Being Shakespeare

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Simon Callow brings to life Shakespeare's unforgettable characters and the real man behind the legend in this triumphant play, Being Shakespeare. After taking the Edinburgh Festival by storm and following a hugely successful national tour, Callow's magnificent performance sets the West End alight again for a strictly limited season.

Recently hailed for his performance as Sir Toby Belch in the National Theatre's critically acclaimed sold-out production of Twelfth Night, Simon Callow (star of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love, Room with a View) joins forces with Jonathan Bate (pre-eminent Shakespeare biographer and editor of the RSC's Shakespeare: The Complete Works) and director Tom Cairns (Old Vic's All About My Mother, National Theatre's Aristocrats, Royal Opera House's Cocteau's Voices) to fill the stage in an extraordinary theatrical event.

Back by popular demand and prior to his US tour, Simon Callow reprises his celebration of the world's most renowned playwright in Being Shakespeare. This revelatory theatrical masterpiece, penned by pre-eminent Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate, beckons us into a world populated by the Bard's most loved and most reviled characters, seamlessly interweaving his plays with the life story of the man behind the legend.

Callow's virtuoso performance delivers Shakespeare's Greatest Hits with astonishing versatility and infectious enthusiasm, making this a truly unique and illuminating theatrical experience.

'AS AN INTRODUCTION TO BOTH THE WRITER AND HIS WORK, THIS SHOW HAS MUCH TO RECOMMEND IT, CALLOW'S PASSION FOR SHAKESPEARE SHINES THROUGH.'
Telegraph

'JIVE BUNNY MASTERMIX OF SOME OF THE BARD'S BEST BITS'
The Times

'A MEMORABLY MULTIDIMENSIONAL PICTURE OF SHAKESPEARE, STEEPED IN SCHOLARSHIP AND LOVE.'
The Guardian

'CALLOW REVELS IN FALSTAFF AND BOTTOM.'
The Sunday Times