Welcome to the British Shakespeare Association

Dame Harriet Walter has been an admirable interpreter of Shakespeare, and her performances of roles like Portia, Cleopatra, Lady Macbeth, and Imogen are characterised by their intelligence as much as their passion. Her career of over 25 years has made spectators worldwide aware that, when performing

The recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK and the US, Sir Ian McKellen’s place as one of the most eminent and famous Shakespeareans is beyond doubt. Cited as one of the ‘Great Shakespearean Actors’, in Stanley Well’s book of that name, Wells asserts that “His great strengths

John is Emeritus Professor of English Studies at the university of Stirling. He has published widely in the area of Shakespeare Studies and is the editor of Alternative Shakespeares, a series that had a fundamental effect on the academic study of Shakespeare in Britain, alongside Dollimore and

Roger is a giant in the world of Shakespearean Education. A teacher for the whole of his life, he has touched thousands of young people with his immense experience and insights. He has given the greatest gift any educator can give to his students: inspiration. Such a gift to these many young Shakespeareans

For almost 40 years Sarah Stanton shaped the field of Shakespeare studies through her work as chief commissioning editor at Cambridge University Press. Her faith, encouragement and knowledge has been both a source of inspiration for many of those thinking and writing about Shakespeare. Whenever she is

Adrian Lester has become one of the most eminent Shakespearean actors of his generation. He first came to public attention for his stunning rendition of Rosalind in the famous all-male production of As You Like It by the Cheek By Jowl Theatre Company. Since then he has excelled in the roles

Dame Judi Dench is an Oscar award-winning film, stage and television actor. Her Shakespearean screen roles include Mistress Quickly and Hecuba in Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V and Hamlet, as well as her lauded appearance as Queen Elizabeth I in John Madden’s Shakespeare in Love

Cicely Berry is Director of Voice at the Royal Shakespeare Company, where, for forty-five  years, she has played a vital role in forming and developing the company’s working practices.  She has had an equally important impact on education and has also made Shakespeare’s language  available beyond

Professor John Russell Brown, who died in August 2015, was a distinguished academic, dramaturg and theatre director. He established one of the country’s first university Drama departments at Birmingham and later ran the scripts department at the National Theatre. He also brought Shakespeare to the wider

R. A. Foakes, who died in December 2013, was a critic, textual scholar, and theatre historian. His landmark edition of Henslowe’s Diary, co-edited with R. T. Rickert in 1961, was an essential work of scholarship surpassing the edition by W. W. Greg. Out of print by the turn of the century, copies fetched