Notable productions for the stage include Miss Julie, Twelfth Night, Medea and A Streetcar Named Desire for the Royal Dramatic Theatre and the City Theatre in Stockholm.

BBC: Profile: Helena Bergstrom

The all-female production follows closely after and all-male version of both Twelfth Night and Richard III, recently transferred to the West End from Shakespeare's Globe.

BBC: Julius Caesar: Critics hail all-female production

Prince of Tyre, Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Troilus and Cressida, Twelfth Night, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Winter's Tale.

BBC: CBBC Newsround | SHAKESPEARE | Shakespeare the playwright

The best actor race sees Curious Incident's Luke Treadaway up against Rupert Everett's Oscar Wilde in The Judas Kiss, Mark Rylance for Twelfth Night, Macbeth's James McAvoy and Rafe Spall for Constellations.

BBC: Theatre's Olivier Award winners to be announced

Middle Temple hosted the first performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in 1602, and in 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh received a charter here from Elizabeth I to establish the colony of Virginia in North America.

BBC: The Olympics�� many cultures

In 1913, just 100 years ago, Jackson opened his own purpose-built theatre in the centre of the city, ever after known as the Birmingham Rep, with a production of Twelfth Night.

BBC: Birmingham town hall

Twelfth Night runs alongside Richard III at the Apollo Theatre until February.

BBC: Stephen Fry praised for return to West End stage

He then spent 12 months studying the Bard for his BA in English Literature, devouring Twelfth Night, Antony and Cleopatra, Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello and Hamlet.

BBC: Henry swaps comedy for Shakespeare