King’s couldn’t have picked a better date to fall in love with Simon Russell Beale. Despite it being Valentine’s Day, the Great Hall was packed to the brim with audience members hankering to be this close to the acclaimed Shakespeare actor.

Chaired by Sonia Massai, professor of Shakespeare Studies at King’s, Beale spent the evening discussing highlights of his career, namedropping interactions with Shakespeare stalwarts such as actor Derek Jacobi and director Sam Mendes. Entitled ‘Acting Between the Lines’, the conversation had a strong textual focus, questioning the context surrounding Shakespeare’s lines, and the conversation quickly took on an academic turn. Beale was put in the hot seat, audience members eager to find out how he himself interpreted the words of the Bard, and how he would translate those lines to the stage in his incredible performances.

Some of the stranger lines highlighted that night included Thersites's reference to ‘potato fingers’ from Troilus and Cressida, where scholars interpreted potatoes as having once been considered aphrodisiacs. On some of his favourite roles, Beale spoke fondly of his role as Benedick in the National Theatre’s 2007 production of Much Ado About Nothing, citing that Bendick. On how purist one should be when performing Shakespeare, Beale explained how it honestly depends on each person, citing the liberties he took with a monologue from Timon of Athens, flipping lines around according to what felt best at the time.

Beale doesn’t do too much research into the play prior to a performance, mostly limiting his interpretation to just reading and interpreting the words within the world of the play, lest he is overcome by a need to indulge his ‘geeky pleasures’ in finding out more. However, the one play he did do research into was his titular role in King Lear. Beale read up about dementia, which he believed Lear was suffering from, in order to really get into the head of the character, which went so well that he was asked to host a television show about dementia.

Beale admits to having played just about every Shakespeare role he has ever wanted, a claim most actors can only dream of saying. (‘What a bold, smug claim!’ he added, to the audience’s laughter.) From Hamlet to Iago, Timon to Lear, Beale has done it all. Despite his imposing casting credits and Cambridge credentials, Beale comes across as charming, likeable and someone you could probably have a long, casual conversation about just about anything under the sun over a glass of wine. Though not the most ground breaking of conversations, Beale certainly made for an interesting speaker who helped shed light and offer theatrical insight for scholars and performers alike as to how one should treat the word of Shakespeare for a modern audience.

What other performance then could Beale possibly follow up with to add to his extensive list of roles? It turns out, the master of books himself – Prospero in the RSC’s production of The Tempest at Stratford-upon-Avon in early November.