STRATFORD, England, June 29 (Reuters) - Celebrated British actor Geraldine James thought it was a joke when she was asked to take the lead in the Royal Shakespeare Company's latest production of "As You Like It", a comedy of young love.
Playing at the Royal Shakespeare Company's home in Stratford, central England, until Aug. 5, the production is in step with a trend for experimental casting - last year Britain's Ian McKellan, now 84, played the student prince Hamlet.
She brings her craft "to a role and words that in more kind of traditional casting, we wouldn't be able to hear".
Her one criticism of Britain's greatest playwright is that his best female roles, such as Rosalind, are young.
Reporting by Sarah Mills; writing by Barbara Lewis, Editing by William MacleanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Geraldine James, Shakespeare, Omar Elerian, James, Ian McKellan, Richard Attenborough’s, Rosalind, Elerian, Lear, Prospero, Sarah Mills, Barbara Lewis, William Maclean
Organizations:
Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
STRATFORD, England, British, Italian, Stratford ,