we begin with shakespeare this evening and talk to one of the great shakespeare actors mark rylance who is performing in richard iii and 12th night. >> well, it comes to the top of my head immediately and the, may not be the deepest answer but you just can't, you will never get to the bottom of a sense of humor, the sense of wit and humor, it is well-known that one of the great things he is really good at doing is marrying opposites juxtaposing sound, cold, fire, these things that romeo says at one point but juxtaposing tragedy and comedy and his deep sense of humor, even the most tragic moments still staggers me, still staggers me, i generally don't find it myself i find it with the audience. >> rose: continuing with shakespeare this evening we talk to stephen fry who is also in richard the third and 27th night. >> we know in 1602 when it was performed indoors, in fact, in the middle temple, one of the legal halls, medieval halls that the lawyers used, and we know what the hall looks like because it hasn't changed to this day and we know, of course, that this happened a lot, because en

." >> mark rylance is here. he has won 2 tony awards. he is back on broadway playing the leads in two shakespeare plays. he is king richard in "richard the third" and olivia in "twelfth night." is provided a master class in shakespearean acting. i am pleased to have him at the table for the first time. welcome. >> thanks, charlie. >> what a nice tribute. how did this happen? these two plays coming here for you to show your stuff? >> how did it happen? it took a few years. the set and clothing designers and the musical director and the kind of core players, people that worked with me a lot when i was artistic director of the globe. when my time finished, i immediately set about wanting to suppose, carrying on the core workable we did which i hope was a rigorous attempt to explore what i call original playing up practices. what we know from shakespeare's day. it took a long time. we had to figure a way to mount two productions that would be popular enough. elizabethan spent their money on what they wore on their backs. >> what was your ter

>> it is remarkable not just speakingf the greatest actor in the world, mark rylance plays richard thehird -- i am not in "richard ii." what you think that? >> is not a charisma that he has that is, to other actors. it is just quite something. it -- -- the cap he described olivia. he said i have just seen the greatest stage actor. he was a nobody. he wanted to be a film student. they said to him, why? i said, i don't know. it is something he gives off. you can train to have it. aboutre is a famous story olivia having a remarkable performance. it was roddy mcdowell who went backstage and thought that this was a moment of a great performance. he was there and had his hands in his head and was sobbing. why? it was remarkable. he said, yes, but i don't know why. it will not be as remarkable tomorrow. >> is that like sports. there is one day where the racket in your hand -- and the ball floats just inbounds and you can time it and you are in the right place. other days, no matter how hard you concentrate you can't hit it or it -- it it. >> it started in london. >> it did. we have had to bri