Two actors with extensive but very different experience use Shakespeare’s plays as a ground for self-reflection and for considering their place—both in the world and on the stage. One is a lifelong freelancer and author who consciously rejects offers for permanent engagements in institutional theatre ensembles; the other is a leading actor in the ensemble of a respected theatre institution, who loves large-scale productions and major roles. One is losing faith in theatre and in the world around him, while the other tries to lift his spirits, and both are re-examining and redefining their relationship to acting and to theatre.

Two different actors, yet equal in their dedication to acting, rely on Shakespeare’s plays in which they lose—and find—themselves. Everything is possible here, the extremes and everything in between: deep self-reflection, meditation, explosion, and love—on stage, with Shakespeare. The rhetorical precision and emotional power of Shakespeare’s language open up a whole range of entry points into scenes that mirror their attitudes, fears, and uncertainties. But, as you might expect, the two actors also differ in their relationship to Shakespeare’s plays.

The world on stage is full of conflict, both internal and external, and so every conscientious and devoted actor is filled with doubts and struggles. Nevertheless, such an actor will always step onto the stage and give everything they have. And before you are two just like that—and their conflicts.