby duvall came over, too. he's like, "what happened? what's going on?" i was like -- he goes, "i don't smell nothing." and they were all kind of like -- for awhile. >> jimmy: you really taught -- you really taught those guys. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. i brought them to it. >> jimmy: yeah, absolutely. we're going to show a scene from the movie "jack and jill." this is one where pacino is wooing jill. >> yes, yes. she gets -- >> jimmy: with you as jill. >> gets her alone at the house. that one -- >> jimmy: yeah. and he's like, "i like her cause she's from the bronx." >> exactly. he's trying -- >> jimmy: "a bronx girl." >> trying to bring the bronx out of her. >> jimmy: yeah, so yeah