Wayne Cater and Michael Bogdanov examine a model of the set

Wayne Cater was asked to master one of Shakespeare's most challenging roles in both languages in a Wales Theatre Company production.

Now a colleague has taken on the Welsh version, and the company has delayed the first shows in Swansea to Saturday.

Director Michael Bogdanov said Cater had battled fantastically, but it was always going to be a big challenge.

'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'... IN ENGLISH AND WELSH To be or not to be, that is the question/ Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? Bod neu beidio � bod/ Dyna'r dewis/ Ai dewrach dioddef yn feddyliol/ Saethau ac ergydion mympwyol ffawd?

The company had planned to put on preview performances from 19 October at Swansea's Grand Theatre, but the first night has been put back to 22 October to allow more rehearsal time.

The Welsh translation has been done by playwright Gareth Miles, and the cast had just five weeks to crack both versions.

Cater said: "It was going to be difficult but the challenge was offered up to me and I took it.

"Unfortunately it didn't quite work out that way."

He discussed the problem with Bogdanov, and they decided that Gareth Bale should become the Welsh-language Hamlet, with Cater taking on his colleague's lesser role.

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"I'm not going to feel like I've been kicked out of one of the plays - I'm still part of the company and I'm very glad about that and I'm going to enjoy experiencing Gareth's Hamlet on stage in the Welsh one."

Cater said he was happier now that he had the breathing space to do the English Hamlet justice.

Bogdanov, a co-founder of the English Shakespeare Company and an Olivier Award winner, said: "If you don't risk something you never gain something".

He said he had watched Cater "battle" with Hamlet, but the role had proved too much for many actors in one language alone.

The challenge was offered up to me and I took it... unfortunately it didn't quite work out Wayne Cater

Bogdanov recalled how Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis had walked off stage at the National Theatre while playing Hamlet and then disappeared for months.

"So not being able to get two Hamlets under your belt in five weeks' rehearsal is no disgrace," said Bogdanov.

"I think the problem that none of us really took on board is that Welsh and English are so different as languages that when you try to learn it in both of them the sense of the English is there in Welsh, but of course Gareth Miles has come up with a completely different script, so the thoughts are going off to the sides.

Gareth Bale has taken on the part of Hamlet in Welsh

"So the difficulty of learning it in both languages is compounded."

Bale said the Welsh version had been very difficult to learn.

"I'm trying to get my head around it now, so I'm not sure how much acting I'll be able to do.

"I think it will be a case of learning the lines and not falling over the furniture."

Hamlet will be at the Grand Theatre, Swansea from 22-29 Oct; New Theatre, Cardiff 2-12 Nov; Torch Theatre, Milford Haven 14-16 Nov; Theatre Brycheiniog, Brecon 17-19 Nov, and North Wales Theatre, Llandudno 21-24 Nov. Check with venues for English or Welsh-language versions.