[Angus]

Richard III is my all time favourite, closely followed by Hamlet, Macbeth, Henry V, Romeo & Juliet, The Merchant of Venice,Antony and Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. I have watched many different productions of these plays and am always struck at how contemporary and relevant the themes are no matter what setting they are in.

Some of my favourite soliloquies are pure genius ; Hamlet's "To be or not to be", Macbeth "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow"; Richard III "Now is the winter of our discontent"; Romeo & Juliet "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks"; Henry V "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more"; Anthony and Cleopatra "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety"; Julius Caesar "Cowards die many times before their deaths". The secret of Shakespeare's genius is that he was a magnificent poet as well as a genius playwright - I have often been moved to tears. His works cover the whole range of human emotions and predicaments.

It's strange because I was bored stiff by Shakespeare at school where we were forced to learn lines by rote instead of in context, and it wasn't till I started going to the theatre in my teens that I really appreciated the plays. Now I own most of them on DVD and will often re-watch a favourite.