|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 15:40:30 GMT
Fair play to them, whyever not? No matter the specific circumstances, it can't be easy for anyone to lose a job so soon into a tenure, and any display of solidarity will no doubt be welcomed by Rice, even if it doesn't later turn into a job offer.
|
|
117 posts
|
Post by ldm2016 on Oct 25, 2016 15:40:51 GMT
The RSC ? Why should their useless board get involved ? The RSC were entirely responsible for the Globe's success actually according to Greg Doran "When the RSC left London the felling of that great oak enabled smaller saplings to grow towards the light ..." I see Rylance has condemned the RSC recently and said he'll not work there again, for sure he'll be on board when you march on the Globe. Greg Doran, RSC executive director Catherine Mallyon and deputy artistic director Erica Whyman have issued a joint statement: "We are dismayed and disappointed to hear the news of Emma Rice’s departure from Shakespeare’s Globe. Emma is a vital force in British theatre and we have found her artistic programme, her productions and her spirit to be genuinely innovative and wonderfully refreshing. She has been a long-time collaborator with the RSC and is a bold, thoughtful and generous theatre artist who has always placed the audience at the heart of her work. "It is a great shame that her energy and thrilling new approach will now not be given the time and support it takes for any new artistic direction to be fully realised and understood. We look forward very much to working with Emma again in the future." .
|
|
117 posts
|
Post by ldm2016 on Oct 25, 2016 15:42:45 GMT
Good! After his awful Much Ado About Nothing I'm glad I'll never have to endure him in Stratford again... Rylance ? Missed it. He did it with a Northern Irish accent ? He was the director... My other-half and I spotted him in the bar at the Wyndhams recently and she had to stop me for going other to tell him what I thought of it! |
|
|
|
Post by oxfordsimon on Oct 25, 2016 15:44:13 GMT
Greg Doran, RSC executive director Catherine Mallyon and deputy artistic director Erica Whyman have issued a joint statement: "We are dismayed and disappointed to hear the news of Emma Rice’s departure from Shakespeare’s Globe. Emma is a vital force in British theatre and we have found her artistic programme, her productions and her spirit to be genuinely innovative and wonderfully refreshing. She has been a long-time collaborator with the RSC and is a bold, thoughtful and generous theatre artist who has always placed the audience at the heart of her work. "It is a great shame that her energy and thrilling new approach will now not be given the time and support it takes for any new artistic direction to be fully realised and understood. We look forward very much to working with Emma again in the future." It looks rather like they're now angling for Rice to come and work for them! That didn't work well for them last time. That production was not well-loved. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 15:58:31 GMT
Kathryn, read Lyn's article. It makes perfect sense when read in context. Yes, picked out the most annoyed but, the rest of the article is a much more surgical attack. Another article, this from Matt Trueman at our old home. "Make no mistake: this isn't an argument about electric lighting and amplification, whatever the Globe board says. It's much deeper than that. It's about who gets to make Shakespeare, for whom and how. If we insist on doing things as they've always been done – and what's original practice if not that – nothing will change. We'll get the same people making the same theatre for the same audiences forever." WOS article |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 16:04:45 GMT
....why do people insist on putting pressure on the established theatres to stage productions aimed at and staring minority groups who never attend in their masses? .......
Worth just pointing this sentence out and what people like Rice are really up against. The audience at MND and Imogen were pretty much that audience and now they've been sent a very clear message. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 16:15:30 GMT
Oh god, can you imagine staging productions aimed at and starring the majority groups who are always there? Do we HONESTLY want nothing but posh white people declaiming Shakespeare in short trousers? It's nice sometimes but I'd die of boredom if it were ALL THE GODDAMNED TIME.
|
|
117 posts
|
Post by ldm2016 on Oct 25, 2016 16:21:24 GMT
Oh god, can you imagine staging productions aimed at and starring the majority groups who are always there? Do we HONESTLY want nothing but posh white people declaiming Shakespeare in short trousers? It's nice sometimes but I'd die of boredom if it were ALL THE GODDAMNED TIME. I agree and that's not the point I am making.
We have plenty of fringe theatres without putting ridiculous pressure on the established theatres to conform to other's opinions of what they should be doing.
Hip-Hop Shakespeare? Not for me, but if it's that popular there will be PLENTY of theatres willing to stage it so why put pressure on The Globe or The National?
|
|
353 posts
|
Post by cirque on Oct 25, 2016 16:29:37 GMT
Many years ago Michael Bogdanov was sick and fed up of the RSC way of doing Shakespeare and the restrictions.He,with Michael Pennington set up the ESC.Radical and loved by so many-I hope Emma Rice sets in motion a radical alternative to every house that believes it has the right to own Shakespeare.Maybe its a further Kneehigh development but her mission has to continue.ESC challenged the RSC and made them sit up and take note.......its a fascinating study in territory and belonging of Shakespeare.If you are not one of us keep out.....
|
|
516 posts
|
Post by theatreliker on Oct 25, 2016 16:32:28 GMT
If her work has received critical and box office acclaim I can't see why they wanted rid of her. Perhaps they had an increase in new audience members but a significant drop in members/ regulars and were worried about donations?
|
|
|
|
Post by Jan on Oct 25, 2016 16:34:58 GMT
Rylance ? Missed it. He did it with a Northern Irish accent ? He was the director... My other-half and I spotted him in the bar at the Wyndhams recently and she had to stop me for going other to tell him what I thought of it! Oh right. He also appeared in it for RSC and was well-reviewed. |
|
20 posts
|
Post by grit on Oct 25, 2016 16:38:50 GMT
Although it feels somewhat mean-spirited to celebrate someone being out of a job, I'm utterly delighted! We've celebrated all afternoon! And now I hope Shakespeare's Globe returns to its original remit.
The argument that this is 'old white male vs kick-ass woman' does not address the mismatch of artistic vision. Personally, I couldn't care whether Rice is gender bended or sky-blue-pink. The issue of male/female approach is a non-starter for me. The Rice vision for the Globe was not in sympathy even with its basic architecture.
The argument that 'all the performances looked the same' at the Globe before Rice is, frankly, odd. I don't recall performances all looking the same at all. We attended for years, and we were always struck with how versatile was the stage. It was utterly eye-opening to me that a simple wooden space could become so adaptable and flexible.
The idea that plays at the Globe will 'go back to being dusty' is astonishing. When Shakespeare's Globe first opened, its vision was astoundingly adventurous and unique. It was a beacon of orginality. Where else was offering this approach the performance? Who else was offering actors the opportunity to create a production alongside the audience? I cannot recall another theatre being so bold in striking out into such a unique direction. The fact that the Globe's startling approach became so quickly naturalised into the theatrescape shows you how right the Globe originally got it.
The light and sound system was a disaster. Noise and trashy flash took precedence over the words spoken by the actors. I can't forgive that moment in Macbeth when Banquo couldn't be heard thanks to the screechy noises. Are people seriously defending the use of amplified sounds and disco lights at the Globe?
Rice is clearly a high-flying director with vision, and I feel annoyed to be positioned as someone who would also claim that she is not up to the job. She is clearly a capable director. Just Not At The Globe. Shakespeare's Globe has a unique space and invites a form of audience participation which makes sense of the scripts that are spoken in it. Rice simply failed to respect the scripts or treat them as if they mattered.
Oh gosh, the scripts! Well, perhaps here I'm going to have to swing punches. I believe, not in the purity of the scripts, but how they can guide an actor to an interpretation. I really have to question why we should dump those scripts without very good reason. I find it breathtakingly ignorant to treat the target market of theatre-goers as if they can't possibly follow Shakespeare, that the language is so much like 'medicine' that it must be expelled. Unforgiveable.
Finally, the Globe has an international reputation, and this has to be significant in bringing back an authentic vision. We've had people travel half-way round the world to be with us and we've taken them to Shakespeare's Globe - because they've heard that this is The Only Theatre in the World to see 'authentic' Shakespeare. Sure, you can dismiss them all as 'tourists', but remember that many of these visitors are your Shakespeare enthusiasts who would go to any and all versions of every play - but they will develop a loyalty to one place which they see as offering a unique experience. So why would they travel to the Globe to see Rice's Midsummer when they can see an interpretation done with more glitz, pizzazz, and glamour put on in Hong Kong?
Yes, the board does need to keep control of what happens next. Appointing someone who said they didn't much like Shakespeare was asking for trouble. I'm a little worried about what the board will do next after this wobble, so I hope someone with a clear head is helping make decisions.
Phew, I've got that lot off my chest. Thanks for reading, folks.
|
|
353 posts
|
Post by cirque on Oct 25, 2016 16:50:08 GMT
this is rational and well thought through.I,too,have many memories of adventure at the Globe and thrills a plenty.....maybe Lucy Bailey will apply.Her Titus was experiment and honest.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 16:50:33 GMT
I've been pretty vocal here that I didn't like what Emma Rice was doing to the place and that her first season didn't appeal to me so I didn't go to anything for the first time in years. But ...
1. Fairly confident that any new AD of any theatre has outraged a vocal set of fans of the previous regime(s) with their first season - (eg Greg Doran, Vicky Featherstone, Josie Rourke, Michael Grandage, Kevin Spacey, Rufus Norris, I could go on!) - and faced calls for their sacking. But given the chance to bed in their new style things settle down. And maybe they lose some of the old audience, but they gain a new one.
2. I recognise that not everything has to appeal to me
|
|
219 posts
|
Post by PalelyLaura on Oct 25, 2016 17:11:30 GMT
Brilliant post, grit.
Incidentally, the Globe HAS had hip-hop Shakespeare before - Othello: The Remix performed as part of the Globe to Globe Festival in 2012. It was brilliant. The differences are that 1. it wasn't a permanent part of the theatre's programming, pushing out the kind of show for which the Globe was designed and b. although there was a modern sound system on the stage, the "shared lighting" policy still applied.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 17:30:25 GMT
Although it feels somewhat mean-spirited to celebrate someone being out of a job, I'm utterly delighted! We've celebrated all afternoon! And now I hope Shakespeare's Globe returns to its original remit. Gosh. That really does seem mean-spirited. Breathtakingly so in fact. |
|
2,389 posts
|
Post by peggs on Oct 25, 2016 17:32:15 GMT
Ironically will probably now be more likely to go next season to experience some more Emma Rice theatre whilst I can. Sad state of affairs as it all seems so clumsily handled, presumably no workable middle ground could be found which was what I'd hoped for, some of the more traditional alongside the more experimental.
Can whoever takes over leave the new added seats for those lucky few in the groundling queue though as they're just a great addition.
|
|
1,119 posts
|
Post by martin1965 on Oct 25, 2016 17:34:14 GMT
Let us hope that no one applies to become Artistic Director. An appointment by this Board would be career suicide, and the appointee would be ostracised by the rest of the profession. We need Mark Rylance and Dominic Dromgoole to join everyone else, including the RSC, in condemning this Board. We need Lucy Bailey, director of Comus which starts previewing this week, to publicly attack the Board. This is the biggest theatre news story of my lifetime. It's outrageous. Calm down dear! |
|
1,119 posts
|
Post by martin1965 on Oct 25, 2016 17:38:26 GMT
Let us hope that no one applies to become Artistic Director. An appointment by this Board would be career suicide, and the appointee would be ostracised by the rest of the profession. We need Mark Rylance and Dominic Dromgoole to join everyone else, including the RSC, in condemning this Board. We need Lucy Bailey, director of Comus which starts previewing this week, to publicly attack the Board. This is the biggest theatre news story of my lifetime. It's outrageous. The RSC ? Why should their useless board get involved ? The RSC were entirely responsible for the Globe's success actually according to Greg Doran "When the RSC left London the felling of that great oak enabled smaller saplings to grow towards the light ..." I see Rylance has condemned the RSC recently and said he'll not work there again, for sure he'll be on board when yo4u march on the Globe. Well to be fair thats easy for him to say! He hasnt worled there since 1989 snd i seriously doubt he is on any list of alumni they want to bring back😉 |
|
4,955 posts
|
Post by Someone in a tree on Oct 25, 2016 17:47:30 GMT
Why employ someone who openly admits that they don't love Shakespeare as much as a Globe Usherette? Why employ someone with 'radical' directing techniques ?
I don't her work but I dislike what is happening much more
Edit *like*
|
|
898 posts
|
Post by bordeaux on Oct 25, 2016 17:50:18 GMT
He was the director... My other-half and I spotted him in the bar at the Wyndhams recently and she had to stop me for going other to tell him what I thought of it! Oh right. He also appeared in it for RSC and was well-reviewed. Mark Rylance was a superb Ulster Benedick opposite Janet McTeer in a 1993 production by Matthew Warchus, a truly wonderful production of the play, which I saw on Shaftesbury Avenue (Queen's, I think). Produced by Thelma Holt. Makes one long to see Warchus and Rylance work together again (they did a brilliant True West at the Donmar and Boeing Boeing, I think). |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2016 18:10:37 GMT
Although it feels somewhat mean-spirited to celebrate someone being out of a job, I'm utterly delighted! We've celebrated all afternoon! And now I hope Shakespeare's Globe returns to its original remit. Gosh. That really does seem mean-spirited. Breathtakingly so in fact. Yes, I really hope Grit never finds themselves out of work with an expected contract cut short. Yes Rice has a good reputation, and the industry largely seems on her side. But it's a bloody tough industry, and she clearly had been offered what looked like a secure job for some years, no matter what that is a personal and professional blow. Even if I hated her work, I would not wish that on anyone. I'm 100% fine with people wanting The Globe back to 'how it was' though I would argue, that no, it never was a single type of proudction so there's no actual definitive 'Globe Production' to go back to in that sense. Do I think the whole place did need a bit of a kick up the arse? personally yes, I do. Do I think the productions individually were awful before? Not at all, but personally I'm also open to change. (For anyone who watched The Good Wife I feel like in this thread I should constantly be stating 'In my opinion your honour') |
|
20 posts
|
Post by grit on Oct 25, 2016 19:01:02 GMT
'Yes, I really hope Grit never finds themselves out of work with an expected contract cut short.' just for the record, I've been self-employed on and off since 1986 and have had work cut short, disappear, and had clients who didn't pay; i've made my own employment appear from nothing because i believe with wit and wisdom where is the status of 'out of work'?  |
|
782 posts
|
Post by rumbledoll on Oct 25, 2016 19:17:15 GMT
I hope Emma will soon find the job that suits well her appetites for radicalism and the one she and her employer will be comfortable with. But I too couldn't hold back my joy all day.. For me she was absolutely ruining the place.. Glad The Board realised that but a bit too late, init? Wondering the same thing as Someone in a tree (great name, btw) she surely expressed her ideas and vision before in a prosess of a new AD search.. They should appoint Jamie Parker - he was running for the job at the final stage. Would be a bold choice as well  |
|
782 posts
|
Post by rumbledoll on Oct 25, 2016 19:23:36 GMT
grit,
great big post earlier on! Voiced exactly the opinion I have. Cheers!
|
|
