in The Alchemist. RSC The Other Place, May 1977; and RSC Aldwych, December 1977 Fainall in The Way of the World, RSC Aldwych, January 1978 Alexander in Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, RSC Mermaid, June 1978 For the 1979 RSC Stratford season he played Sir John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, and the title role in Julius Caesar; also playing Falstaff and Malvolio at the RSC Aldwych, 1980 season Ralph Nickleby in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (David Edgar), RSC Aldwych Theatre, June 1980 – June 1981; (re-staged at the Old Vic for television recording, July–August 1981) Charles Merrythought in The Knight of the Burning Pestle (Beaumont and Fletcher), in repertory RSC Aldwych, April–June 1981 Ralph Nickleby in Nicholas Nickleby, Plymouth Theatre, NY, October 1981 – January 1982 Mr Prince in Rocket to the Moon (Clifford Odets), Hampstead Theatre, August 1982 and Apollo Theatre, September–November 1982 Sir John Falstaff in '’The Henrys'’ (Henry IV parts 1 and 2, and Henry V), English Shakespeare Company, Old Vic, March–May 1987 Gregor Hasek in Between East and West (Richard Nelson). Hampstead, December 1987 – January 1988 Gens in Ghetto (Joshua Sobol), National Theatre, Olivier, April–November 1989 Chris Christopherson in Anna Christie (Eugene O'Neill), Young Vic, June–July 1990 Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, and the title role in Volpone, English Shakespeare Company, Lyric Hammersmith and Warwick Arts Centre, February–March 1991 Duncan in Macbeth, and Prospero in The Tempest, English Shakespeare Company, Lyric Hammersmith, November–December 1992 George H Jones in Machinal (Sophie Treadwell), National Theatre, Lyttelton, October 1993 – February 1994 Monsewer in The Hostage (Brendan Behan), RSC Barbican, September–October 1994 Frank Armstrong in Heartbeat October 1995 Priuli in Venice Preserv'd (Thomas Otway), Almeida Theatre, October–December 1995 Jacques in As You Like It, RSC Barbican, October 1996 – March 1997 Sir Henry Clinton in The General from America (Richard Nelson), RSC The Pit, February–April 1997 Aslaksen in An Enemy of the People (Ibsen), National Theatre Olivier, September 1997 – January 1998 Jack Donovan in Give Me Your Answer, Do! (Brian Friel), Hampstead, March–May 1998 Flavius in Timon of Athens, RSC Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, August 1999; and RSC Barbican, March–April 2000 King Philip II of Spain in Don Carlos (Schiller), RSC The Pit, January–April 2000 Edgar Johnson in Life After Life (Paul Jepson/Tony Parker), National Theatre Lyttelton Loft, May–June 2002 The Player King in Hamlet, RSC