Page 3 - Play Macbeth News Today

Here in stratford is working with young people who of course are experiencing shakespeare for the first time. mm. i often think, when im starting a new production, "i wish i didnt know what happened in this play." and of course they dont. and i think that is the... for me, thats always been the starting point, that im directing my production to the 13—year—old boy i was sitting up there in the gods in 1973, and to me that is a constant refresher. i mean, i think there are times when a compan...

I will not trouble thee, my child; farewell: well no more meet, no more see one another. but yet... ..thou art my flesh, my blood... ..my daughter. you know, its not eight months yet since he left. i dont feel hes somehow sitting on a cloud somewhere. but i do feel, you know, during the rehearsals for richard iii, for instance, a play that he had his fingerprints all over, i did feel him sitting like a bad prosthetic hump on my shoulder, sort of urging me to try harder, to explore deeper, to acc...

13—year—old kid who might have been in the stalls or up in the circle. when you were that kid, in the 1970s, culture was very different. it was. the kid of today is being brought up with computer games, with sort of a quick fix, quick hit, internet—driven culture, which might make him or her less inclined to be interested in william shakespeare. of course, im generalising massively, but the culture has changed. it has. and does it make it more difficult to connect to shakespeare? we consta...

Found it in the car park. nor do i think we have to have an obese alcoholic play falstaff or a scottish murderer play macbeth. but i think there are times when... ..i think you have to... you have to look. you know, i think this goes back to, for instance, 0thello in the, what, the late �*80s, i would say, when suddenly it felt that it was no longer appropriate... this company made an absolute policy. no longer appropriate to have a white actor... having a white actor black up. ..playing a bla...

Culture has changed. it has. and does it make it more difficult to connect to shakespeare? we constantly look at what it is that is engaging people now. so, you know, the digital aspect has become very, very important. i did a production of the tempest, shakespeares most magical play, and i remember saying to my team, "look, you know, in shakespeares "day, he was using high tech." he was using the technology available for the jacobean masques, which included lighting effects and stage machinery....

Here in the united kingdom, heres what one... im sure a man you know well, one former playwright, resident at the rsc, the royal shakespeare company, says of shakespeare, mark ravenhill, he said hes so... shakespeare is so saturated in our culture that were no longer in a position to determine how great he is because we cant get enough distance any more. do you think theres something in that? i think there is. what i find is that, you know, a lot of the work we do here in stratford is working wi...

Months yet since he left. i dont feel hes somehow sitting on a cloud somewhere. but i do feel, you know, during the rehearsals for richard iii, for instance, a play that he had his fingerprints all over, i did feel him sitting like a bad prosthetic hump on my shoulder, sort of urging me to try harder, to explore deeper, to accept nothing but the best, which is... which in a way is his legacy, and i hope something of our legacy together. but, yes, i... he was my... he was my all—the—world. he...

A constant refresher. i mean, i think there are times when a company like this, the danger is that it becomes a treadmill. and its, "if its tuesday, it must be as you like it." and youve got to get rid of that and make sure that each play is an event, whether thats because of the casting or the idea behind the production or the conversation with other productions, if you like, or other plays. i want to think more about that 13—year—old kid who might have been in the stalls or up in the circl...

Breathing world, scarce half made up, and that so lamely and unfashionable that dogs bark at me as i halt by them! whyl...? nor would i say that it is no longer possible for non—disabled actors to play richard iii. but what i would say is what he brings from his lived experience is something very particular. nor would i say that i think you have to have adolescent—onset idiopathic scoliosis, which is what we know richard has, because we found it in the car park. nor do i think we have to hav...

You know, its not eight months yet since he left. i dont feel hes somehow sitting on a cloud somewhere. but i do feel, you know, during the rehearsals for richard iii, for instance, a play that he had his fingerprints all over, i did feel him sitting like a bad prosthetic hump on my shoulder, sort of urging me to try harder, to explore deeper, to accept nothing but the best, which is... which, in a way, is his legacy, and i hope something of our legacy together. but, yes, i... he was my... he wa...