I don’t remember my first Shakespeare experience.

Being born half an hour from Stratford-upon-Avon and having literary/theatrical parents, I was taken to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from a tender age, so who knows which was my first play.

On the way there in the car my parents would tell me the story of whatever we were about to see:

“Once upon a time there was a foolish old king…”

“Once upon a time there was an evil queen…”

“Once upon a time there were two families who hated each other…”

And I would be captivated for the next few hours. And always a packet of chips in the car on the way home.

I never stood a chance. I was a Shakespeare nut from the late 1960’s onwards.

When it came to treading the boards myself, I stepped into some of the great roles - Titania, the Shrew, Beatrice – although sadly the world still awaits my seminal Lady Macbeth.

Directing Shakespeare, teaching him, lecturing on him, writing about him – he is, admittedly, a central man in my life, as my husband has gracefully accepted over the years.

So if I have learned anything from this long relationship with the Warwickshire Lad, it is that he has something to say on most subjects.

Here you will find my thoughts on all that, my take on him, my prattle…

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                        “Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak.”

                                                                                                                               As You Like It 3.2.