IT has been a long, long time since Ian Gelder stepped on stage in The Merchant of Venice - so long in fact that he has now bridged a generation gap.

The last time Ian appeared in Shakespeare's classic was way back in 1976 when he was able to play the youthful Lorenzo, but now he steps into the role of Antonio, the titular merchant.

This latest Royal Shakespeare Company production is now on at The Swan Theatre in Stratford and Ian said: "I love the Swan. It is the one theatre I have always wanted to play and haven't. I think it is one of the most beautiful theatres in the country.

"I know Stratford very well, but I haven't worked there for a long, long time. I did a complete season there over 20 years ago."

The Cotswolds and south Warwickshire are almost a second home for Ian as he was born in Bishops Cleeve and lived in Todenham near Moreton for 10 years from 1982. In the end it was sheer logistics that forced him back to London.

"I really loved it there," he said. "I came back to London simply because, as much as I loved it, it became impossible to run a career there, because I was constantly on the motorway and the train. It just got silly, both in the time and the money I paid to the railway station in Moreton."

He added: "My mother still lives in Cheltenham and I still have friends I made in the ten years I lived there."

During his Cotswold sojourn he even found time to become co-founder and a partner in the Alain Rouveure Galleries, which are still going strong.

The Merchant has been playing at the Pit Theatre in London since October and Ian is sure it will be a surefire hit in Stratford, where it runs until January 19.

"We have been doing fantastic business," he said. "It seats 175 and we have never once had an empty house. It was full all the time. I think what people are getting out of it is its clarity.

"It tells the story beautifully and everyone who finds Shakespeare difficult or impenetrable will not find it so. I think it comes across much more easily than I think it sometimes would do."

The Merchant of Venice makes up part of the RSC's mobile theatre tour this year and following its run at The Swan it hits the road, visiting 11 schools, colleges and sports halls around the country with its specially-created mobile auditorium carried in five articulated lorries.

Ellesmere Port, Workington and Truro are just three of the towns to be visited and Ian said: "I have never done one before, but everyone says it is the most rewarding experience because you are taking work to people and places that don't normally get it. It is a bit like the circus coming to town."

The production then goes international until July with the cast embarking on a worldwide tour with visits to America, Malaysia, Japan and even China, the first time the RSC has taken a production there. Ian said: "That is going to be fascinating."

Strangely, the last time he appeared in The Merchant that too went to Kuala Lumpur, so maybe some of his Malaysian audience will already have seen him first time around.

6 Face to face: Ian Gelder, who is appearing in the RSC's latest production of The Merchant of Venice.