His previous solo show, The Mystery of Charles Dickens, played in the West End and had a brief Broadway run at the Belasco Theatre in 2002. According to press materials, in this new play – first seen at last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival – "he brings to life Shakespeare's unforgettable characters and the real man behind the legend."
It is written by Jonathan Bate, directed by Tom Cairns and produced by Ambassador Theatre Group and Act Productions.
Callow was most recently seen on the London stage as Sir Toby Belch in Peter Hall's National Theatre production of Twelfth Night, and as Pozzo in Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Ronald Pickup at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. His many film appearances include "A Room with a View," "Maurice," "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Shakespeare in Love" and "Christmas Carol: The Movie." TV credits include "Rome," as Charles Dickens in an episode of "Doctor Who" and Tom Chance in the series "Chance in a Million." As an author, he has written biographies of Oscar Wilde, Charles Laughton and Orson Welles. His own autobiography, "My Life in Pieces," was published last year by Nick Hern Books and won the Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography.
Bate is a Shakespearean biographer and editor of the Royal Shakespeare Company's "Shakespeare: The Complete Works." Other books include "The Genius of Shakespeare" (1997) and "Soul of the Age: The Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare," the latter of which was published last year. He has just been elected Provost of Worcester College and Professor of English Literature at Oxford University and is a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Cairns' other theatre work includes Phaedra (Donmar), All About My Mother (Old Vic) and The Odyssey and Aristocrats (both at the National). To book tickets, contact the box office on 0844 871 7632, or visit www.beingshakespeare.com for more details.