'Shardlake' is a Tudor
LONDON (AP) — Matthew Shardlake steps out of the pages of the late C.J. Sansom’s popular historical mystery novels and into a new show, bringing with him disability representation.
“We don’t see a lot of leading disabled characters,” says Arthur Hughes, who plays the title character. “Well, we might, but they might not be played by disabled actors.”
Shardlake is a clever lawyer who solves puzzles and problems during the reign of King Henry VIII. He is also disabled. The character is referred to as a “hunchback” by a rude rival in the books — an example of the attitude of the Tudor period, with no allowance or acceptance of differences.
“I really hope the disabled audience can see that and see maybe some of the parallels with the world we live in today. And also just to show that that a disabled actor can play a leading part,” says Hughes, who was born with radial dysplasia.
Related articles
I was 'brokefished' by my friend for £400
I need your help. My friend K has been recently telling our friendship group about how dire his fina2024-05-21Two critical after incident on Auckland street
St John Ambulance depot in central Auckland Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers2024-05-21Chinese state media demands British Museum return 23,000 cultural relics
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here2024-05-21More productive land being used for urban development, study finds
Study funds jump in amount of productive land being used for urban development and increase in amoun2024-05-21Young Boys seals 6th Swiss soccer league title in 7 years after rallying from firing coach Wicky
GENEVA (AP) — Young Boys sealed its sixth Swiss league title in seven years by winning at Servette 12024-05-21Reserve Bank holds OCR at 5.5 percent
The Reserve Bank has released the latest Official Cash Rate decision. Photo: RNZ2024-05-21
atest comment