There's going to be a lot of Shakespearean content coming our way in the next couple of months as we approach the 400th anniversary of his death and the Guardian have got in early with the first part of their
Shakespeare Solos. Six leading actors performing favourite monologues from the Bard, directed by Dan Susman, it's all rather luxurious, especially when we get the delights of Eileen Atkins in beautifully conversational mode as
Othello's Emilia, Adrian Lester returning to
Hamlet and Roger Allam whetting the appetite for a
King Lear which will surely be one of the wonders of the modern world once it happens.
And if a couple of the choices here smack a little of sneaky advertising, then so what. Better to have opportunities for people to book and see more if they are so inspired by these clips. Atkins is reprising
her solo show at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse and Ayesha Dharker (here as Titania) will open in the RSC's mammoth tour of
A Midsummer Night's Dream later this month. It might not be
Hamlet but Adrian Lester can be seen being differently Shakespearean in
Red Velvet and most tenuously of all though still thoroughly theatrical, David Morrissey (a hypnotic Richard III) can be seen for another month in
Hangmen.
