Part of the Shakespeare in Washington festival.

With his floppy, foppy hair and posh accent, Welsh-born actor Roger Rees has charmed a couple of generations of TV viewers as a feckless boyfriend ("Cheers"), a perpetually potted British ambassador ("The West Wing") and a pompous heart surgeon ("Grey?s Anatomy"). But it's the plays that remain the thing for this classical stage vet who had a stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He'll reminisce and recount stories about being Hamlet et al Friday through Sunday at the Folger Theatre in his one-man show, "What You Will: By and About the Bard."

So why Shakespeare? Why can't you, or we, get enough of him?
Why is he by the bed with the Bible and Dickens, you mean? I suppose it's that every emotion can be found in his work, and that he hits on everything in his plays. I mean, when we say "one fell swoop" or "to the manor born," we're quoting him.

How do you feel about those cheeky movies like "Romeo + Juliet," and teen comedies that loosely update the Bard?
It's great. I rather suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today, he'd be making movies. It's good that these young directors aren't being too exclusive or grand about things.

But doesn't Shakespeare need to be treated with some respect?
Shakespeare was among the first guys writing in iambic pentameter, so to him it must've felt like jazz. But he wasn?t writing sacred poetry, so people shouldn?t treat it as such. These plays are meant to be done standing up, not read out of a book.

You teach the Bard, as well as direct his works as the head of the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. What?s the key to making people understand him?
I think it's easy as long as you particularize his characters and make them relatable. I was once teaching these young girls at a private school about "Macbeth," and I had them yelling, "You go for it, girl!" at Lady Macbeth.

What kinds of juicy backstage tidbits are you going to reveal?
Once I was playing Roderigo in "Othello" in Japan. There was an earthquake during the show while I was onstage with another actor. We didn't know what to do, so we stayed and finished the scene, even though the audience ran out to a park next door. They eventually came back and applauded for what must've been an hour.

Any good stuff from your famous gig as "Hamlet"?
Once I came out and did that entrance that starts with "To be or not to be." A woman in the audience shouted out, "That is the question!" I had to say, "indeed it is" and move.

--Jennifer Barger (Express, March 29, 2007)