Star launches one-man show on real William Shakespeare

ACTOR Simon Callow was in Sheffield to launch his new one-man show, The Man From Stratford: Being Shakespeare, which will run at the Lyceum Theatre next month.

To celebrate the show's launch, he visited Sheffield's Graves Gallery to view the Chandos portrait of William Shakespeare, which is on tour outside of London for the very first time.

The unique painting is the only portrait of Shakespeare that has any claim to have been painted from life, and is part of Museums Sheffield's Writers of Influence: Shakespeare to JK Rowling exhibition, which runs at Graves Gallery until Saturday, July 3.

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Named after its early owner James Brydges, the third duke of Chandos, the picture is thought to have been painted between 1600 and 1610. It is not known for sure who painted it, or whether it definitely does depict Shakespeare.

A spokesman for Sheffield Theatres said: "Shakespeare is the greatest writer the world has ever known. But we know nothing about him. Or do we?

"In a magical tour-de-force, Simon Callow, one of Britain's greatest actors, tracks down the real William Shakespeare, bringing to life both the man and the unforgettable characters – lovers, kings, soldiers and clowns – who have since conquered the world's stages."

They added: "Mr Callow joins forces with Jonathan Bate, pre-eminent Shakespeare biographer and editor of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Shakespeare: The Complete Works, to fill the stage with Shakespeare's real and imagined worlds."

The Man From Stratford: Being Shakespeare is at the Lyceum Theatre from July 1 to July 3. For tickets, costing 16 to 24, call the box office on 0114 24960 00.

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