Local Guardian Group review of Shakespeare's Villains

COLD, calculating and vengeful, Shakespeare can take credit for most of the inspirations for today’s villains in theatre, film and, arguably, real life.

No-one has created so many different kinds of villains in so many different guises, whether it’s Shylock the vindictive moneyman in The Merchant of Venice, Iago in Othello, or the murderous Macbeth and his power-crazed wife.

Steven Berkoff has played most of them. He could write the book on how to ‘do’ evil and tonight he is scary, incredibly funny and an absolute inspiration to everyone who has braved his ‘Shakespeare’s Villains’ lecture in the packed-out Stratford Circus.

From the moment Mr Berkoff steps on stage, the audience are irresistibly drawn into a dark and dangerous world where the great Bard’s nastiest characters exist with all their evil and murderous intentions intact.

Mr Berkoff takes us on a fast and terrifying ride with brilliant humour and creepy intonations of all the best Shakespeare texts with the emphasis firmly on showing the audience just how it should be done.

But, more importantly, Mr Berkoff shows us why Shakespeare should be pulled out of the classroom, dragged into the modern world and thrust into the minds of those who could be forgiven for thinking he’s irrelevant.

Lessons in how to perform the weaker, more stupid villains sit alongside an insightful portrayal of Richard III, a ‘powerful, evil genius’ as Mr Berkoff put it, while anecdotes about Al Pacino’s Shakespeare experiences and other influences on Hollywood bring laughter.

For the young of Stratford – and there were many present – the evening must have sparked minds and fired imaginations. Having watched many Royal Shakespeare Company productions of my favourite plays I have always, myself, appreciated the villains best.

But tonight, for the first time, I learnt why those characters work, how they were devised and how they have helped sculpt our world.

I would say that Mr Berkoff who, by the way, played the bad guy in Beverly Hills Cop, would probably have been a brilliant inspiration for one of the great man’s bad guys. He is a ‘powerful, evil genius…'

Darren Rackham
Chief sub-editor