My one---and only--stint at playing anything even remotely Shakespearian, was when my Acting II class did an in-class play, The Fifteen Minute Hamlet. It was a blast! As usual, I was dead-awful, but still, I threw myself into it with gusto, as always. Learned to make an arse of myself in public a long time ago! 
Here we are in our first run-through. I'm wearing the goofy hat, because I figured since I was playing a guy, I ought to sort of look the part. The prof liked it, so the hat stayed in for the remaainder of rehersals. I found out the hard way, that old wool boating hat could get very hot, when they finally turned on the stage lights, two weeks later.. 
Darlin, you are not alone. At school, I played the title role in Androcles and the Lion. I was the Lion and had to wear a lion's head which I held on by gripping a bar between my teeth. My lines were a mix of purr, grrr and whine, and it was hot as hell under that head. It marked the end of my thespian ambitions, though I always thought I would make a really cool Joan of Arc if they'd let me wear a red satin basque and a jarretiere.
Love
Sheila