Reza Beyk Imanverdi with his only daughter, Mandana

Acting techniques, like projecting your voice and movement on stage, can be learned and finessed, improving any talent. The extra edge that extraordinary natural talent brings is something that cannot be taught and is what makes great actors stand out.Great actors put aside their own personalities, and find humanity in even the darkest of characters. It is this portrayal of human emotion which is key to performing Shakespeare’s plays in a way that allows audiences to understand the complex language.Dame Harriet Walter – arguably one of the greatest Shakespearian actors in the country – demonstrated her immense acting talent when she played King Henry in Shakespeare’s Henry IV in 2014. She impressed in this traditionally male role by using her technical skills to capture the character’s masculine traits, adopting an authoritarian posture and confidence. But it was her innate acting talent that captured the human frailty behind the King’s ambition and his struggle for power.