Simon Russell Beale, David Hare, Sam Mendes, et al. to Create New BBC Programs

Sam Mendes and David Hare will create new programming for BBC, according to a report on the website for the U.K. magazine The Stage.

Mendes will executive produce screen versions of Shakespeare’s Richard II, Henry IV Part 1 and 2, and Henry V to be broadcast in 2012. Simon Russell Beale is slated to serve as associate producer on the programs and Richard Eyre and Rupert Goold are scheduled to direct.

Mendes won the Academy Award for American Beauty. His many stage credits include The Vertical Hour, Gypsy, Cabaret, The Blue Room, Uncle Vanya, and Twelfth Night, along with the Bridge Project’s current productions of As You Like It and The Tempest.

Hare is scheduled to write and direct a play for the television company. Additional details about the project will be announced shortly.

Hare received Academy Award nominations for his screenplays for The Reader and The Hours.. His many plays include Amy’s View, The Vertical Hour, The Secret Rapture, and Plenty.