RSC All New Seasons

[cavocado]

I wonder what kind of assessment is carried out on whether using six 'community leaders' has any benefit for those communities. Does the RSC board or ACE ask for evidence on the specifics, breadth and duration of wider community impact as proof that this is a good use of resources, compared to, say, targetting schools in deprived areas with workshops and free tickets?

[ronnette]

As someone who was part of an amateur community group that was picked to be the 'community' group to be in the touring Midsummer Night's Dream around 5 or 6 years ago, here's my comments.

At the time it was exciting that a group of our members (not me!) were part of this. They got video direction from EW and I think went to Stratford a couple of times to rehearse (and to then perform). It got local BBC press coverage and the group used it in promotion. Other than that? Nothing. No links continued with the RSC (even though our group predominantly does 1 big Shakespeare a Year), no continuation of anything with the RSC. It was a tick box exercise really, that's how it felt.

[NeilVHughes]

They will run consecutively!

Tickets are already expensive, no deals, one way to manage costs was a double play day, having to travel up twice as often is almost a dealbreaker, not sure what the thinking behind it as I’m sure others must do the same, thinking fondly of the 3 play weekends when the Swan was open with an overnight stay in Stratford Upon Avon.

Overnight stays are now a thing of the past partly because of scheduling but mainly the cost, Hotels in SuA make London look like a bargain.

[Jan]

I quite like the look of the directors they are using but only if they follow through and give the successful ones 1-2 productions a year for the next few years - Doran never did that, in fact the successful ones sometimes waited years to be invited back.

[cirque]

This will be chapters end...I hope.

Evans/Harvey must not inherit this core of staff with their agenda...Whyman's ghost will stalk the nights if so.Problem is tied into extensive Education and Community projects inc a new 3 year one.Maybe they agreed to continue the policies without question. So in July/Aug just one play in Stratford......no point in being a theatre tourist and staying over at all.

Be fascinating to see where both GD and EW end up. When Greg took over -so much promise....such great plans. What really went wrong....? A book could be written but,I suspect,no one involved would dare take readers through a decline and fall.

[Jan]

Sept 28, 2022 17:26:27 GMT cirque said:

When Greg took over -so much promise....such great plans. What really went wrong....? 

I think from his perspective nothing went wrong, he did exactly what he wanted and intended to do. The problem was the RSC hierarchy didn't actually listen to him and thought he was the continuity candidate rather than someone who was about to entirely change the ethos and priorities of the RSC. I mean he literally said right at the start he was de-emphasising the company aspect of the RSC and that's exactly what he did. 

[sweets7]

I don’t know. He came out of the gate flying with some good starters and ideas. But he was obsessed with drawing stars to the RSC and as a result de emphasising the company and then that didn’t work and they’d lost a lot of the talent that did work for them. Then he seemed to loose interest really and a lot of the shows were clearly being run by EW. Then his husband got ill. It was a bit of a Gordon Brown for him. Wait years to get it and when you do you realise that it isn’t working for you.

[Jan]

Sept 28, 2022 21:35:40 GMT sweets7 said:

I don’t know. He came out of the gate flying with some good starters and ideas. But he was obsessed with drawing stars to the RSC and as a result de emphasising the company and then that didn’t work and they’d lost a lot of the talent that did work for them. Then he seemed to loose interest really and a lot of the shows were clearly being run by EW. Then his husband got ill. It was a bit of a Gordon Brown for him. Wait years to get it and when you do you realise that it isn’t working for you.

Doran's big project was staging a cycle of all the Shakespeare plays in the RST. This ran 2013-2022 (9 years) until he said it was complete (it wasn't, he missed out plays and not all were staged in the RST). Here are the directors he used during that cycle and the number of plays each directed.


Greg Doran 12

Erica Whyman 3

Christopher Luscombe 3

Simon Godwin 3

Polly Findlay 2

Blanche McIntyre 2

Iqbal Khan 2

Angus Jackson 2

Eleanor Rhode 1

Phillip Breen 1

Fiona Laird 1

Melly Still 1

Justin Audibert 1

Kimberley Sykes 1


Owen Horsely directed a couple in collaboration with Doran. 

This is not what a "company" project should look like. Apart from Doran no director directed more than once every three years on average - that's no way to build continuity. Simon Godwin and Christopher Luscombe directed very successful plays early in the cycle and then waited years to direct again - as a result Godwin directed more Shakespeare for the NT during the cycle than at the RSC. I was surprised to see Maria Aberg who was a successful director from the period prior to Doran's tenure didn't direct at all in this cycle (though she and others directed plays in the Swan). 

Hard not to conclude that Doran's programming was purely to suit himself and his own personal goals rather than for the good of the wider company. He picked the plays he wanted, as did EW, then they just filled in with freelances for everything else with none of them able to rely purely on the RSC for their income. 

[fossil]

I don't know if this has already been mentioned elsewhere. The latest RSC newsletter says that the Swan programme for 2023 will be announced in November, starting with a "world premier" directed by Erica Whyman.

[lichtie]

From the pictures they've more or less gutted the Swan. The new supporting framework to support the rigs is the main thing (which means the roof won't collapse if people use the Ashcroft room above it). But we're also getting new indiviual seats and a bunch of ther accessibility changes. We're all encouraged to spend £300-£3000 to get our names on one of those individual seats (think I'll pass). Curiously the world premiere line says it's in the footsteps of previous "bold productions" including some that didn't sell at all well (that should have been in TOP instead of the Swan anyway).

[samuelwhiskers]

If the RSC want to be more attractive to audiences may I suggest
a) Not encouraging 200-person schools groups (maybe have special performances just for huge school groups?)
b) Not permitting 200-person schools groups to enter in the middle of a scene. If you’re very late you have to wait for the interval or a suitable break.
C) Actually enforcing their supposedly strict no food rule rather than ignoring the fact 200 children are happily munching their packed lunches and ripping bags of crisps open all throughout Richard III even though actual literal feeding time at the elephant house at the zoo is quieter.

[samuelwhiskers]

Hmm, the entire run of the RSC's spring/summer production of Hamnet is showing as completely sold out, which seems unusual for a new play with no cast announced, several months before it opens. Trying to debate whether to book the rest of my spring trip and hope tickets become available later on, what do people think? Is it really fully sold out, or some other reason it's showing as sold out?

[Jon]

Jan 30, 2023 12:43:45 GMT samuelwhiskers said:

Hmm, the entire run of the RSC's spring/summer production of Hamnet is showing as completely sold out, which seems unusual for a new play with no cast announced, several months before it opens. Trying to debate whether to book the rest of my spring trip and hope tickets become available later on, what do people think? Is it really fully sold out, or some other reason it's showing as sold out?

I wonder if a transfer is in the works after the RSC run, there's commercial producers involved.

[foxa]

How weird - I just looked and indeed all sold out except for 29th April which said 'low availability' but when you actually click on that date, it too seems to be sold out. Could there have been huge group bookings? The book was popular, but still...

[cavocado]

It was selling well when I booked before Christmas - I think there were only a few singles left in the stalls for the date I wanted. But completely sold out for every date sounds odd. You could ring the box office and ask. I wonder if it's on a GCSE or A Level syllabus?

[Rory]

Jan 30, 2023 13:14:35 GMT Jon said:

Jan 30, 2023 12:43:45 GMT samuelwhiskers said:

Hmm, the entire run of the RSC's spring/summer production of Hamnet is showing as completely sold out, which seems unusual for a new play with no cast announced, several months before it opens. Trying to debate whether to book the rest of my spring trip and hope tickets become available later on, what do people think? Is it really fully sold out, or some other reason it's showing as sold out?

I wonder if a transfer is in the works after the RSC run, there's commercial producers involved.

I'd be amazed if there wasn't.

[lynette]

The Tempest, a triumph. An enjoyable, unpretentious production, coherent and well paced. No gimmicks but the ‘message’ a polluted world, was clear and conveyed with action, costume and set. Set amazing actually. The end reveal of the two young ‘uns playing chess very well earned. I have never seen the visions of the goddesses done do well, so clearly and so movingly. Most productions have no idea why they are there. The other themes, colonialism as we see it today and parent/child, very well done. The change of male to female in Prospero and Gonçalo perfect. Willie could have written it this way.
Pity not playing for longer.
If this is the quality of the whole season, then a magical return to form for the RSC and a treat for us all.

[cavocado]

Feb 20, 2023 17:29:25 GMT lynette said:

The Tempest, a triumph. An enjoyable, unpretentious production, coherent and well paced. No gimmicks but the ‘message’ a polluted world, was clear and conveyed with action, costume and set. Set amazing actually. The end reveal of the two young ‘uns playing chess very well earned. I have never seen the visions of the goddesses done do well, so clearly and so movingly. Most productions have no idea why they are there. The other themes, colonialism as we see it today and parent/child, very well done. The change of male to female in Prospero and Gonçalo perfect. Willie could have written it this way.
Pity not playing for longer.
If this is the quality of the whole season, then a magical return to form for the RSC and a treat for us all.

Sounds great. What a shame it isn't transferring to London.

[cirque]

Eric Whyman gets her revenge on us all in RSC summer season in Swan

[cavocado]

It's so disappointing to see the Swan turned into the Royal Court. Part of the RSC's job is reviving plays and writers which would otherwise disappear from our cultural lives. And are disappearing right now: when was the last time play by Jonson or Kyd was performed professionally?

If they see their job as to problematise history and decolonise our cultural heritage, then they will quickly get to the point where they can't justify giving this huge prominence to 'great white men' like Shakespeare. What then? If you're programming for the Royal Shakespeare Company you just have to suck it up and accept that this company is based around that culture. By all means explore those political themes via the canonical plays, and do some new plays that complement their repertoire, but that canon is literally their whole reason for existing.

[cavocado]

Here's the link: www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/

[bordeaux]

www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/feb/21/fresh-take-on-shakespeare-explores-antisemitism-via-1930s-cable-street

Merchant of Venice 1936 with Tracy Ann Oberman as Shylock; Tanika Gupta's The Empress, a GCSE set text; new play about the Falklands and how the invasion and war affected its inhabitants and Cowbois, a 'rollicking queer cowboy show.'

[bordeaux]

Feb 21, 2023 10:27:10 GMT cavocado said:

It's so disappointing to see the Swan turned into the Royal Court. Part of the RSC's job is reviving plays and writers which would otherwise disappear from our cultural lives. And are disappearing right now: when was the last time play by Jonson or Kyd was performed professionally?

If they see their job as to problematise history and decolonise our cultural heritage, then they will quickly get to the point where they can't justify giving this huge prominence to 'great white men' like Shakespeare. What then? If you're programming for the Royal Shakespeare Company you just have to suck it up and accept that this company is based around that culture. By all means explore those political themes via the canonical plays, and do some new plays that complement their repertoire, but that canon is literally their whole reason for existing.

Yes, I agree that it is a shame that Kyd, Webster, Ford and the others are no longer performed at a theatre that is ideal for them.  I've been going to the RSC for 35 years now (though it's probably once every five years now rather than several times a year) but I struggle to remember more than a handful of new plays that were anything like as good as anything the National or the Royal Court would put on.  I'm not talking about the glory days of the 60s and 70s of course when the RSC was at the centre of great new writing.  Has the RSC produced a great or even a very good new play this century?  I missed Oppenheimer but the only thing I can think of is Matilda.  I'm happy to stand corrected.

[zahidf]

lyric.co.uk/shows/the-empress/

Empress transfer to the Lyric for October 2023

[foxa]

Hmmmm a bit of a head=scratcher of a season. I didn't see Oppenheimer when it was on, but read it and really liked it. I could see why the RSC did it as it requires a big cast and vision and the resources they have to do it justice. Perhaps that's the case with one or more of these? Also think that the opportunity to create a role in a new play could possibly make a stint at the RSC more appealing for ambitious actors. They may turn out to be great successes, but a couple of them sound like they could be very hard to sell to audiences.

The RSC's page with the announcement has gone down with technical problems - which must be a headache for them.