Playing Hamlet on stage is clearly daunting, and tackling King Lear night after night can take it out of an actor. But for anyone in search of a big Shakespearean challenge, how about convincing a live audience there is more than a funny name to laugh at about Bottom the Weaver?
It takes serious stagecraft to bring appropriately silly life to the character who ends up wearing the head of an ass in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Much of the burden of the comedy in this magical play sits on the shoulders of this guileless artisan, and a string of famous performers, from James Cagney on film to comedians in London’s West End, have had a go in the modern era.
