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We have cut the text, but what remains are Shakespeare's words.

First of all, there was a volcano of words, an eruption of words that Shakespeare had never used before that had never been used in the English language before. It's astonishing. It pours out of him.

Particularly for English people, Shakespeare is always at the forefront of both drama and the English language. He's always been there. I can't remember starting school and not learning about him.

Shakespeare is the one who gets re-interpreted most frequently.

First of all, Shakespeare is about pleasure and interest. He was from the first moment he actually wrote something for the stage, and he remains so.

I've been with Shakespeare all my life.

Well, as a kid I did not get Shakespeare. I just never understood it.

If you can read, then you can recite Shakespeare. But that's not acting.

Shakespeare was a dramatist of note who lived by writing things to quote.

With Shakespeare, because you invest so much time in working on material, it always sort of stays with you to some degree.