As Christmas approached, the Observer found Rowan Williams, the right reverend, the Lord Williams of Oystermouth, former archbishop of Canterbury, primate of All England, and author of The Poems of Rowan Williams (Perpetua Press), relaxing at home in Cambridge, merrily extemporising Dogberryâ??s lines from Much Ado About Nothing in a passable rustic accent: â??Though it be not written down, yet forget not that I am an ass.â?
This, your reporter is bound to note, is not a side of this distinguished theologian thatâ??s familiar to any but his inner circle. It turns out, however, to be authentic. Like several men and women of the cloth, Williams once nurtured an ambition to go on the stage, has preached on Macbeth and King Lear, and venerates Shakespeare.
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