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Shahidha Bari hosts an evening of live drama and conversation from the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead, tracing the changing portrayal of emotions on stage.

When 'the first modern actor' David Garrick stepped on stage in 1741, people were stunned by his realistic emotions. But hasn't simulating strong feelings been the essence of theatre from the first Greek tragedies? What has changed since the earliest performances?
The actors Sandy Grierson, Charlie Hardwick and Jackie Edwards are joined on stage by theatre director Lorne Campbell and Professor Jen Harvie to perform and discuss the long history of emotion on stage, the public's changing tastes and the ways that actors prepare themselves to perform 'emotionally' from the days of Chekhov to The Last Ship, the singer and musician Sting's musical about the death of the shipbuilding industry.

Producers: Fiona McLean and David Hunter