''Shakespeare's Villains'' is a one-man play, created and performed by

Steven Berkoff Steven Berkoff (born Leslie Steven Berks; 3 August 1937) is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director. As a theatre maker he is recognised for staging work with a heightened performance style eponymously ...

. Following its first run at London's

Theatre Royal, Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

(7 July – 8 August 1998) where it was produced by Berkoff's East Productions and

Marc Sinden Marcus Andrew Sinden (born 9 May 1954) is an English actor and film & theatre director and producer. Sinden has worked in film and theatre (mainly in London's West End) as both actor and producer and directed the documentary series '' Great We ...

(who also co-directed), it was nominated for The

Society of London Theatre The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is an umbrella organisation for West End theatre in London. Founded in 1908, as Society of West End Theatre Managers, then Society of West End Theatre in 1975, changing to its current name in 1994, the (SOLT) ...

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Entertainment The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Family Show is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 197 ...

. Performed around the world by Berkoff since 1998, the piece explores and analyses

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's most villainous characters, including

Iago Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist, and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia, who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hat ...

, the

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

s, Shylock and

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Bat ...

– characters who are inherently evil and whose situation leads them to do evil deeds, or who are at the mercy of an evil society.

References

1998 plays West End plays Plays for one performer Literature about literature Plays by Steven Berkoff Plays and musicals based on works by William Shakespeare {{1990s-play-stub