You don't even have to go to Stratford these days. If you're in the UK, several touring companies specialise in Shakespeare - no wonder, it still brings the crowds in - and they do some riveting productions. The Globe on London's south bank is also a good bet but has productions on for only a three-four season each summer. If you're willing to stand, you can turn up there and get tickets at the door almost any night, for a fiver each. Picnics and sauntering around the arena during the performance is positively encouraged.

As for the plays... A Midsummer Night's Dream can be hilarious in production but may be a bit challenging on the page. Macbeth has the twin advantage of a single plot - no sub-plots to complicate matters - and is Shakespeare's shortest. Its element of sorcery is not typical but was worked in because James I liked that stuff.

My daughter (White Tiger on Mudcat) has been hooked on Shakespeare since she was eight. What got her started was the most ingenious romantic comedy ever conceived, Shakespeare in Love. It was a natural step from that to Romeo and Juliet, which she saw as a straightforward RSC production and also in the phenomenal Baz Luhrman/Leonardo di Caprio film. At 15 she now has 16 of the plays under her belt and seems to grasp the language of Shakespeare's day just as readily as modern English.

Anyway, good luck. And if it seems like hard work at first, stick with it - it's worth the effort.