Spectacular actor, director and dramatist Steven Berkoff will shed light on the psyche of Shakespeare’s notorious villains in a one man show to be held at the Manoel Theatre on Friday 2, Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 February at 7.30pm , in collaboration with the British Council.

“Shakespeare’s Villains” is a Masterclass in Evil in which Berkoff explores and analyses Shakespeare’s most villainous characters – those who are shown to be inherently evil, others whose situation leads them to evil deeds and those at the mercy of an evil society. Berkoff has performed his “villainous: masterpiece which forms part of the trilogy including “One Man” and “Requiem for Ground Zero” in venues all over the world to enthusiastic audiences.

Steven Berkoff was born in Stepney, London. After studying drama and mime in London and Paris, he entered a series of repertory companies, and in 1968 formed the London Theatre Group.

His plays and adaptations have been performed in many countries and in many languages.

Among the several adaptations Berkoff has created for the stage, directed and toured, are Kafka’s “Metamorphoses” and “The Trial”, “Agamemnon” after Aeschylus, and Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”. He has directed and toured productions of Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus”, also playing the title role, “Richard II”, “Hamlet” and “Macbeth” as well as Oscar Wilde’s “Salome’”.

Berkoff has featured on the big screen in among others “A Clockwork Orange”, “Barny Lyndon”, “Octopussy” and “Under the Cherry Moon”.

He has published a variety of books on the Theatre such as the production journals “I am Hamlet”, “Meditations on Metamorphoses” and “Coriolanus in Deutschland”. His work has been a primary agent for him to traverse the globe, and his love for travel is apparent in his book “Shopping in the Santa Monica Mall: The Journals of a Strolling Player”.

Reservations for Berkoff’s enactment of “Shakespeare’s Villains” may be made at the Manoel Theatre Booking Office, tel. 21 246389, e-mail bookings @teatrumanoel. com.mt