I'm with MMario on this one. If the actors actually understand what their characters are saying, there really shouldn't be a problem what accent they use. And I think we can get more than a little caught up in over analysing Shakespeare's work. What he produced first and foremost was entertainment.

The vocabulary is slightly different from what we're used to today and the emphasis on word play may be strange to some, but the main barrier is having to listen to people who merely recite the words verbatim, with no real understanding of what it is they are saying. Many people don't even expect to understand what's being said!

For example, during a summer school trip to see a brilliant production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Barbican with Sinead Cusack and Derek Jacoby in the lead roles, I was sushed and finally threatened with being reported to the manager if I insisted on continuing to laugh (at the funny bits). Had I no respect for the work of Shakespeare? I was agog. I couldn't help myself and just had to ask the couple if they realised the play was a comedy? The look on their faces said it all and they stormed off to complain to someone.

But it's this almost deification of a bloke what wrote plays that puts most people off. It's seen as a chore before the first line is read, the first sentence uttered.

Also, it is almost seen as sacrilage NOT to like him. He's a writer, like any other writer. Why does everyone HAVE to like him? It's like cheesecake. I hate cheesecake. It doesn't matter what flavour it is, I just don't like it. But every time I'm offered cheesecake and I politely refuse, all I get is "Oh, but you'll like this one because....insert reason of your choice here...". It's the same with Shakespeare. Now I like Shakespeare, a lot. But if you don't, I can see that other people enthusing about him to you is going to make it worse, not better.

Oh, whilst the debate over accents rages on, consider that many of Shakespeare's plays are not set in England. Would the audience then, have expected actors to speak in Italian, Danish or Scottish accents etc. depending on where the play was set?