This summer’s Stafford Shakespeare production sees Benedict Shaw playing the biggest role of his career. The Hollyoaks and Emmerdale actor, who grew up in Staffordshire, will be taking a deep-dive into his own psyche to star as Hamlet. Benedict spoke to What’s On about the challenge of playing one of Shakespeare’s most famous and multi-layered characters.

It’s becoming quite the year for Hamlet. Umpteen productions are being staged all over the UK, with two different versions taking place within weeks of each other at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon, and headline-grabbing adaptations including a one-man show by comedian Eddie Izzard.

The enduring appeal of arguably Shakespeare’s best-known play speaks to its ongoing resonance and relevance to the contemporary world. That’s the view of Boat Story, Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star Benedict Shaw, who takes on the lead role in director Richard Cheshire’s bold new production at Stafford’s Gatehouse Theatre.

“This play’s 400 years old,” he says, “so there has to be a reason why it still speaks to us. And that’s also why Shakespeare is regarded as the best dramatist of all time - he knew how to tap into the human condition. I think that’s one of the reasons I was drawn to auditioning and accepting the role, because I was curious about why this play is so commonplace in our culture. ‘To be or not to be’ stands alone as being referenced by people who probably aren’t even into Shakespeare. It’s a motto or mantra that seems to be in the consciousness of everybody - as is the image of Hamlet with the skull.

“I saw this as an opportunity for me to really delve into this piece of writing and the complexities of it, and why it stands true to this day.”

Another reason Benedict was drawn to the role was rather more geographic than dramatic. A former pupil at the town’s Blessed William Howard school, he grew up in Rowley Park and was a member of the Gatehouse Youth Theatre - all factors that segue nicely with a shift in emphasis for this year’s Stafford Shakespeare production, which is putting the focus back on local talent. Other homegrown stars include Sean O’Callaghan (Claudius), Sean McKenzie (Polonius), Lucinda Freeburn (Guildenstern) and Alex Wadham (Horatio).

“They really want to focus on local talent and celebrate actors and creatives in Staffordshire,” says Benedict. “This production is an attempt to re-establish the purpose of Stafford Shakespeare Festival as it was back in 1991, which was to put on Shakespeare at Stafford Castle using as many local actors as possible.”

Benedict was barely three years old when the festival was launched, but it wasn’t long before he was exposed to the work of the Bard. In the late 1990s, his father was manager of the Gatehouse Theatre, which co-produced the castle shows, so watching plays became part of his childhood from the age of nine.

“That’s quite a young age to get engaged with words and characters like that, and storylines that were quite big. I was lucky, and it was an education to be exposed to that. At that age, you don’t understand all the words and ideas that are conveyed, but the imagery and storytelling is still so potent. We’re looking at nearly 30 years of Stafford Shakespeare being in my life.”

Acting has been there almost as long too. Benedict first set foot on the Gatehouse stage as a member of its youth theatre in 1999 - so coming back as the star of a show is clearly a very big deal, as well as a full-circle moment.

“It’s kind of an obscure homecoming, really. It feels quite special to be revisiting the theatre for the first time as a professional actor, and in such an iconic role. It’ll be lovely that there’ll be people I know coming along to support me, but it’s definitely that sense of coming full circle.”

Had he ever dreamed this would happen, or that acting would become his career, all those years ago?

“No, not at all. It was just a hobby back then. I played a lot of football when I was younger and wanted to be a footballer. I played for Stafford Town and wanted to play for Port Vale, believe it or not!

“Acting was just a hobby for many years, but the more I did it, the more I felt compelled to be better at it; I guess I wanted to begin to perfect it and understand it. As I got older, I became aware that it was a craft that was multifaceted, and I just wanted to learn and learn and learn.”

It was only when he reached university that he realised performing was “the thing that fed my soul the most” and started to take it seriously: “I couldn’t go through life not working it out, performing on stage and asking questions of text. It just felt like a vocation really, albeit a punishing one!”

Benedict admits he’ll need to call on all of that learning in the biggest role of his career to date. And while he’s well aware of the roll call of star names that have played the part in the past, he seems far from intimidated.

“It’s the role of all roles for that reason. Every tool that I’ve learned through training and performing, and every experience that I can call upon in life, they all need to be coalesced into this role and this job that I’m doing, because that’s what it demands.

“The curious challenge of it is that, as an actor, you can only bring yourself to the role, so it’s unique to anyone who takes it on. There’s really no point in trying to emulate what somebody else has done with it, because the character himself, and where he sees himself in life and at this devastating point in his life, only lends itself to the actor who’s playing it.”

So Hamlet’s attempts to find his true self are effectively mirrored by the actor - by extension meaning that you need to reveal something of yourself?

“Precisely. The play is obsessed with false appearances, what’s fake and what’s true, and as an actor, I think it really does warrant stripping away that sense of self so that you’re entirely open and vulnerable on stage.”

So does the magnitude of it all come with an equal amount of pressure on the lead performer?

“No, not at all!” he laughs. “The more I’m researching and reading about this part, the more it thrills me and feels like a real gift to have the opportunity to do it. Even though I’m aware of the challenge it presents, it’s one that I really wholeheartedly want to throw myself into.”

Hamlet shows at the Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford, from Tuesday 24 June to Saturday 5 July.

By Steve Adams