What You Will, Apollo

Following in the footsteps of Sir Patrick Stewart and Al Pacino, two actors who have attracted new audiences to Shakespeare through TV and movie stardom, comes Roger Rees.

Stewart’s fellow RSC alumnus won Olivier and Tony awards in the lead role of the RSC’s The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby in 1980 but has spent most of the past 20-odd years in the US, where he appeared in Cheers, The West Wing and Grey’s Anatomy.

His one-man show about Shakespeare is a medley of Bill’s greatest bits plus theatrical anecdotes. It sounds like it could be ghastly but Rees is a likeable presence and there is lots of name-dropping, insights into acting Shakespeare plus memories of his days at the RSC, where he started as a spear-carrier with Sir Ben Kingsley.

He has also collected schoolboy howlers about the Bard; apparently a lot of Shakespeare “is written in Islamic pentameter”. Speeches including “To be or not to be...” and “Is this a dagger which I see before me...” are all beautifully performed, as you would expect of one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation (Rees is now 68).

But a surprisingly poignant moment comes with the Nurse’s speech from Romeo and Juliet, which starts as comedy but is then tear-jerkingly moving. A delightful reminder of what we have been missing all these years.

Until 6 October (0844 412 4658, nimaxtheatres.com)