I took a year off, and I had one extraordinary moment where I woke up, a light bulb came on and I thought what the hell am I doing reading drama as an academic subject at university? I had never wanted to teach it, I wanted to act. You gave up a place at Bristol Uni aged 18 to study at RADA, would you do the same again now?Everyone said I would go to university – it was suggested I did English and drama, and I was chuffed when I got on it. When we were in Hamlet together, director Rob Icke rewrote it and made it a more streamlined play for our times, and I think that’s great. Theatre is about now, live events, it’s about the room of people you are with on the night, it’s about how it resonates now and if it doesn’t let’s not bother with it. Fine if that is your thing, I understand it and respect it, but that is absolutely not my bag. When I was 20 and went to the RSC on the bottom rung – you know, ‘shut up and do what you are told’ sort of contract – even then I thought why are we doing all these plays constantly, going round the canon? Why are we doing that if we’re not saying each time what this play has got to do with how we are living now? What is the point in doing any of them if it’s not speaking to the times we’re living in? So that’s why I personally have never had any interest in finding out how Shakespeare did the plays in his time, or ending the play with a jig. You’ve said that it is important that we treat 500-year-old plays as new ones.Absolutely – that is my mantra. I’m a bit sore about it but everyone has got things that we are disappointed to have missed – all those weddings. It’s a fantastic company and I really miss them. You were meant to be in The Doctor in the West End, how is it not doing it?It’s very sad, but we did play it at the Almeida and made it to the Adelaide Festival in Australia, which ran for two weeks and then came back here poised to go. Where are you spending lockdown?I’m in the Suffolk countryside, my husband has some health issues so he absolutely must be kept safe. Interview by Calum Finlay and the young actors at Playbox. This year’s Pragnell Shakespeare Birthday Award recipient Juliet Stevenson may not be able to be in Stratford in person, but she joined Playbox Theatre for an online chat, about her acting experiences (and her teenage stalking of Ian Richardson!). Juliet Stevenson being interviewed online earlier this month.

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