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Post by Jan on Jan 24, 2018 9:13:41 GMT
Tend to agree with you, i saw the Pennington one at the Barbican. Did you see the David Suchet one at the Young Vic a while back? Really good. Maybe one reason for putting it in a Swan slot is to catch up with the folio project, they are behind imo and at this rate it will take nearly all of Doran's tenure. Yes I saw the Trevor Nunn/David Suchet/Young Vic one - the best I've seen I think. It made sense of the plot - years later it emerged this was because Nunn had put in hundreds of lines he'd written himself - and handling the later scenes as if they'd been written by Samuel Beckett worked perfectly. You assume Doran will leave at the end of his tenure (10 years ?). I doubt he will - what else would he do ? He is institutionalised, he has never worked outside the RSC except to stage stuff the RSC wouldn't stage (like that Michaelangelo thing with Sher at Hampstead). Even if he steps down as AD he'll still hang around. |
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Post by martin1965 on Jan 24, 2018 12:11:27 GMT
I do think he will go after ten years, 2023 will mark ten years, he will be 65 that year and of course marks the anniversary of the first folio.
Not sure what he might do but he will have had twenty years as either number two or AD and that is surely enough.
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Post by Jan on Jan 24, 2018 13:49:46 GMT
I do think he will go after ten years, 2023 will mark ten years, he will be 65 that year and of course marks the anniversary of the first folio. Not sure what he might do but he will have had twenty years as either number two or AD and that is surely enough. They have a vacancy in the John Barton role though don’t they. |
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Post by martin1965 on Jan 24, 2018 14:48:38 GMT
I do think he will go after ten years, 2023 will mark ten years, he will be 65 that year and of course marks the anniversary of the first folio. Not sure what he might do but he will have had twenty years as either number two or AD and that is surely enough. They have a vacancy in the John Barton role though don’t they. So you are Daniel Massey now? |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jan 24, 2018 15:05:16 GMT
I do think he will go after ten years, 2023 will mark ten years, he will be 65 that year and of course marks the anniversary of the first folio. Not sure what he might do but he will have had twenty years as either number two or AD and that is surely enough. 5 more years? Please no. The RSC feels like it is sleepwalking at the moment. It needs new, dynamic leadership. And that means getting rid of Doran and Whyman. |
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Post by Jan on Jan 24, 2018 15:11:13 GMT
They have a vacancy in the John Barton role though don’t they. So you are Daniel Massey now? Yes. Who was I before ? |
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Post by David J on Jan 24, 2018 16:16:08 GMT
I do think he will go after ten years, 2023 will mark ten years, he will be 65 that year and of course marks the anniversary of the first folio. Not sure what he might do but he will have had twenty years as either number two or AD and that is surely enough. 5 more years? Please no. The RSC feels like it is sleepwalking at the moment. It needs new, dynamic leadership. And that means getting rid of Doran and Whyman. At least the Swan still delivers some outstanding work. Even the lesser productions felt like they tried. Vice Versa last year for one was merely chuckle worthy but the energy and fun from the cast made it way better than the entire Roman season Now two of my favourite Shakespeare directors, Michael Boyd and Simon Godwin, are returning to put on shows there. And I hope Iqbal Kahn gets to spread his wings after Antony and Cleopatra. Boyd’s American production Tamburlaine gives me Henry VI vibes. Eek, hope this latest production is the same one! Otherwise I’ll just watch Troilus and Cressida at the cinema. At least it will help wash away the memory of the Wooster Group production (please, Doran) |
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Post by martin1965 on Jan 24, 2018 20:32:28 GMT
I do think he will go after ten years, 2023 will mark ten years, he will be 65 that year and of course marks the anniversary of the first folio. Not sure what he might do but he will have had twenty years as either number two or AD and that is surely enough. 5 more years? Please no. The RSC feels like it is sleepwalking at the moment. It needs new, dynamic leadership. And that means getting rid of Doran and Whyman. Quite obviously not gonna happen. I happen to quite like Doran but there it is. |
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Post by martin1965 on Jan 24, 2018 20:34:03 GMT
So you are Daniel Massey now? Yes. Who was I before ? Paul Scofield in what looked like JGB. |
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Post by David J on Jan 24, 2018 22:40:47 GMT
5 more years? Please no. The RSC feels like it is sleepwalking at the moment. It needs new, dynamic leadership. And that means getting rid of Doran and Whyman. Quite obviously not gonna happen. I happen to quite like Doran but there it is. Some of the best Shakespeare productions I’ve seen were directed by him. But they were all before he became artistic director. He has lost his creative spark |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2018 22:46:17 GMT
I completely agree. I find it hard to write him off entirely after some of his productions I've seen, but the only one since he became AD that's been much cop (for me, at least) is Julius Caesar. He's not a terrible AD, but he needs more exciting directors, and it'd be good if his directing was more exciting again too. (Also Michael Boyd programmed SUCH good Christmas shows, why is Doran incapable of following that?)
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Post by David J on Jan 24, 2018 23:40:02 GMT
What I loved most about Gregory Doran was that in his pre-AD productions you could tell that he worked with the cast to engage with the texts and bring nearly every word to life. Nearly every actor spoke the words not just clearly but with meaning that I could fully understand and engage with
I don’t know what people felt about his Loves Labours Lost, but that was the first time I saw the play and I was quite nervous going in. I had heard that it was Shakespeare’s wordiest play and that it is difficult to understand. But Dorans Lost was one of the funniest productions I’ve ever seen.
His Midsummer Nights Dream (2008 revival) is the most magical and beautiful version of the play I’ve ever seen. Also one of the funniest (I still can’t forget Joe Dixon’s Bottom, with a full on ass’s head, performing “The ousel cock so black of hue” song like a disc jokey 😂)
I just feel he used to set out with a vision to fully realise the plays in creative ways. He isn’t as daring as Rupert Goold and Ivo Van Hove but he also endeavours to fit his vision with the text. Julius Caesar felt like Shakespeare himself had set the play in Africa. Of course the play has themes that reasonates with us today, but Doran’s production felt seamless and real
So he has done productions that were fun, creative, engaging and more important for a Shakespeare production, understandable. I would even say Richard 2 to Henry 5 has some of that. But his productions lately have become progressively literal in delivery and uninspired. King Lear is one of the dullest versions I have ever seen. It had even seeped into the Roman season when he had some very creative directors overlooking those
I may dislike the way he is running the RSC but I feel he is, or once, a director who trusts Shakespeares texts the most to find the goods to deliver
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Post by Jan on Jan 25, 2018 7:32:07 GMT
Greg Doran has always struck me as being a Shakespeare director like Peter Hall, if it's a good play it's a good production and if it's a weak play it's weak. He stays so close to the text that he lacks a bit of imagination. So for example his productions of Winters Tale, Macbeth, Hamlet, Dream were very good but Timon, Henry VIII and King John were very dull. Having that type of director as part of the team is fine if you have directors who have a different style (like Michael Boyd and Adrian Noble) but when it appears as if his style is being imposed on other directors it is a worry - of the four Roman plays three were in the Doran style.
The Doran style has been particularly exposed in the history plays which have suffered terribly in comparison to the relatively recent cycle by Boyd.
I think his casting decisions have also been poor across the entire RSC output - he is neither building a true company of lesser-known actors as Boyd did nor regularly casting top-level Shakespeare actors as his predecessors did and the result is it looks like he is just casting his mates (David Tennant, Sher, Richard Wilson etc.). It is interesting Christopher Ecclestone approached Doran about Macbeth rather than vice versa. Casting is a great skill - Michael Grandage was brilliant at it - I wonder how good Doran is at networking in the theatre industry as a whole or whether he just sits up there in Stratford in splendid isolation.
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Post by cirque on Jan 25, 2018 9:09:13 GMT
some interesting thoughts here.my own opinion is that Doran/Whyman have had to agree to many Arts Council impositions and,therefore,the RSC has become a political plaything rather than international Shakespeare house.Why relocate Tartuffe to Sparkhill and risk localising the work....? Seems rather odd in planning although the prospect of Boyd's Tamburlaine based on the US reviews is worth years of waiting.The obsession with young people is resulting in weak casting although maybe actors just dont want to decamp to Stratford for long periods without a London guarantee. There is a real and urgent need for groundbreaking directors to approach the plays rather than a rather limited roster and the upgrading of assistants to tackle work.If RSC is to regain status as world leader it needs to look very carefully at itself in the next year or so and question what it wants to be.It saddens me to see much better versions of Shakespeare and classical at other theatres.Greg's enthusiasm may be curtailed by Erica Whyman's agenda.Who knows...I am not in the RSC corridors of debate but sense dissatisfaction with the state of play.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2018 12:08:14 GMT
I saw A Christmas Carol last week and absolutely loved it, so I'm glad it's returning. It says on the 10th December performance that it will be filmed, so does anyone know if that means it will be released or just filmed for archives? I can't imagine it will be a RSC Live broadcast as it isn't Shakespeare. If you click on "this performance will be filmed" it appears it will be for cinema broadcast This performance will be filmed for broadcast to cinemas. There will be cameras in the auditorium although, unless stated, these shouldn’t interrupt your view. If so it seems odd for the cinema broadcast performance to be the day before press night! In the printed brochure, there's nothing about filming or a broadcast of AChristmas Carol. But it states that the Writer & Director Talk on 10 December at 5.15-6PM will be live streamed online. |
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Post by NeilVHughes on Feb 12, 2018 14:38:41 GMT
Troilus and Timon booked along with Tartuffe and Tamburlaine. Convenient schedule, able to do them over two Saturdays and take in the unwrapped sessions as well.
Bonus this will complete my Shakespeare plays, after missing the Russell Beale Timon this has evaded me ever since.
(Is there a collective term for completists?) [polite please]
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Post by waybeyondblue on Feb 12, 2018 20:34:33 GMT
Troilus and Timon booked along with Tartuffe and Tamburlaine. Convenient schedule, able to do them over two Saturdays and take in the unwrapped sessions as well. Bonus this will complete my Shakespeare plays, after missing the Russell Beale Timon this has evaded me ever since. (Is there a collective term for completists?) [polite please] “Billend” |
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Post by lynette on Feb 13, 2018 13:23:35 GMT
Troilus and Timon booked along with Tartuffe and Tamburlaine. Convenient schedule, able to do them over two Saturdays and take in the unwrapped sessions as well. Bonus this will complete my Shakespeare plays, after missing the Russell Beale Timon this has evaded me ever since. (Is there a collective term for completists?) [polite please] “Billend” 😂 |
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Post by fossil on Feb 23, 2018 19:39:11 GMT
From the Stratford Herald website dated 21 Feb 2018.
"The RSC has been working with a household name on an exciting new project for 2019. The company had wanted to keep any details secret until early next year – but the star’s agents accidentally let the cat out of the bag…. Find out the full story in tomorrow’s Stratford Herald."
Nothing further on the web site. Does anyone have more information on this?
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Post by johng on Feb 23, 2018 20:38:02 GMT
"David Walliams to work with RSC on new musical" is the headline
You can link to the front page through their twitter feed
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Post by johng on Feb 23, 2018 20:41:09 GMT
The Herald understands that "The Boy in the Dress" would be launched as the festive family show for 2019
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Post by oxfordsimon on Feb 23, 2018 22:16:44 GMT
Oh....
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Post by cirque on Feb 24, 2018 16:36:58 GMT
what a really uninspiring piece of news.
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Post by David J on Feb 24, 2018 16:44:28 GMT
What is it with David Walliams. Suddenly all his books are being adapted for the stage
The Nuffield and Chichester alone are doing The Billionaire Boy and The Midnight Gang later this year
Is he the new Roald Dahl or something?
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Post by David J on Feb 24, 2018 16:46:09 GMT
What is it with David Walliams. Suddenly all his books are being adapted for the stage The Nuffield and Chichester alone are doing The Billionaire Boy and The Midnight Gang later this year Is he the new Roald Dahl or something? Certainly looks like that given Quentin Blake does the illustrations |
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