When seeking inspiration for his two plays on the rise and fall of US president Lyndon B Johnson, playwright Robert Schenkkan turned to Shakespeare.

All the Way – his Tony-winning play about Johnson’s efforts to pass the landmark 1965 civil rights law – could be viewed as a victorious history play, akin to Henry V. In contrast, The Great Society – the second part of Schenkkan’s Johnson diptych – which opened on Broadway earlier this month, plays out as decline and fall.

“I look at All the Way as a drama and it does have a triumphant finish with a dark undertone,” says Schenkkan. “The Great Society is absolutely and inescapably a tragedy. To read more click here.