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The RSC will run its Tragic Pleasure festival in Stratford-upon-Avon next week, from 21-23 July. Kiernan Ryan, renowned Shakespeare scholar and Professor of English at Royal Holloway, University of London, will give a personal introduction to Hamlet, marking the beginning of the three-day event. The festival will give audiences the chance to delve deeper into Shakespeare s tragedies, and uncover the parallels to be drawn with modern events, such as war and terrorism. A programme of workshops, discussions and talks will explore the theme of tragedy by taking a closer look at four of Shakespeare s great tragic plays: Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet. Professor Ryan will be arguing that, like the other great tragedies, Hamlet dramatizes with unparalleled power the heartbreaking conflict between what men and women want to be and could be, and what the world and time in which they find themselves compels them to become. What keeps Hamlet alive today, he believes, is its revolutionary commitment to a transfigured future that we are still struggling to create. Internationally recognised as a leading Shakespeare scholar, Professor Ryan is the author of numerous critical works on Shakespeare, and has lectured on the subject worldwide, as well as contributing to arts programmes on Shakespeare on the BBC. He also designed and directs the thriving Shakespeare MA launched at Royal Holloway in 1998. In addition to talks from leading scholars, critics, performers, scientists and writers, all four tragedies will be performed in full over the course of the three days. The events will take place in two of the RSC s Stratford-Upon-Avon venues; The Other Place and The Royal Shakespeare Theatre Tragic Pleasure website.