Christopher Plummer returns to his roots with the one-man, Stratford Shakespeare Festival show A Word or Two, beginning previews Wednesday.

The play, which Plummer has written himself, is a “very personal” journey through his love of literature, he says.

The annual festival's stage is familiar ground for the Canadian-born performer. He made his debut at Stratford in 1956, after having already established a theatre career in Ottawa and New York. His roles at Stratford have ranged from Hamlet and Henry V to, more recently, King Lear and Prospero.

It was Plummer's early exposure to literature — from A.A. Milne to the Bible to Philip Larkin to W.H. Auden — that made Shakespeare his friend, he tells CBC’s Deana Sumanac. A Word or Two takes the audience on that journey, as he delivers his favourite passages and talks about his acting life.

After winning an Oscar this year for his role in Beginners, Plummer is in high demand. He also had another high-profile role, in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and the scripts are pouring in.

Still, the actor has never played by Hollywood's rules. The chance to work with outgoing Stratford artistic director Des McAnuff, who directs A Word or Two, and face a live audience again was too good to give up, Plummer says.

A Word or Two runs in Stratford, Ont., until Aug. 26.