Going Bad

I've been reading the first couple of acts of Hamlet in the newish Arden edition, the 2nd Quarto version. Apart from being a supremely satisfying way of passing the time, it's served as a reminder of my propensity for imagining which part I'd like to play on stage (apart, that is, from all the roles, Hamlet's mum and girlfriend excepted.) I suppose it doesn't say much for my character that above all I'd love to play the bad guy, Claudius. In fact, a worrying feature of this little mental exercise is that it's the duplicitous bad guy role I fantasise myself into in a fair few of the plays: Richard III, Iago, Edmund - though I'm more than a bit over the hill for young Edmund.

And whilst considering just how far over the hill I am, I reckon I'd make a great Capulet in R&J. Every time I've taught the play I've somehow come to the conclusion that Juliet's dad is the only one with any sense on stage. As I say, it really doesn't speak well for my character, I'm afraid.