Shakespeare is definitely flavour of the month – he died in May 1616 – and there is no shortage of celebrations afoot.

Doing their bit, Charleston Festival hosted American academic and author James Shapiro in conversation with ex-National Theatre supremo Nicholas Hytner.

Two years ago Hytner gave an insightful talk from the perspective of a stage director and this time he was well matched with someone who has delved deeply into the historical context of the plays.

Shapiro’s most recent weighty tome is The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606.

It made for a fascinating interchange. If not that much is known of the Bard’s personal life, plenty is known about the times he lived through. The two talked lucidly about the pressures that weighed on audiences around the beginning of the 17th century.

A major terrorist outrage in London had unravelled and, following the Gunpowder Plot, there was the backlash against a religious section of the community.

There was also the question of England’s relationship with Scotland. So Shakespeare goes and throws in a play that opens with the division of a country - “the Brexit of his day,” as Shapiro said. “Shakespeare knew that union and division were both fraught with risks.”

Just how much more topical can you get?