5 days ago
Dylan Moran goes from comic to jester
It sounds like a comedy of errors but funnyman Dylan Moran is taking to the stage in a Shakespeare play.
Moran, 53, from Navan, Co. Meath, has landed the role of Touchstone, the court jester, in As You Like It.
While he has had a hugely successful career as a stand-up comedian over the past 30 years, he has several acting credits to his name.
He is probably best known as the grumpy, hard-drinking bookshop owner, Bernard Black, in the Channel 4 sitcom Black Books, which he also co-wrote. It sounds like a comedy of errors but funnyman Dylan Moran is taking to the stage in a Shakespeare play. Pic:Moran will appear with Harriet Walter of Downton Abbey and Succession, along with as Gloria Obianyo, star of Dune and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. The production is directed by Oscar nominee Ralph Fiennes.
His Shakespearean debut follows on from Moran's debut art exhibition, in his current hometown of Brighton, in the Two Kats And A Cow Gallery.
Speaking on BBC Radio Sussex, Moran explained: 'I use words and images, and I like idioms, everyday speech things. Sometimes you hear a phrase or a cliché that we're all very familiar with and you don't hear it any more because of its familiarity. Dylan Moran doing stand up. Pic Getty Images.
'Then suddenly something goes by, or you're in another country and you hear somebody from your country, or another country, walk past speaking the language, and you go: 'Oh my God, that's so brilliant!' 'It happens all the time in Shakespeare. I was looking at a page of his writings the other day and I came across the phrase, 'We should all be news-crammed' (from As You Like It) and I thought, 'Well there you go!'' Moran is also known for supporting roles in the films Notting Hill, Shaun Of The Dead and Run Fatboy Run. He was also in Irish movies A Film With Me In It and The Actors.
More recently, he took on more serious roles such as the wealthy banker in the Sligo-based drama Calgary.
He also had a small role in US action thriller The Killer's Game, playing a priest.
The play will run in the UK's Theatre Royal in Bath from August 15.
Reporting by Barry Hartigan
