Dharmesh Patel hated Shakespeare at school, deadened by the curriculum and it’s teaching, having never seen it brought to life on stage. The irony then, that his first break was joining the RSC and he is now touring with The Globe, playing Proteus in The Gentlemen of Verona in Oxford’s Bodleian Quad, is not lost on him.

Instead it spurs Dharmesh on, wanting to inspire a new generation of Shakespeare lovers, and convert the unconverted.

“If your foirst esxdperience of Shakespare is a good one, then you will want to see more, to explore his other plays and that’s our job, to capture people;’s iumaginations with vibrant performances so that people have experiences they will remember.

“So it seems appropriate that &&& is it’s set in 1966, when the world really was changing and opening up to a whole new generation , when anything felt possible and things were much more accessible

It will be nice to be in Oxford in the summer amidst such amazing buildings and colleges. It’s such a great backdrop for Shakespeare.

Wearing nylon is fun in the summer, and a shirt and tie in the heat is even better. But then

Not his best known play then? “No, with you can see where he’s going with it and watch his ideas taking form, but it doesn’t flow like the others, it dopesn;t have the same rhythm. But that’s what’s been so wonderful about this, we bring it to life and give it a pulse. We have made it more contemporary, introduced a band so there is some incredible live music which uplifts the whole piece and depicts for young characters setting out into the world to make their mark, to escape and see what happens.

“And that’s what Shakespeare is about for me, it’s about keeping it fresh and alive by reimaging and adapting it. That’s what Shakespeare would have done if he was alive today. He was so ahead of his time he would be reworking his pieces to bring them in line with today’s audiences. IUt’s not radical but we have to ensure that new audiences are attracted or it will die out

And as we’ve toured all round Europe with this, wondering if people would actually understand it, it made us realise that human behaviour is a common language for us all. We all understand emotions and feelings and that’s what our job is, to tell the story. And so far the tour has been a real privilege.

“And that’s what didn’t happen for me until I got taken on by the RSC for three years. They took a punt on me certainly but I was willing to learn and showed me the imagery and musicality of the language, how beautiful it can be.

But while aesthetically pleasing, the acoustics can be tricky. Something to worry about then? “No, it’s not the space but the rain we worry, having the elements to contest with.

And one day the Red Arrfows flew ahead and we all just stopped and watched about he lauighs,” “the space we adapt to whther its an intimate audience of 200 in a *** almost on top of us or a 3000 seater music stadium in Budapest where we had to preojedct like enver before. We’ve been in acxstles and playing amidst mountains on this tour around Europe and the UK, so it’s been a gift.

The only embarrassing thing is that in Europe if they give you a standing ovation you have to keep coming back out and bowing and as a shy Englishman I find that starnge because I’m just doing my job and it’s one I love. As long as you are contuinually learning, testing and pushing yourself.

And my friends keep me down to earth. I sat down next to one at a party and he said: “I’m glad you’re leaving acting to joined the RAC and become a car mechanic,”. So you can never take yourself too seriously.”