Anyone who enjoys Shakespeare

[EveryKneeShallBow]

… who has been your greatest actor, and in which role?

For me (I live in the middle of nowhere so I watch YouTube and NT Online)

Adrian Lester as Othello, with Rory Kinnear as Iago
Andrew Scott as Hamlet
Tamsin Greig as Malvolio

"Enjoyable- papa essiediu (sp) and the blqck hamlwt cast. "
Agree with this Helenloveslee4eva. I really enjoyed that production in Stratford

Samantha Spiro as Katerina in ‘The Shrew’ at The Globe
Harriet Walter and Nicholas de Jongh in Much Ado’ at Stratford- I also love the Ken and Em film version.

I’ve recently seen Indira Varma as Lady Macbeth and she was the best thing about the production.

Thank you for saying Paul Ready @TheWillowTrees - I saw Michelle Terry and him in that production and it was one of the most intense evenings of my life. Dh had been dead about a year when I saw it, and I felt I was seeing our life together on stage. At one point my eyes met Paul's and it was like seeing my husband able to tell me what he was feeling after death. I was amazed it got such mixed reviews.

Decades ago I saw Samantha Bond as Juliet and she was effing amazing.

Ooh! I bet that was good!

Mark Rylance as Richard II
Kevin Spacey as Richard III
David Tennant as Hamlet

Those are the three who really stick in my mind as being exceptional - not just the acting but the way they shed new light on the characters.

Simon Russell Beale as Prospero. I know the play pretty well but I'd never imagined the character like that.

Hugh Quarshie as Paris in Romeo and Juliet about 30 years ago, in the same production as Sean Bean as Romeo. That might have something to do with my teenage hormones though as he was very sexy.

A black theatre company who did an outside version of Macbeth set in a modern African tribal setting instead of ancient Scottish ones. I can't remember the name unfortunately. It was great.

Many years ago I saw Antony Hopkins and Judi Dench as Antony and Cleopatra - that was amazing and has stayed with me - it must have been close to 35 years ago.

This year DD and I saw an amazing RSC touring production of Julius Caesar - it was panned but we thought it was really impressive and revelatory for me esp on the relationship between Brutus-Cassius-Portia (all played by women). Thalissa Teixeria was Brutus and she was outstanding.

Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench as Anthony and Cleopatra - must be 40+ years ago. Jonathan Pryce as Hamlet.

Haha Clary -cross posted! I think it must have been over 40 years ago as I was in sixth form and I’m now 63.

Please do try to access it, it is absolutely wonderful to see it done properly. But as you can see from this thread, there are as many interpretations as there are actors and directors. Try reading the bare plot on something like Wikipedia (spoiler alert they will sound ludicrous/boring/ancient) then watch online with someone you recognise in it, or try some of the bbc resources for schools. I’ve never met anyone who has given it a fair go who didn’t absolutely fall in love with it. Please do come back and let us know how you get on.

We went to The Globe to see Pearce Quigley as Falstaff , he was excellent ( as he is in everything ) .

Hugh Quarshie was Tybalt not Paris. All in black leather with a flick knife and a red sports car - blimey. Made quite an impression on teenaged me, as did Michael Kitchen as a very flashy Mercutio. Sean Bean as Romeo, not so much.

Oh wow! That must have been incredible!

Sophie Okonedo in Antony and Cleopatra was stunning. I had recently gone through a very messy break up and the power she had…I barely noticed Ralph Fiennes!

Also Pete Poselthwaite in Lear - I saw it twice, and he had aged so much between the two productions. It was amazing watching him portray the same role within his own limits.

I’ve never seen her live, but Father Christmas brought me the Judi Dench book on Shakespeare and it is incredible. I hadn’t appreciated her fantastic academic understanding of so much more than just the words on the page. Highly recommend it.

During one English lesson I was asked to read aloud a passage from TMOV. I forget exactly what I was reading but it was relatively plain English by WS standards. Teacher said I read it well but I couldn't help thinking it was all a load of twaddle and we were only studying it for the sake of it. Who knows, maybe theatrical is better than text in certain instances.

Kind of a random suggestion, but "Hamnet" by Maggie O'Farrell could be a way in if you wanted one, obviously it's not factual but uses details from Shakespeare's life and work and is such a beautiful book, the one that got me properly reading again after a long (and very unlike me) reading rut.

Also many many years ago I saw Ian McKellan as Romeo and that has really stayed with me (must have been late 1970s).

Also also David T in Love's Labour's Lost at RSC in Stratford.

Oooooooh also an amazingly vibrant production of Much Ado in the early 90s in London with Mark Rylance as Benedick. It was mesmerising. Saw Rylance many years later in Macbeth with Jane Horrocks and it was truly dreadful. We nearly walked out tbh.

Ahhhh @Pebbles16 snap! hadn't rtft before posting.

30 quid for stalls during previews at Stratford, and had few words with patrick and david as we were right by the aisle they entered stage on on and were often lurking behind our seats. Including when david was strapped on an office chair. our fave seats. I miss the courtyard theatre.

I loved the NT production of Timon of Athens with simon russell beale but my absolute favourite was anything with mark rylance c. Late 90s/early 2000s in at the Globe theatre esp Tempest and Cleopatra.

I just looked it up (apols to Anthony H for misspelling his first name) and it was 1987 omg omg

Kenneth Branagh as Benedick in Much Ado.

I could spend the next 60 years of my life watching Branagh’s Much Ado on a constant loop and I would never tire.

my nursing home records must state this.

Well that’s really odd as I was convinced I saw it at school but it must have been much later - I was 27 in 1987.

Like couple of others I saw Kenneth Branagh play Hamlet at Stratford many years ago. Had booked a matinee; loved it and queued for returns to watch it again that night. I was in my teens, it was the first professional production I'd seen and just remember being dazed by it.

Also saw Robert Stephens as Long Lear, and Derek Jacobi as Macbeth.

But I do think one of the best things I've seen was Mark Rylance's Olivia in Twelfth Night. I wasn't fortunate enough to see it live but have seen it on screen and he is just mesmerising. It's not even a play I particularly enjoy!

Yes to the Lester / Kinnear 'Othello' -it was amazing.

The one that has really stayed with me, though, is Brian Cox as 'Titus Andronicus' in Stratford in 1987. It was a notoriously violent production of a very gruesome play, and BC scared the living s*it out of me. He appeared to be genuinely mad by the end. Never been able to watch him in anything else since.

Can I put in a mention for all the actors and the director of the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival?

It's an open air Shakespeare festival run in college gardens during the summer.

I was not a massive Shakespeare fan but it was the v hot summer so we went one evening as not much else to do. I was hooked! The casts are all brilliant and most notably they really understand the text and how the plays were meant to be performed. I had no idea Shakespeare was so funny!

If anyone is near Cambridge on a sunny evening in the summer they are v much worth seeing.

I can’t tell you how much I envy all you posters who have been able to see these live performances. I live in the back of beyond (and generally love it) but I would love to see more live theatre.