All the world’s a stage … come and experience it!

Marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Lincoln Theater is pleased to host a free screening series in partnership with BBC Worldwide North America.

On four Fridays in April the historic Lincoln Theater in downtown Damariscotta will play one of four outstanding historic BBC Productions: “As You Like It” (1963), “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1971), “King Lear” (1998) and a modern “The Taming of the Shrew” (2005) at 2 p.m.,

“As You Like It” plays Friday, April 1 and stars Vanessa Redgrave, Ian Richardson, Max Adrian and Patrick Wymark, with direction by Michael Elliott and Ronald Eyre. Redgrave made her breakout performance in this Royal Shakespeare Company production filmed for the BBC in 1963. London’s The Guardian recently called her performance “a gold standard for the role of Rosalind.”

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” plays Friday, April 8 and stars Lynn Redgrave, Edward Fox, Robert Stephens, Michael Gambon and Eileen Atkins with direction by James Cellan Jones. This is a 1971 all-star production of Shakespeare’s famous comedy about mismatched lovers in an enchanted forest set in Edwardian England and filmed in and around Scotney Castle, Kent.

“King Lear” plays Friday, April 15 and stars Ian Holm and Timothy West with direction by Richard Eyre. See Holm's remarkable, Olivier Award-winning performance as King Lear in this thrilling 1998 staging from Britain’s renowned National Theatre, directed by Richard Eyre.

“In a lifetime of theater going I must have seen upward of 50 King Lears … but never have I seen one more moving or accessible.” – Sheridan Morley, The New York Times

“The Taming of the Shrew” (from Shakespeare Retold) stars Shirley Henderson, Rufus Sewell, Twiggy Lawson and David Mitchell, with direction by David Richards. Katherine Minola (“Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Trainspotting”) is a temperamental yet successful politician, and everyone, from her party chairman to her sister, wants her to get married. Is passionate eccentric Petruchio (Sewell) the answer to her prayers?

This 2005 modern retelling of Shakespeare's comedy was called “deliciously far-fetched” by The New York Times.

Lincoln Theater is located at 2 Theater Street in Damariscotta. The doors will open at 1:30 p.m. — no tickets required. For additional information, visit www.lcct.org or call 207-563-3424.