On 1 February  2018, the distinguished Shakespearean actor Simon Russell Beale was formally made an Honorary Senior Research Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, and celebrated by giving a wide-ranging public interview to the Institute's Dr Abigail Rokison-Woodall.

Mr Russell Beale - whose roles in Shakespeare have included Richard III, Hamlet, Benedick, Timon of Athens, Thersites, Iago, King Lear, and most recently Prospero - is already more than an honorary colleague to Dr Rokison-Woodall, with whom, and with the Institute's Director, Professor Michael Dobson, he is a General Editor of the new Arden Performance Editions of Shakespeare, a series of scholarly editions purpose-designed for use in rehearsal rooms.