What would you say is your favourite play by Shakespeare? 

A very difficult question to answer as I love so many. It depends on whether I am watching, directing or performing. My favourite plays to watch have been A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet, to direct has to be A Midsummer Night’s Dreamand to perform in has been Henry V and The Taming of the Shrew

What is the best adaptation of one of these plays that you’ve seen? 

I particularly enjoyed Emma Rice’s adaptation of Dream at the Globe Theatre. A shame really that the board of the theatre didn’t agree with my assessment. I know the following aren’t on my list but I particularly enjoyed the Donmar Warehouse’s adaptations of The Tempest, Henry IV part 1 and Julius Caesar– they were performed by an all-female cast playing prisoners who were staging the plays.

The Shakespeare Festival gave the opportunity for students to get stuck into the works Shakespeare, and with Twelfth Night around the bend what would be your tip for a successful adaptation of the text? 

An easy one. Stay true to the text!

Why do you think Shakespeare has been so successful to this day compared to other writers of the time?

A difficult question to answer within the word-count! But I believe it is most simply because he deals with themes that are still relevant today, stories that still resonate today and characters that you can still identify with today – As Ben Jonson states in the First Folio, “He was not of an age, but for all time!”.

 

If you could have 3 Shakespeare characters  to a dinner party who would they be and what would you ask them? 

Hamlet – “Why so sad?”, Malvolio – “Where do you get your socks?” and Julius Caesar – “Did you not see it coming?