Patrick Stewart on Prospero

Patrick Stewart is an English actor whose career on stage and screen spans almost six decades. He began his stage career with the Royal Shakespeare Company where he received an Olivier Award for his performance in Antony and Cleopatra (1979) in London's West End. His first major screen roles were on the BBC in the mid-late 1970s, including Hedda, and the I, Claudius miniseries. His role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation made him a household name, and subsequently his performances as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise have brought him international acclaim. In 2010, Stewart received an OBE for services to drama.



Julian Curry (1937-2020) was a writer and actor who appeared in many of Shakespeare's plays. His extensive stage credits include leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and in London's West End.

He was also well known as Claude Erskine-Brown in the popular television series Rumpole of the Bailey. Numerous other TV credits include Inspector Morse, Sherlock Holmes, The Misanthrope, King Lear, Kavanagh QC, The Wyvern Mystery, A Fine Romance and Midsomer Murders. Among many movies are The Missionary, Fall from Grace, Rasputin, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Escape to Victory (starring Pelé).

His one-man entertainment Hic! or The Entire History of Wine (abridged) was performed over a hundred and fifty times, from Hong Kong to Bermuda to San Francisco, and sold out as a cartoon-illustrated book. He also wrote and recorded A Guide to Wine for Naxos Audiobooks.

His books, Shakespeare On Stage and Shakespeare On Stage: Volume 2, were both shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize, and are published by Nick Hern Books.