The two productions that have bookended Nicholas Hytner’s decade as artistic director of the National Theatre, Henry V and Othello, have much in common. There’s Shakespeare, Adrian Lester in the title roles and an ability to do that thing which Hytner has said National Theatre productions should strive for — holding up a mirror to the nation.

Did Lear sexually abuse his daughters? In Michael Attenborough’s austere new Shakespeare production, with a splendidly bearded Jonathan Pryce in the title role, there is more than a hint of something dark and inappropriate in Lear’s family history.

Shakespeare’s Shylock is probably the most famous of all Jewish characters, but we are less familiar with how Jews lived when The Merchant of Venice was written in the 1590s.

The producer bringing an Israeli theatre company to perform for the first time at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre has described it as "a dream come true".

But Rut Tonn of the Habima Theatre also expressed concern that the production would be targeted by protesters.

Habima's version of The Merchant of Venice will be one of 37 plays staged in 37 different languages at the Globe next April as part

William Shakespeare was not the real writer of his works - it was Elizabeth I.

This is the belief of political poet Trevor Leonard, who will be appearing at Speaker's Corner in London next Sunday, October 3 at 1pm.

Know how to say "To be or not to be" in Somali? Teacher Richard Benn does. The 40-year-old, who is head of English at Silver-dale comprehensive school in Sheffield, has teamed
up with his colleagues - and pupils - to translate William Shakespeare's works into the Somali
language.

They have founded the The Somali Shakespeare Company - a community-based group established to promote Somali-language theatre and culture. Around 16 per cent of students at Silverdale are Somali. Glasgow-born Mr Benn tells People: "My colleague was out for

Brenda Adelman never had the typical Jewish Brooklyn family. Her mother was, she says, a "kooky and wild" bohemian photographer who dressed like Marilyn Monroe and smoked a pipe. Her father kept his 35-calibre handgun under his pillow when he slept, carried it with him wherever he went. Father and daughter bonded when he taught her how to shoot.

But her childhood was happy and the family was close-knit. "I was really close to both my parents. My mother was my best friend and I was daddy's little girl," says the 45-year-old New Yorker.

'I used to be a little bit disarmed when people said: 'Oh you're playing Lear - you're far too young.' But now I'm much more cavalier about it," declares Greg Hicks. "I'll give what I know about life and whatever abilities I have as an actor a whirl." Judging by the reviews he has had for his King Lear in the current Royal Shakespeare Company production in Stratford-upon-Avon, the strategy is paying dividends.

"Anyway, the part wasn't written for an old man," he continues. "It was written for a 38-year-old."