RSC Patrons' News - September 2018

Issue 11 / September 2018

PATR ONS S T R AT F O R D - U P O N - AV O N

Photo by Paul Stuart

FEBRUARY – SEPTEMBER 2019

O P E NT U D Y RS U N D EE A R S A L S D REH E BOOKE B CAN PRIORITY IN OKING BO PRIORITY BOOKING INFORMATION ARTISTS CIRCLE PRIORIT Y BOOKING OPENS MONDAY 24 SEP TEMBER 10A M

ONLINE OR PHONE – 01789 272234

GOLD PATRONS PRIORIT Y BOOKING OPENS MONDAY 24 SEP TEMBER 10A M ONLINE OR PHONE – 01789 272283 SILVER PATRONS PRIORITY BOOKING OPENS TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 10AM

ONLINE OR PHONE – 01789 272318

BRONZE PATRONS PRIORIT Y BOOKING OPENS THURSDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 10AM

ONLINE OR PHONE – 01789 403438

Contents

In this edition of Patrons’ News

02

A welcome from Gregory Doran

Page 3

New Summer 2019 Season

Pages 4 and 5

Stitch In Time Campaign Update

Pages 6 and 7

Education Update

Read about the new Shakespeare Learning Zone.

Page 8

Event Reviews

Page 9

Read all about the shows coming in Summer 2019.

An update on the Campaign since we launched one year ago.

Your Patrons’ Events

Six page supplement

Upcoming Events

Pages 10 and 11

Discover More

Pages 12 and 13

We welcome back Michael Boyd

Pages 14 and 15

Letter from America

Page 16

Patron’s Voice

Bronze Patron Tony Thresher

Page 17

Patron’s Voice

Page 18

Take a look at the new foldout format of your Patrons’ Events Programme - A new easy-to-follow calendar of events - Read reviews of some of our previous events - Book early and don’t miss out!

Read about Michael’s return to the RSC to direct Tamburlaine.

Hear from US Patrons Bruce Davidson and Donald Barb.

Bronze Patron Anne Beaumont

Auditorium modification

Page 19

Shakespeare by McBean

Page 20

A welcome from Gregory Doran

03

Welcome

Welcome to your Patrons' newsletter in which we tell you about our Stratford-upon-Avon Summer Season 2019.

I am very excited to announce an ambitious new collaborative cross-cast ensemble which reflects the Nation, to play three Shakespeare productions in a modified Royal Shakespeare Theatre next summer. All three productions will then tour in repertoire to regional theatres in 2019. Read more in the following pages about this exciting season.

As always, we have some wonderful behind-the-scenes events planned for Patrons to accompany the new season.

You can look forward to a new Patrons’ Summer Party, pre-performance drinks, Patrons: Your Year Ahead, the ever-popular Showcase Day and a weekend of activity around Shakespeare’s Birthday including an RSC archive screening of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.

I hope you also have your tickets to Don Quixote which opens in London next month. We have a special Patrons’ In Conversation event on 3 October in London, when David Threlfall and Rufus Hound will share some of their experiences in bringing Cervantes’s comic novel to life again in the West End. You can also see Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Barbican in London from October, and I hope many of you will be able to attend our London Patrons’ Evening on Friday 9 November.

The Stitch In Time Campaign is progressing well and I am very grateful to all of you who have donated and for your ongoing involvement. I look forward to welcoming you to a performance or special event again very soon.

Gregory Doran Artistic Director

New Summer 2019 Season

04

Stratford-upon-Avon summer 2019 “Now, now, very now!” - Othello 2019 sees us taking stock at the RSC. On our journey through the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays, which we began in 2013 with Richard II, we reach the final third of the canon: time to consider how we do things and reassert some of our most basic principles as a classical theatre company.

So, our summer season concentrates on one company performing three plays in a shared space. One company investigating what Shakespeare means today: "Now, now, very now!". One company which genuinely reflects the nation, from the perspective of diversity, age, gender, regionality and disability.

One company committed to the challenges of illuminating Shakespeare's language and the dynamic speaking of verse which has long been the pride of the RSC, and which we choose to reassert as we mark the passing of two of our legendary creators Peter Hall and John Barton, and the retirement of the inimitable Cicely Berry at the age of 92.

One company determined to give you, our audience, the best experience of three of Shakespeare's most exciting plays.

I have asked two people I proudly claim as home-grown

talents to help me create this company: Kimberley Sykes, who last year directed a devastatingly powerful production of Marlowe's Dido, Queen of Carthage; and Justin Audibert who directed the harrowing Chinese classic Snow in Midsummer so beautifully earlier that same year. Kimberley will direct As You Like It, and Justin The Taming of the Shrew.

As the final play in the repertoire, I shall direct the Shakespeare play with perhaps the most astonishingly contemporary resonance for today: Measure for Measure.

2019 marks 25 years since the first democratic elections in South Africa. We are thrilled to be premiering a new play by the legendary South African actor, activist, and playwright, John Kani (most recently seen in the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther). John appeared as Caliban in the 2009 production of The Tempest we produced with the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, directed

by Janice Honeyman. During that time John started to write a play for himself and Antony Sher (playing Prospero in that production) exploring how two men (one black, one white) have experienced the changes in their country in the years since the release of Mandela and the ending of Apartheid.

Kunene and the King is the result. Jack is a renowned actor, offered the role of King Lear, but dying of cancer. Kunene is his carer. The play will reunite these three great South African artists – John Kani, Antony Sher and Janice Honeyman – and will be a co-production with the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town.

2019 is also the 250th anniversary of the Shakespeare Industry, with Stratford-upon-Avon as its epicentre. In 1769, all eyes were turned on the town as the renowned actor-manager David Garrick created his famous Shakespeare Jubilee here.

We are celebrating the legacy of this great man by mounting a brace of plays which gave him two of his most famous roles: Sir John Brute in The Provoked Wife (1697) by John Vanbrugh, and Javier in Venice Preserved (1682) by Thomas Otway.

Garrick was painted in both roles by the artist Johan Zoffany.

We are perhaps more familiar with Restoration comedy – recently in the Swan Theatre we have mounted Congreve's Love for Love, Aphra Behn's The Rover, and of course this summer's surprise hit Mary Pix's The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich – but it is rarer to see a Restoration

New Summer 2019 Season

05

of Venice Preserved. Prasanna's first acting job, having swapped careers from being a doctor, was as the Priest in my production of Twelfth Night with Richard Wilson as Malvolio in 2010.

Associate Artist Alexandra Gilbreath returns to play Lady Brute, the Provoked Wife herself, directed by Phillip Breen (whose

production of Richard Bean's The Hypocrite had audiences rolling in the aisles in 2017).

I do hope you will join us for this exciting summer in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Gregory Doran Artistic Director

Photo by Sam Allard

tragedy, and Venice Preserved is the crowning glory of them all, a play listed by veteran Guardian critic Michael Billington among his 101 of the greatest plays ever written.

I am delighted to welcome Prasanna Puwanarajah back to the company, this time as a director, to tackle the challenges

Open Understudy Rehearsals Open Understudy Rehearsals give a glimpse into the technical and on-stage processes around our shows, and ensure that we have a full 'performance ready' understudy company. These fascinating performances see the understudy company perform with limited staging and costumes.

We know that the Open Understudy Rehearsals are of particular interest to Patrons and

we are delighted to announce that you can now book these performances during Priority Booking for the new season.

This is a special benefit for Patrons and booking for Members, Subscribers and the general public opens two weeks before each performance date.

Please note that due to the working nature of the Open Understudy Rehearsals these performances may be subject

to change and cancellation.

Seating may also be subject to change depending on the requirements of the production.

We will of course let Patrons know in plenty of time if there are any changes to the Open Understudy Rehearsals.

Tickets are ÂŁ10 and can be booked online or on your priority booking number. Please see performance schedule for details.

Stitch In Time Campaign Update

06

All pictures by Sam Allard

One year on:

Thank you to all of you who have kindly supported the Stitch In Time Campaign. It is almost a year since RSC Honorary Associate Artist Patrick Stewart launched the Campaign to restore and redevelop the historic Costume Workshop buildings.

The workshop will enable our skilled craftspeople to continue to make the stunning costumes that you and audiences around the world enjoy on our stages and in cinemas screenings every year.

Since launching the Stitch In Time Campaign, more than 20,000 people have supported. Many of you have joined our Costume Circle, benefitting from

wonderful opportunities to get behind-the-scenes and to meet those involved through tours and other events.

Building on the excitement of the incredible jumble sale that many of you will remember last September, the eBay auction of costume items that took place over Shakespeare’s Birthday was a great success. The sale attracted interest and bids from Patrons and visitors from all over the country and around the world.

• All 81 items were sold • We had buyers from all around the world, from Birmingham to Bermuda

•

The highest priced item was Associate Artist and RSC Board Member David Tennant’s blue embellished jacket which sold for over £3,000

• The majority of items sold for over £100 •

Other top sellers were the doublet and hose worn by Judi Dench and the red military jacket worn by Alex Hassell from Henry V

The auction has contributed an amazing £19,000 to the Stitch In Time Campaign and we look forward to seeing some of you wearing your winning bids at future events.

Stitch In Time Campaign Update

07

Official Thread Supplier to the RSC

With public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as contributions from individuals, Trusts and Foundations and businesses, we have £1.3 million left to raise from a total project cost of £8.7 million.

Our skilled team of craftspeople need your support. If you haven’t supported the project yet, please do consider getting involved and, if you have already made a donation, please consider giving again.

Every gift makes a difference and is greatly appreciated. Please visit rsc.org.uk/stitchintime The work to restore and redevelop the Costume Workshop is progressing well. The costume team have moved out of the old buildings on Waterside and are now settled in their temporary facilities. Demolition work will begin behind hoardings that will go up on Chapel Lane. The front façade of the building on Waterside will not change in this initial phase as much of the work

will take place out of view. To get a bird’s eye view of the project, do go up the Tower next time you are visiting. Don’t forget to show Box Office your Patrons’ card to claim your £1 Tower ticket.

In the temporary workshops in Arden Street, the team have already completed the costumes for a number of wonderful shows including Miss Littlewood, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Tamburlaine and Tartuffe, and they are hard at work on Troilus and Cressida.

The restoration and redevelopment of the Costume Workshop is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, with additional support from the Garfield Weston Foundation, Lydia and Manfred Gorvy, The Foyle Foundation, The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation and other generous supporters.

Education Update

08

Launch of the Shakespeare Learning Zone We know that many of our Patrons are particularly interested in the RSC’s education work, and care deeply about unlocking Shakespeare for young people.

We wanted you to be amongst the first to hear about a new initiative: the Shakespeare Learning Zone. This brand-new area of the RSC website, aimed at 11-18-year-olds, gives young people the skills and confidence to master Shakespeare’s plays.

Particularly helpful for GCSE and A-Level learners, the site holds more in-depth content than any other online resource aimed at this age group. Organised into four separate sections, exploring Story, Characters, Language and Performance, the site is easy to use and appropriate for students at all levels of learning.

Using the site, young people can discover how to unlock the plays using the techniques our actors use in the rehearsal room.

They can access specially created videos, photo galleries, plot guides and interactive content tailored to their needs. This is the first time we have produced a resource directly aimed at

students themselves and feedback so far is extremely positive.

The Shakespeare Learning Zone includes: • Step-by-step plot guides and timelines •

Videos of key scenes and strategies for unlocking Shakespeare’s language explained by the RSC Actors and Directors who use them

• Interactive content that brings characters and their relationships to life • Hundreds of production photos and other material from the RSC’s unique archive • Interactive grids to help young people structure exam questions Powe re d by

The site currently features Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, The Tempest and Julius Caesar. Plays will be added each term to create an unparalleled resource for students and teachers.

Take a look at rsc.org.uk/learningzone and please do share with teachers or students you may know.

If you would like to find out more about the RSC’s education work and how you can unlock Shakespeare for others, please contact Michele Cottiss on 01789 272283 or michele.cottiss@rsc.org.uk

Your Patrons' Events

09

Event Reviews

Over the last few months, Patrons have enjoyed some wonderful events and below are some reviews to give you a taste of what to expect.

Photo by Lucy Barriball

Robert Harris and Mike Poulton In Conversation London, 15 June 2018

Photo by Ikin Yum

Mike Poulton

Robert Harris

Back in June, we were privileged to hear from best-selling novelist Robert Harris and RSC Associate Artist Mike Poulton about their experience of bringing Robert’s Cicero trilogy to the stage.

Self-proclaimed fan, RSC Deputy Chair of the Board Genista McIntosh shared with Patrons a potted history of Robert’s early career with the BBC and his continued fascination with history, which ultimately led him to writing about powerful historical figures from Hitler to Cicero. Guests also heard about how Mike left publishing for playwriting, the differences between adapting a novel and translating from

New York, 23 April 2018

Photo by Michael Jurick

US Birthday Weekend Gala

A group of our Patrons enjoying the Gala evening at the New York Public Library

In New York on Monday 23 April over 100 Patrons, supporters and guests celebrated Shakespeare’s Birthday at a wonderful Gala evening held at the New York Public Library.

another language, and how to find the play inside the story.

For those of you that were not able to join us, you can find the audio recording in your Patrons’ Room online rsc.org.uk/patrons Our In Conversation series continues on Wednesday 3 October in London with David Threlfall and Rufus Hound as they begin rehearsals for the remounted production of Don Quixote, adapted by James Fenton, opening at the Garrick Theatre in November.

Please see your calendar of events included with your newsletter to find out more.

Hosted by RSC America, the Gala celebrated the incredible career of Antony Sher as our production of King Lear played to US audiences at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

IMPERIUM is the recipient of an EDGERTON FOUNDATION NEW PLAYS AWARD

Over dinner, guests enjoyed Professor James Shapiro speaking with Antony about his career with the RSC, including performances as Falstaff, Iago, Richard III, Shylock, Macbeth, Prospero, Willy Loman and, of course, King Lear.

It was a wonderful evening and guests were delighted to be joined for dinner by many of the King Lear Company and other RSC Actors and friends. The event included an auction to raise funds for future RSC tours to the US, and guests had the opportunity to bid on a crown, a breastplate and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to have dinner with Simon Russell Beale.

We very much look forward to returning to the US again soon!

Photo by Sam Allard

Your Patrons’ Events Calendar

Y O U R PAT R O N S ' E V E N T S

Photo by Gina Print

Welcome to your Patrons’ Events

One of our Shakespeare Ambassadors taking part in the Romeo and Juliet Education Insight event in May 2018.

“Yet again, thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to gain more insight into ‘our’ companyy!”

Sue Tipping, Silver Patron

Booking Information

As a Patron, we are excited to offer you exclusive access to an extensive programme of events throughout the year.

These span our entire artistic programme as well as bringing you closer to our wider work with artists and creative teams, schools and young people as well as the local community of Stratford-upon-Avon and beyond.

Last month, we had the privilege of hearing from some of our young Shakespeare Ambassadors from Northampton, as part of an In Conversation with Deputy Artistic Director Erica Whyman and Director of Education Jacqui O’Hanlon.

The Shakespeare Ambassadors gave a wonderful glimpse into the work that the Education department does with young people across the country and perfectly illustrated how the RSC gives young people a chance to fall in love with Shakespeare.

This new events section of the newsletter makes it easier than ever for you to find out more about our past and future events and make your bookings, through the following features: • A new pull-out calendar of events, that allows you to view and plan all your upcoming events and activities in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and beyond.

• As well as your new events calendar, Event Reviews will give you a taste of the many different events we can offer.

The Upcoming Events section also highlights newly added and special events that you can now book and we would love to see you all there.

• The RSC also has a wide range of public events giving a deeper insight into our productions, as well as activities for younger audience members. These are all highlighted in the Discover More section on pages 12-13.

You can always speak to a member of the team if you need any more information on an event, and details of how to book can be found on this page as well as your Patrons’ Room at rsc.org.uk.

We look forward to seeing you!

The Events Team

As a registered charity, some of these events are charged to cover costs. Tickets can be booked via your Patrons’ Room at rsc.org.uk or alternatively contact Kate Perry on 01789 403467 or at invitation@rsc.org.uk. All timings are subject to change. All images are from previous Patrons’ Events. The work of the RSC Education Department is generously supported by PAUL HAMLYN FOUNDATION, THE ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER FOUNDATION, THE POLONSKY FOUNDATION, THE ERNEST COOK TRUST and TAK ADVISORY LIMITED

Y O U R PAT R O N S ' E V E N T S

Patrons’ Events Calendar 2018 01. Patrons’ Evening post-show party Thursday 13 September The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon 7pm - 12 midnight

This year’s Patrons’ Evening is now sold out.

However, there is very limited availability for performance and post-show only tickets.

Spend the evening in the company of Falstaff and the residents of Windsor in one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, The Merry Wives of Windsor, before the post-show party with the Company.

Photo by Sam Allard

£100 per person

Guests seated for dinner at Patrons’ Evening in October 2017.

03. In conversation with 04. Tamburlaine Patrons’ Drinks David Threlfall and Rufus Hound Wednesday 10 October Photo by Sam Allard

Wednesday 3 October

Adrian Edmondson, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, with one of our Patrons at Patrons’ Evening 2017.

02. A talk from Stephen Brimson Lewis

Bloomsbury Hotel, London 6.30 - 8.30pm £20 per person

As the critically acclaimed production of Don Quixote, adapted by James Fenton, arrives in London, we are thrilled to continue our series of In Conversation events.

David Threlfall and Rufus Hound join RSC Deputy Chair Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall to discuss the production and bringing their larger-than-life characters to the stage.

Friday 28 September The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon 6 - 7.30pm

Free of charge

With the exciting return of Michael Boyd to the RSC to direct Christopher Marlowe’s epic Tamburlaine, please join us for pre-show drinks to hear more about this ambitious play: a portrait of power at its most charismatic and violent.

If you would like to join us, please contact the event team to add you to the guest list for pre-show drinks and arrange performance tickets for you. If you already have tickets booked for this particular performance, please do notify us and we would be delighted if you could join us for complimentary drinks beforehand.

05. Archive Screening of Macbeth

Free of charge for Stitch In Time supporters

Sunday 4 November The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon 2 - 5pm Photo by Gina Print

Hear from RSC Director of Design Stephen Brimson Lewis about his illustrious career as a scenic designer and learn what a Director of Design’s working day really looks like.

Stephen’s recent RSC credits include A Christmas Carol, returning this Winter by popular demand, and The Tempest (2016) which used live motion capture to create an Ariel avatar onstage for the first time in theatre.

Costume Circle supporters are invited to join Stephen for a drinks reception following the talk.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon 5.45 - 6.45pm

Patrons onstage at the Wendy and Peter Pan automation event in November 2015.

£15 per person

Experience the RSC’s classic 1976 studio production of Macbeth in all its dark and supernatural glory. Directed by Trevor Nunn, Ian McKellen and Judi Dench were the murderous Macbeths with the action taking place in a claustrophobic The Other Place.

The next in our series of archive screenings of classic productions, join us for a unique chance to see this iconic performance, followed by post-screening refreshments.

Y O U R PAT R O N S ' E V E N T S

Patrons’ Events Calendar 2018 07. London Patrons' Evening Friday 9 November Barbican Theatre, London 6pm – 12 midnight

Our Costume Workshop team showing Patrons their work as part of the Artistic Directors’ Dinner in April 2018.

06. Stitch In Time Update

With this year’s contemporary production of Macbeth playing at the Barbican, we invite you to our second London Patrons’ Evening.

Join us for a pre-show drinks reception hosted by Deputy Chair Miranda Curtis and a post-show celebration with the Macbeth Company.

08. Romeo and Juliet Patrons' Drinks

Thursday 8 November

Wednesday 28 November

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon 6 - 7.30pm

Barbican Theatre, London 6 - 7pm Free of charge

One year on from the launch of our Stitch In Time Campaign to restore and redevelop our Costume Workshop, we invite Stitch In Time donors and those interested in the project for a progress report on everything from demolition and decamping to Arden Street, through to finances and finishing touches.

See Shakespeare’s most iconic love story as it transfers to the Barbican and hear about the creation of Erica Whyman’s production at a pre-show drinks reception with a member of the creative team.

If you would like to join us, please contact the event team to add you to the guest list for pre-show drinks and arrange performance tickets for you. If you already have tickets booked for this particular performance, please do notify us and we would be delighted if you could join us for complimentary drinks beforehand.

Photo by Lucy Barriball

Julius Caesar Company at Showcase Day in July 2017.

Press Nights

Kara Tointon, Olivia in Twelfth Night, speaking to Patrons post-show at Patrons’ Evening 2017.

09. A Christmas Carol Patrons' Drinks Wednesday 12 December Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon 5.45 - 6.45pm Free of charge

The smash hit of Christmas 2017 makes a welcome return this winter, as David Edgar’s adaptation of this festive tale of redemption and compassion gets us into the Christmas spirit. Join us for a drink and mince pie before the show and hear a little more about how one of the most loved short stories ever written was adapted for our stage.

If you would like to join us, please contact the event team to add you to the guest list for pre-show drinks and arrange performance tickets for you. If you already have tickets booked for this particular performance, please do notify us and we would be delighted if you could join us for complimentary drinks beforehand.

Photo by Gina Print

Free of charge

Photo by Sam Allard

Photo by Sam Allard

£175 per person

Musicians and Company from The Rover performing at Patrons’ Evening 2016.

All Artists Circle and Major Supporters are welcome to join us for Press Nights in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Swan Theatre and London.

Full details and dates are available on the website in your Patrons’ Room.

All Gold Patrons’ are invited to join us for Press Nights in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Y O U R PAT R O N S ' E V E N T S

Patrons’ Events Calendar 2019 Saturday 19 January

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon 10.30am - noon Free of charge

Back by popular demand, Patrons: Your Year Ahead is our chance to tell you about the RSC’s plans for the next 12 months, our priorities for the future and how your support directly influences our work. Hear more from our senior team before enjoying a cup of tea or coffee after the event.

Gold Patrons are also invited to join our speakers for tea, coffee and further questions after the event.

11. Stitch In Time Masterclass Early 2019 – Further details to be confirmed

Stratford-upon-Avon 6 - 7.30pm By invitation only

A chance to learn from the RSC’s award-winning Costume Team. This masterclass will give you the opportunity to glimpse the craft involved in creating the stunning costumes, jewellery and armoury that are essential to creating the very best theatre.

Available to Stitch In Time Costume Circle donors only. Find out more about the Stitch In Time Campaign and how to support at rsc.org.uk/stitchintime.

13. Timon of Athens Patrons’ Drinks Tuesday 22 January

Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon 6 - 7pm Free of charge

Simon Godwin directs Kathryn Hunter in Shakespeare’s sharp satire on wealth, greed and betrayal.

Join us for pre-show drinks with a member of the Company to hear about the play’s journey from page to stage.

If you would like to join us, please contact the event team to add you to the guest list for pre-show drinks and arrange performance tickets for you. If you already have tickets booked for this particular performance, please do notify us and we would be delighted if you could join us for complimentary drinks beforehand.

14. Winter Season launch drinks Monday 28 January

Soho Hotel, London 6.30 - 8.30pm By invitation only

We invite Gold Patrons to a drinks reception with RSC leadership, Associate Artists and Creatives to hear more about our upcoming artistic programming.

Photo by Lucy Barriball

10. Patrons: Your Year Ahead

Benet Brandreth leading a session on rhetoric at Showcase Day 2017.

15. The Taming of the Shrew Director Talk and nightcap Monday 18 March

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon 5.15 - 11pm £75 per person, to include a performance ticket.

As the RSC opens the new Summer season with The Taming of The Shrew, come along and hear more from the production’s Director, Justin Audibert, in the auditorium before the show. The performance will be followed by a nightcap with the Company.

12. Legacy Lunch Early 2019 – further details to be confirmed

Stratford-upon-Avon

Our annual event to thank those who have chosen to remember the RSC in their wills as well as those who wish to find out more about the difference this support can make.

Hear directly from those who benefit: our actors, creatives, and Associate Schools.

For more information on how to leave the RSC a gift in your will, please visit rsc.org.uk/support/legacy-giving/

Photo by Gina Print

Free of charge

Costumes displayed at the Artistic Director’s Dinner in April 2018.

Booking Information

As a registered charity, some of these events are charged to cover costs. Tickets can be booked via your Patrons’ Room at rsc.org.uk or alternatively contact Kate Perry on 01789 403467 or at invitation@rsc.org.uk. All timings are subject to change. All images are from previous Patrons’ Events. The work of the RSC Education Department is generously supported by PAUL HAMLYN FOUNDATION, THE ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER FOUNDATION, THE POLONSKY FOUNDATION, THE ERNEST COOK TRUST and TAK ADVISORY LIMITED

Y O U R PAT R O N S ' E V E N T S

Patrons’ Events Calendar 2019 19. Venice Preserved Open Understudy Rehearsal Photo by Andrew Maguire

Thursday 20 June 1.30pm

Patrons at the end of Showcase Day 2016 in The Other Place.

16. Birthday Weekend

17. Showcase Day

Birthday Weekend Afternoon Tea Saturday 27 April

Sunday 12 May

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon 4pm Free of charge

Come and celebrate the Birthday Weekend with a traditional afternoon tea at The Other Place, with tea and cake with the Company.

Birthday performance of The Taming of the Shrew Saturday 27 April Royal Shakespeare Theatre 7.15pm Tickets avilable at Box Office Join us for the Birthday Weekend performance of 2019, The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Justin Audibert. Tickets can be booked via your Patrons’ ticket hotline or the RSC Box Office.

Archive Screening of The Cherry Orchard Sunday 28 April The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon 2 - 5pm £15 per person, to include post-event refreshments Join us for the next in our series of archive screenings, the wonderful 1962 production of The Cherry Orchard directed by Michael Elliott, as part of the Birthday Weekend. The first RSC production made for the BBC and starring Peggy Ashcroft, John Gielgud, Judi Dench and Ian Holm, this is a rare chance to see our most beloved Shakespearean actors in their early roles.

Press Nights

The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon 10am - 4pm £75 per person to include lunch “What a smashing day we have had” Bette Ashley, Bronze Patron Join us for next year’s Showcase Day, one of our best-loved events, giving you a flavour of the many facets of what happens behind the scenes at the RSC. From presentations to demonstrations, workshops to In Conversations with the companies working on our productions, it is a fascinating and insightful day.

18. The Provoked Wife Patrons’ Drinks Wednesday 5 June

Join us for pre-show drinks with a member of the Creative Team as Phillip Breen directs The Provoked Wife, and brings his comedy Midas touch to this outspoken restoration romp that shocked 17th Century society.

If you would like to join us, please contact the event team to add you to the guest list for pre-show drinks and arrange performance tickets for you. If you already have tickets booked for this particular performance, please do notify us and we would be delighted if you could join us for complimentary drinks beforehand.

This is a chance to find out more about the understudy process at the RSC and see the open understudy rehearsal of Venice Preserved, the restoration tragedy in the Swan Theatre directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah, before joining the creative team post-show for tea and cake.

20. As You Like It Patrons’ Drinks Thursday 11 July

Come into the forest, and dare to change your state of mind, as you join us for pre-show drinks before director Kimberley Sykes (Dido, Queen of Carthage) takes you through a riotous, exhilarating version of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy.

If you would like to join us, please contact the event team to add you to the guest list for pre-show drinks and arrange performance tickets for you. If you already have tickets booked for this particular performance, please do notify us and we would be delighted if you could join us for complimentary drinks beforehand.

21. Patrons’ Summer Party – Measure for Measure Friday 9 August

Stratford-upon-Avon Time TBC £99 per person We have some exciting programming lined up for Winter 2019 to be announced early next year and hope you will all join us for our annual Stratford-upon-Avon Patrons’ Evening a little later than usual in the calendar. This date will be announced in your January newsletter.

With that in mind, we are delighted to introduce this new event into the Patrons’ event programme.

The Summer Party will begin with a drinks reception, followed by a performance of Measure for Measure and a post-show celebration with the Company.

All Artists Circle and Major Supporters are welcome to join us for Press Nights in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Swan Theatre and London.

Full details and dates are available on the website in your Patrons’ Room.

All Gold Patrons’ are invited to join us for Press Nights in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Your Patrons’ Events

10

Upcoming Events

Photos by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Our Archive screenings are growing in popularity, and this one is not to be missed. Join us at The Other Place as we bring to the screen Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in Macbeth.

Archive Screening of Macbeth Sunday 4 November 2018, The Other Place

Following the wonderful Birthday Weekend screening of the classic 1961 production of As You Like It, directed by Michael Elliot and featuring Vanessa Redgrave as Rosalind, we are excited to be screening another classic from the RSC archives: Trevor Nunn’s iconic 1976 production A Performance of Macbeth.

With Ian McKellen and Judi Dench as the murderous Macbeths, this highly-acclaimed production opened at The Other Place on 9 September 1976, before transferring to the Gulbenkian Studio, Newcastle upon Tyne, the Royal Shakespeare

Theatre, and then the Donmar Warehouse, London. Such was the demand for seats, that it was decided to transfer the production to the Young Vic, London, for a dedicated season in 1978.

This is a rare chance to see the Thames Television recording of the production from 1978, in The Other Place where the original production took place.

Our archive screening series continues over the 2019 Birthday Weekend, with Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard on Sunday 28 April. See your calendar of events to find out more.

Your Patrons’ Events

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London Patrons’ Evening

Friday 9 November, Barbican Theatre, London

Photo by Alex Rumford

Photo by Richard Davenport

RSC Deputy Chair Miranda Curtis invites you to join her for this year’s London Patrons’ Evening as Macbeth transfers to London.

Photo by Alex Rumford

Photo by Richard Davenport

Photo by Alex Rumford

As Macbeth transfers to the Barbican this autumn, you are invited to our second London Patrons’ Evening. The evening will begin with a pre-show reception hosted by RSC Deputy Chair Miranda Curtis. Following the performance of Macbeth, we will join the Company in the Barbican’s Conservatory for a celebration of music and merriment. See your calendar of events to book on and find out more.

Your Patrons’ Events

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Discover more

The RSC also offers a wide range of public events, based around the artistic programme, showing different aspects of the RSC’s work and the creative teams involved.

Director Talks

These pre-show onstage events offer a chance to hear the Director (and Writer where relevant) in conversation, talking about influences and decisions that have helped create the production.

From rehearsal room processes and design choices, to characterisation and relationships.

Post show Talks

Open Understudy rehearsals give a glimpse into the technical and on-stage processes around our shows, and ensure that we have a full 'performance ready' understudy company. These rare and fascinating performances see the understudy company perform with the auditorium lights up, with limited costumes and watched by their fellow cast members.

Unwrapped: An Onstage Demonstration

Our Unwrapped demonstrations offer a peek into the rehearsal room, looking at one or two particular moments from the play. They give an insight into how a scene is taken off the page and onto the stage, with the actors and Assistant Director showing the type of exercises and discussion that took place during rehearsals.

Photo by Sam Allard

Simply stay on after the show for a discussion with members of the acting company and have the chance to ask the questions. It's an informal way of finding out more about the production.

Post Show Talks take place onstage in the theatre auditorium and are free with your show ticket.

Open Understudy rehearsals

All of these events and their individual dates can be found at rsc.org.uk and can be booked online or through the RSC Box Office.

Your Patrons' Events

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As well as our ongoing programme of events centred around our current productions, the RSC also hosts many one-off events inspired by the themes that our work focuses on. Here are a few highlights taking place in the coming months.

Theatre and Political Change

Shakespeare by McBean

The Other Place 5.45 - 7pm Tickets £8

The Other Place 5 - 6pm Tickets £5

A panel discussion featuring David Edgar, exploring the ways in which theatre and the arts can effect and reflect change. rsc.org.uk/theatre-and-political-change

Join us for an exclusive conversation to celebrate the publication of a major new book of Angus McBean’s iconic theatre photography.

McBean had a 17-year association with the theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon beginning in 1945. Before his death in 1990 he selected his favourite photographs from this period to be brought together in print. At long last the new book, containing 350 images and covering all of Shakespeare’s plays, together with a chronicle of McBean’s life and career by Adrian Woodhouse, is the result. The book is published by Manchester University Press on 18 October.

The book will be available to buy at the event, and speakers include Adrian Woodhouse who will be signing copies, and RSC Artistic Director, Gregory Doran.

Saturday 6 October

Friday 19 October 2018

Debates 2019

Thursday 25 April: The Taming of the Shrew Thursday 30 May: As You Like It Thursday 8 August: Measure for Measure

Photo by Sam Allard

The Other Place Studio Theatre 5 - 6.15pm Tickets £8 A series of panel discussions exploring the themes of our Royal Shakespeare Theatre season plays. rsc.org.uk/debates

These events and the rest of our programme can be found at rsc.org.uk and can be booked online or through the RSC Box Office.

Welcome back Michael Boyd

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Tamburlaine Christopher Marlowe

Tamburlaine plays in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon until 1 December.

Former Artistic Director Michael Boyd talks about returning to the RSC for the first time since 2012 to direct Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine.

Michael first directed Tamburlaine for Theatre for a New Audience in New York in 2014, but he is revisiting the play during the rehearsal process for this new production.

“The changes for this new production will emerge out of the rehearsal room. We had a lot of success with Tamburlaine in New York, so it wasn’t a straightforward decision to revisit the play, but I felt that the world and our understanding of the nature of tyranny have changed so much since 2014 that we should read the play anew.

"Some people likened the New York production to TV’s House of Cards because of the politics and power play; however, I think the play makes House of Cards look like the Green Party AGM. "The character of Tamburlaine begins as a brilliant, playful and almost chivalrous underdog.

He is ideally qualified to exploit the corruption and weakness of moribund rulers to the point where he himself emerges as a ruthless potentate. He is the ultimate victor in the survival of the fittest, winning all that he desires, until he discovers that desire is infinite, ultimate victory is ultimately lonely and victims

never really sleep or go away.

"Once again I am working with Tom Piper to design my production. There are probably quite a few designers as exciting as Tom in two dimensions, but few can match him in three, and very few in four. He understands space, he understands time and story, and, thankfully, he understands me!

"Tamburlaine is a sprawling epic, originally written as two plays. The more I work on the plays, the more I admire their giddy but taut construction and the more I see Part Two as a genuine and radical development beyond Part One. I have edited the plays quite tightly to bring them down to one evening of no more than three hours' playing time, and rationalised the huge cast of characters into a smaller number of recognisable, returning people who 'survive' their deaths to challenge and pursue the seemingly invincible Tamburlaine with ever-increasing authority and resonance, much as I did in The Histories in

The Courtyard Theatre in 2006.

"As an audience member, I like to form a relationship with an actor. I try as the director/ editor to respect the relationship between each actor and the audience and nurture its development and meaning through the course of the production. With some plays of great scale, a lot of doubling is financially necessary, and, like most limitations, that can also be liberating, giving you greater access to deeper, archetypal qualities in the characters and the story than might have been possible with a cast of thousands.

"I want the audience to feel implicated when Tamburlaine addresses them directly, but not culpable. Tamburlaine is not just a portrait of tyranny but also of the "tyrannised", and I wouldn’t like the audience to leave the show depressed or laden with passive horror. Marlowe doesn’t flinch in his vivid dramatisation of the seductive nature of autocracy and rule by fear but he reveals, more than anything, its bankruptcy in the end.

"This is a relevant play. We are living through a time when angry rhetoric and determined self-dramatising men hold increasing sway over our lives.

The received wisdoms of western liberal democracy can look weak and even moribund when faced with the strong men of the American, Russian and Chinese right. In this context, Tamburlaine seems to be an urgent play for our time. At any time, it remains one of the great plays of the English Renaissance and I don’t

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Welcome back Michael Boyd

DIRECTOR Michael Boyd DESIGNER Tom Piper LIGHTING Colin Grenfell MUSIC James Jones SOUND Claire Windsor MOVEMENT Liz Ranken FIGHTS Terry King

know why it is rarely produced.

Perhaps it has offered a portrait which the English have preferred not to recognise.�

Michael Boyd Director Michael Boyd was Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2003 to 2012.

Boris Godunov, 2012 Antony and Cleopatra, 2010 As You Like It, 2009 The Grain Store, 2009 Richard II, 2007 Henry IV Parts I and II, 2007 Henry V, 2007 Henry VI Parts I, II, III, 2006 Richard III, 2006 Twelfth Night, 2005 Hamlet, 2004 rsc.org.uk/tamburlaine

Photo by Paul Stuart

During that time he directed:

The RSC Acting Companies are generously supported by THE GATSBY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION and THE KOVNER FOUNDATION

Letter from America

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We are glad to support the RSC as Patrons and thankful that our experience of theatre has been so joyfully enriched by this company.

Washington DC. As Lear, Antony Sher once again demonstrated his uncanny ability to fill each scene with colour, wit and pathos. Just one week later, Paapa Essiedu, who had mesmerised us as Edmund in King Lear, summoned the depth and creativity necessary for a truly memorable performance as Hamlet.

“I’ve got to do more of this!”

Bruce Davidson and Donald Barb, Silver Patrons living in New York

It’s not unique to Americans, but something painful lingers in our national psyche when it comes to Shakespeare.

Secondary education here requires reading Romeo and Juliet or Julius Caesar and maybe a few sonnets. Too often this was an ordeal: stumbling over unknown words, seeking “translation” in footnotes and sidebars, puzzled that words like “cuckold” and “codpiece” were rarely explicated in schoolbooks given to 13-year-olds.

Much later in life, I discovered that encountering Shakespeare

could be more than a wrestling match with Elizabethan grammar.

To see Shakespeare on stage was to meet remarkable characters of courage, brilliance, ambiguity, passion, and intrigue.

I saw my first RSC performance in Stratford in 1985; I remember leaving the theatre thinking: “I’ve got to do more of this!”

Since then, I have been delighted that the RSC has brought dozens of performances to the US. Most recently we saw King Lear at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Hamlet at the Kennedy Center in

We are always impressed at how every RSC cast member so skillfully develops individual roles.

The Company has the rare gift of then weaving everyone and everything together into a brilliant Shakespearean tapestry of human life, character and drama.

My husband and I are fortunate: we are happily retired and we are grateful that we, and others, have the opportunity to attend the Company’s amazing productions in the US. We are glad to support the RSC as Patrons and thankful that our experience of theatre has been so joyfully enriched by this Company.

Bruce Davidson Silver Patron

Patron's Voice

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Tony, a Bronze Patron for over six years, shares his love of theatre which spans more than 50 years.

Tony Thresher

We may not start him off with Titus Andronicus – not exactly bedtime reading for a toddler!

They walked out. They booed.

They hissed. My recollection is that no one actually threw anything at the stage, but then this was 1964 and these were parents after all, so a certain decorum was expected. But what was the reason for their rage? Simple.

For the first time in recorded history - at least the recorded history of my school - the end of term play was not by Shakespeare.

They knew a thing or two back then, parents.

My school was founded in 1532, which gave them a thirty-two year head start on the Bard, and I suspect that presenting Shakespeare as the School Play may have been a relatively recent innovation, maybe only dating back a century or so. But losing it from the curriculum was anathema to many. The newly appointed Head of Drama didn’t last long!

I played Doll Tearsheet in Henry IV Part II. As the only boy in my year group whose voice hadn’t broken, I was the obvious choice. My attempts to ‘live the

part’ were royally mocked by all! But that was when it started.

The stories, the language, the sheer thrill of performance gave me my love of our national playwright. Now I am in my eighth decade, with a bucket list that includes seeing all of Shakespeare’s plays live on stage.

I am well on the way, and, thanks to Gregory Doran and his mission to bring the whole first folio to us during his residency as Artistic Director, optimistic of success.

My grandson Jack is two and a half. He is already interested in books, so a prime candidate for next generation introduction to 37 of the greatest plays ever written.

We may not start him off with Titus Andronicus – not exactly bedtime reading for a toddler!

– but hopefully A Midsummer Night’s Dream will captivate his heart and soul sometime soon and build in him the joy of theatre that sustains me in my autumn years.

Tony Thresher Bronze Patron

Patron's Voice

Anne Beaumont is a Bronze Patron who has had a life-long friendship with Roger Rees and his partner Rick Elice. Here she shares her memories of Roger.

Excitement! I'd been given tickets for Nicholas Nickleby at the Aldwych but the bus was late. Running up the stairs to the Upper Circle, I was disconcerted to be knocked back down by a young man in Dickensian costume.

He dusted me down and said he'd come back in the interval.

He did! I was backstage for champagne at the end of the performance and a friendship started that lasted until Roger died in July 2015. I didn't miss another performance and was and still am word perfect. It was a magical summer with The Suicide and Three Sisters, a workshop with Cis Berry and a musical workshop with Stephen Oliver.

Years later after Roger had moved to the US and I was teaching in Gordonstoun, he wrote the introduction to the school's production of Macbeth and then took time to go to

watch one of their performances in New York, giving up more of his time to talk to the young actors, encourage them and answer all their questions.

He was selfless, modest, inspirational and generous, and incredibly knowledgeable about plants and flowers. I learned so much from him and treasure his letters and emails. Roger loved young people. He would go out of his way to chat to them and share his passion for the theatre.

He always had a twinkle in his eye, a kind word and a mischievous sense of humour.

Although an American citizen, he still kept a love of Wales.

The last words I sent to him were “To be born Welsh is to be born privileged; not with a silver spoon in your mouth but music in your blood and poetry in your soul�. He loved it.

Anne Beaumont Bronze Patron

Photo by Reg Wilson

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Auditorium

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Exclusive first look

We are making some exciting changes to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre auditorium specifically for this season by extending the audience further round the stage at the Circle levels than ever before, creating new perspectives on the action, truly exploiting the unique qualities of our thrust stage.

An exclusive first glimpse from Stephen Brimson Lewis, RSC Director of Design, of the new seating (red figures) that

will offer audiences a completely different view of the action on our main stage for summer 2019.

Shakespeare by McBean

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Shakespeare by McBean

By Adrian Woodhouse, with a foreword by Gregory Doran Published October 2018, RRP £35

Now available for pre-order, this stunning book features 350 photographs taken by Angus McBean when working at Stratford-upon-Avon between 1945-1962.

Long regarded as a golden age in British acting, great theatrical names – Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Paul Scofield, Richard Burton, Anthony Quayle, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Peggy Ashcroft and Edith Evans – are represented in some of their most famous performances along with actors then starting their careers like Diana Rigg and Peter O’Toole.

Pre-order your copy online at rsc.org.uk/shop

Stay In Touch Thank you to those who have shared their stories.

Please do keep in touch.

Individual Giving Team: Pete Warman, Michele Cottiss and Mark Adams Telephone: 01789 403470 Email: patron@rsc.org.uk RSC registered charity number 212481

Michele, Mark and Pete