Photo by Michal Daniel

Bob Davis, left, as Rosse and J.C. Cutler as Lenox in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" on the Wurtele Thrust Stage of the Guthrie Theater.

In the second video of the series, Bob Davis, who plays the Thane of Rosse in the Guthrie Theater's current production of "Macbeth," shares his love for playing Shakespeare.

"Shakespeare's the best", he says. "I'm a big fan — a big fan".

This video also includes a "fight call," the fight-scene choreography run-through just before the audience comes into the theater prior to each performance. The actors practice these moves every day to make sure the scene looks good, but also because safety is the first priority on stage.

"Macbeth" opens with an exciting, but complicated, fight scene that requires precise coordination between actors, lighting people and stagehands. During fight call, half-speed fight scenes become beautiful dances that take on a different quality from the way they appear in the actual play.

Davis and wife, Mary Alette, started Brazil!, an acting school for children that they ran for 10 years. His favorite part was the summer Shakespeare camp, where they taught 9-16 year-olds how to do Shakespeare plays. The kids learned to act Shakespeare's own words in pared down versions of his works. They were "transformed," he says, by being able to actually learn lines and act scenes that at first seemed very difficult on the page.

Davis has been in a wide variety of plays over the years, but says he always looks forward to the research, the preparation and the acting skill required for making Shakespeare's words come alive for audiences that aren't always used to hearing the language.

"The whole experience of playing Shakespeare is very rich for an actor and hopefully for an audience, too," he says.

Part one: Making a living in the Twin Cities
Part two: 'Shakespeare is designed to be played'
Part three: A rare look backstage at the Guthrie