Peter O’Toole never won an Oscar despite eight nominations. However, in 2003 he was given an honorary award for his body of work.

Cast Yard, Kilkenny

TAMING is the operative word in The Taming of the Shrew, a play about the arranged marriage of Petruchio and Katherine. The original is set in Padua, a powerful city-state in Renaissance Italy. Petruchio lays it out baldly to his betrothed: “For I am born to tame you, Kate, and bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate conformable as other household Kates.”

Two former stars from soap rivals EastEnders and Coronation Street are due to play opposite each other in a production of Taming of the Shrew in the autumn.