The smaller female roles which are often so important to the plot.
Some of Shakespeare’s most glorious female characters are the sluts and wenches, who together with their devoted shepherd lads, people such rural landscapes as The Forest of Arden in As You Like It and the meadows of Bohemia in A Winter's Tale. And of course they have their counterparts in the town – think of the wonderfully monikered Doll Tearsheet, who plies her trade at the Boar’s Head Tavern in Henry IV Part Two! In the last of our series on Shakespeare’s ‘Best Supporting female roles’, Judi Herman has been in both tavern and field to talk to some of the women playing these roles and also to Pippa Guard, lecturer in Drama and English at the University of Greenwich. Derby Playhouse's production of As You Like It runs until 23rd June. The Royal Shakespeare Company is staging Shakespeare's History Cycle, including Henry IV PartsOneand Two, from 7th July. And the Season at Shakespeare's Globe continues until 7th October.
