PREVIEW
THE NEWSLETTER FOR RSC MEMBERS
BOOK ONLINE OR VISIT EXCLUSIVE MEMBERS’ PAGES AT WWW.RSC.ORG.UK/MEMBERSHIP
ANTONY & CLEOPATRA: SCULPTURE BY LIONEL SMIT
RSC MEMBERS’ TICKET HOTLINE 01789 403458
SEPTEMBER 2016
MEMBERS' PRIORITY BOOKING OPENS MONDAY 3 OCTOBER SUBSCRIBERS' PRIORITY BOOKING OPENS MONDAY 17 OCTOBER PUBLIC BOOKING OPENS MONDAY 24 OCTOBER
2 | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | GREGORY DORAN INTRODUCES THE FEBRUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2017 SEASON
Stratford-upon-Avon Summer 2017
GREGORY DORAN INTRODUCES THE FEBRUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2017 SEASON | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | 3
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
2016, THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY OF SHAKESPEARE’S DEATH, HAS BEEN AN INCREDIBLE YEAR – IT SEEMED AS THOUGH THE WHOLE WORLD WANTED TO COME AND CELEBRATE OUR HOUSE PLAYWRIGHT’S LEGACY.
We mark 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Britain with Oscar Wilde’s erotic tragedy, Salomé. We will also reprise my production of Shakespeare’s epic poem, Venus and Adonis, based on Ovid. I am delighted to be working again with Little Angel Theatre and their pupeteers for this beautiful piece. Alongside all these productions, Deputy Artistic Director, Erica Whyman is planning further festivals of new work in the Studio Theatre at The Other Place. More information will follow in future newsletters. I do hope you are able to join us in Stratford-upon-Avon, London or in the cinema to celebrate Shakespeare’s lasting legacy. Gregory Doran RSC Artistic Director
Gregory Doran and I started discussing a Rome Season a year ago. Since then, the politics, power play and forensic insight that Shakespeare brings to the table has been quoted almost daily to describe the cut-throat politics of the current government. Each of the four plays Julius Caesar, Antony & Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus and Coriolanus - share common themes of power and how this corrupts. They show the personal cost to those who rule and govern, as well as highlighting when politics spills into violence and revenge. These productions will share a design concept for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage which will adapt to the different demands of each play. We are making decisions on casting and where and how each play will be set, but I can promise you that they will all involve love, violence, death and political shenanigans of the highest order.
R OYA L S H A K E S P E A R E T H E AT R E 3 March – 9 September 2017 Live in Cinemas 26 April
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Buy tickets for Julius Caesar, Antony & Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus, Snow in Midsummer, The Hypocrite, Vice Versa and Salomé and receive 25% off the total cost of your booking.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
R OYA L S H A K E S P E A R E T H E AT R E
11 March – 7 September 2017 Live in Cinemas 24 May
This offer can be booked online, by telephone or in person. Subject to availability. Only valid for bookings which are paid for before 25 October 2016. Only applicable to full price tickets in either Premium or A price band in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and A price in the Swan Theatre. Cannot be combined with any other offer or discount. 25% discount will only be applied to same number of tickets selected for each performance, when all seven productions are purchased. Sculpture by Javier Marín www.javiermarin.mx
Now we turn our thoughts to 2017, which is 2,000 years since the death of Roman poet, Ovid, whose famous tales were a huge inspiration for Shakespeare and his contemporaries. We mark this anniversary with four of Shakespeare’s most thrilling political plays in a Rome Season in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, with Angus Jackson as Season Director. Meanwhile, our Swan Theatre season premieres a number of new works. One of the first fruits of our cultural exchange with China - a new reimagining of Snow in Midsummer - is a haunting story of love and betrayal from the Chinese classical canon. We follow this with a riotous comedy from acclaimed playwright Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors). Set in Hull at the time of the Civil War, The Hypocrite is a co-production with Hull Truck Theatre and is our contribution to Hull UK City of Culture 2017. The Swan Theatre then journeys to Rome with Vice Versa, a new adaptation of Plautus’ comedies by Phil Porter (The Christmas Truce 2014).
BUY ALL 7 PRODUCTIONS AND SAVE 25%
Angus Jackson Season Director
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
R OYA L S H A K E S P E A R E T H E AT R E
R OYA L S H A K E S P E A R E T H E AT R E
23 June – 2 September 2017 Live in Cinemas 9 August
Booking opens for Coriolanus in February 2017
Julius Caesar: Photo by Tara Moore. Image Courtesy of Kevin Francis Gray Studio. © 2016 | Antony and Cleopatra: Sculpture by Lionel Smit Titus Andronicus: Original photograph by Keith van-Loen / Alamy Stock Photo | Coriolanus: Sculpture by Javier Marín www.javiermarin.mx
4 | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | 30 YEARS OF THE SWAN THEATRE
30 YEARS OF THE SWAN THEATRE | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | 5
Celebrate 30 years of the Swan Theatre AS A VENUE FOR THE WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE'S CONTEMPORARIES AND MANY OTHER NEW WRITERS, THE SWAN THEATRE HAS LONG BEEN A FAVOURITE FOR MANY THEATRE-GOERS.
OPENS 22 OCTOBER 2016
Steven Follen 'For All Time' artwork, images by Andrew Fox
Both The Two Noble Kinsmen and The Rover opened the Swan Theatre 30 years ago. To celebrate the theatre’s legacy in this monumental year, we are proud to have two new productions of these plays running side by side. Patrick Robinson, who appeared in The Rover in 1986, returns in this 30th anniversary season to play Belvile.
Opened in 1986, created from the shell of the 1879 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, the Swan Theatre is an epic and intimate space. It seats approximately 450 people on three sides of a deep thrust stage. Over the Shakespeare celebration weekend in April this year, we re-opened the restored Swan Wing, the oldest part of our Stratford-upon-Avon campus. The Swan Wing's nine-month restoration, was made possible by a £2.8 million award from the Heritage Lottery Fund. A highlight of the restored Swan Wing is a major new contemporary artwork by Steven Follen, For all time. Comprising 2,000 hand-folded stainless steel stars, it is suspended from the ceiling to form a three-metre tall, three-dimensional human face.
Alongside our new artwork, we have sensitively restored the Swan Wing’s public spaces. The new Swan Theatre Cafe Bar is filled with objects and stories from the RSC’s extensive archive, and visitors can admire the original stained glass windows lining the Swan Wing staircase, illustrating the Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It. The Swan Wing’s exterior brickwork, lead windows, and roof lights have been restored, alongside three exterior bas-reliefs by Paul Kummer, which depict Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies. The Swan Wing public spaces, including For all time and the exhibition in the Swan Theatre Cafe Bar, are open daily from 10am.
The RSC will open its first ever permanent exhibition devoted to the staging of Shakespeare’s plays in October. For more information please see the enclosed leaflet. To mark the opening of The Play's The Thing, the Chandos portrait, a unique portrait of Shakespeare painted during his lifetime, will be on display. The portrait was the first acquired by the National Portrait Gallery when it was founded in 1856, only leaving the building on a few occasions since that time. It will be loaned to the RSC until 18 December 2016 and will sit alongside our rare first folio of Shakespeare’s plays, dating from 1623.
The refurbishment of the Swan Wing and The Play’s The Thing have been made possible through a £2.8 million award from the HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND, with generous support from the GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATION, DCMS/WOLFSON MUSEUMS & GALLERIES IMPROVEMENT FUND, THE WOLFSON FOUNDATION and many other generous supporters.
6 | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | THE TEMPEST BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
THE TEMPEST BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | 7
The Tempest
A 400-year-old play in a 21st-century production SIMON RUSSELL BEALE RETURNS TO THE RSC TO PLAY PROSPERO IN THE TEMPEST THIS WINTER. FOR THIS PRODUCTION, WE WILL DO SOMETHING SPECIAL; USE SHAKESPEARE’S PLOT AND CHARACTERS TO CREATE 21ST CENTURY ART. We are redefining theatre. Working alongside the technology company Intel and The Imaginarium Studios, we are striving to find a way to bring new digital technology to a live performance to make the story even more potent and to interact with the characters on a different level. The creative process behind an RSC production will always drive the technology and for this project, it’s a match made in heaven. We
will see 400-year-old characters brought to life in a totally new way on our main stage. Playing opposite Simon Russell Beale’s Prospero, Mark Quartley will be wearing a performance capture suit, covered in sensors. The avatar of Ariel will then be projected on a variety of surfaces around the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage. The Imaginarium Studios use this technology on a daily basis for television, film and
The Tempest is the most magical of Shakespeare’s plays. It demands a spectacle. It creates wonder. I don’t think the audience will have ever seen anything like this. Gregory Doran, RSC Artistic Director and Director, The Tempest
video games, but this is the first time it will be used live in a theatrical environment. Watch interviews with the creative and technology teams and see more at www.rsc.org.uk/the-tempest Shakespeare Refashioned As part of the 400th anniversary, Selfridges stores are placing Shakespeare’s works, language and words into a contemporary world of fashion, working with local partners in a project entitled Shakespeare Refashioned. If you visit Selfridges in Birmingham’s Bullring Shopping Centre this September, you will see an exclusive RSC window takeover promoting The Tempest as well as archive RSC costumes on display.
The main shop windows will feature a lenticular display of The Tempest image, a recreation of actor Simon Russell Beale’s face (opposite). The Reading Room at Selfridges will be dedicated to Shakespeare. Designed to look like a library, it will include a selection of books and playbills from Birmingham Library and artefacts from the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. It will also contain an RSC Costume dressing-up box. On the same floor as the Reading Room will be a large display cabinet featuring an RSC costume from our museum archive, linked to The Play’s The Thing, which opens in Stratford-upon-Avon in October.
Image of Simon Russell Beale by The Imaginarium Studios & RSC
Creating The Tempest In a unique partnership with Intel, we will be using today’s most advanced technology in a bold reimagining of The Tempest and a series of events run alongside the performances to explore the technology, collaboration and inspiration involved. THE TEMPEST IN COLLABORATION WITH INTEL AND IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE IMAGINARIUM STUDIOS
A 21st Century Masque
Embodying Ariel
Brave New Digital World
The elaborate masques of Shakespeare’s time utilised the most advanced stagecraft to entertain the court. Our panel will discuss the inspiration behind our new production, and the process of employing digital technology to create the magic on stage. Speakers include Gregory Doran (RSC Artistic Director and Director, The Tempest), and Tawny Schlieski (Director of Client Research at Intel).
The collaborative process that will bring the spirit Ariel to life on our stage has involved a unique blend of creative theatre practice and pioneering digital experimentation. Our speakers will share insights into the production and rehearsal process, and the digital techniques used in the show. Speakers include Stephen Brimson Lewis (RSC Director of Design and Production Design, The Tempest) and Ben Lumsden (Head of Studio, The Imaginarium Studios).
What does the future hold for digital storytelling in theatre? Speakers include Sarah Ellis (RSC Head of Digital Development) and Clare Reddington (Creative Director, Watershed).
Saturday 3 December, 11am, £8
Saturday 10 December, 11am, £8
Saturday 17 December, 11am, £8
These debates happen at The Other Place www.rsc.org.uk/debates
Cast Romayne Andrews Antony Byrne Eke Chukwu James Clyde James Cooney Bethan Cullinane Marième Diouf Paapa Essiedu Jenny Fennessy Kevin N Golding Marcus Griffiths Nia Gwynne Oliver Johnstone Byron Mondahl Theo Ogundipe Antony Sher Natalie Simpson Clarence Smith David Troughton Graham Turner Ewart James Walters Kelly Williams
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE STRATFORD-UPON-AVON UNTIL 15 OCTOBER 2016 BARBICAN THEATRE, LONDON 10 NOVEMBER - 23 DECEMBER 2016 LIVE IN CINEMAS FROM 12 OCTOBER 2016
Director Gregory Doran Designer Niki Turner Lighting Tim Mitchell Music Ilona Sekacz Sound Jonathan Ruddick Movement Michael Ashcroft Fights Bret Yount
All Photos by Ellie Kurttz
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
10 | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | CHANGES TO RSC MEMBERSHIP
CHANGES TO RSC MEMBERSHIP | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | 11
Changes to RSC Membership
BENEFIT
£20 per year
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY THROUGH YOUR MEMBERSHIP. YOUR ANNUAL FEE IS INVALUABLE IN SUPPORTING THE WORK ON OUR STAGES AND AROUND OUR BUILDINGS.
After five years without an increase in price, your feedback and rising costs have led us to re-evaluate our Membership scheme. In order to continue providing the benefits you value most, we have reviewed all our schemes and made a modest increase to our annual prices from £18 and £40. Any changes will only apply when you renew your membership during the next 12 months. Your Membership Benefits Audience research continues to show that regular information updates are a key benefit of membership. Advance booking has increased in popularity and we hope that through Priority Booking opportunities, you have been able to secure tickets for the productions and events of your choice.
RSC Subscribers (formerly Associate Membership) We are changing the Associate Membership level to a Subscription scheme. As a Subscriber, you will continue to receive information on season launches and other major RSC projects through the post; however, from 2017, this will not include PREVIEW, this newsletter for RSC Members. You will continue to enjoy up to one week’s Priority Booking for Seasons in Stratford-upon-Avon and in London, and we will not charge you for ticket exchanges*. We are, however streamlining the additional discounts at our Cafes, Bars, the Rooftop Restaurant, the viewing Tower and for our tourism partners in the region and these discounts will no longer be available to RSC Subscribers.
RSC Members (formerly Full Membership) We are enhancing the current Full Member level. RSC Members receive up to three weeks Priority Booking before the general public and will continue to benefit from a 10% discount at the Rooftop Restaurant, at our Cafes and Bars and the RSC Shop, as well as the special Members’ £1 ticket offer for the Tower. We will continue to source discounts and offers with our local partners – including The Arden Hotel and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - to offer you fantastic value when you visit us in Stratford-upon-Avon. We are also introducing a new benefit, offering you a free seat upgrade on the day of your performance, when availability allows. Owing to the introduction of this upgrade opportunity, we are ending the £10 ticket saving when you purchase top price tickets. We hope the new benefit will be simpler to implement and will allow more Members more flexibility when booking tickets and when visiting our theatres. It will also allow us to claim Gift Aid on Membership fees, making your contribution go much further in supporting us.
SUBSCRIBER
How to renew DIRECT DEBIT If you pay by Direct Debit, you will have received a letter from us explaining how the changes affect you. You need to do nothing further and you will automatically transfer to the new level at next point of renewal. Your next payment will be taken during the year as usual. Should you wish to upgrade, please complete the form we sent you and return it to the Membership Department. If you pay by Direct Debit and wish to cancel, please write to your Bank or Building Society. Please also send a copy of your letter to RSC Membership, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6BB. OTHER PAYMENT METHODS If you pay by any other method, you will receive a renewal letter as usual, reminding you of the benefit and price changes when your membership is due to expire. Our Subscribers, Members, Friends and Patrons are hugely valued. Your support plays a key role in the company’s life, and we hope that you will continue your involvement with the RSC.
Regular information by post
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Priority Booking
Up to one week
MEMBER
FRIEND
BRONZE PATRON
(formerly Shakespeare's Circle)
£50 per year
£70 per year
From £150 per year
✔ Including newsletter
✔ Including newsletter
✔ Including newsletter
Up to three weeks
Up to three weeks
Up to four weeks
Regular information by email
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Dedicated Ticket Hotline
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No fee for ticket exchange or resale*
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Guaranteed prices during Priority Booking
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Dedicated Members-only area on the RSC website
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Discount at RSC Rooftop Restaurant, Cafes, Bars and RSC Shop
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£1 Tower tickets
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Family benefits including £5 tickets on Fridays
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Ticket upgrade on day of performance subject to availability (terms and conditions apply)
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Local Partner offers - e.g. The Arden Hotel and Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust
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Attendance at Friends' Events Attendance at Patrons' Events
*Free Ticket Exchanges As an RSC Subscriber, Member or Patron, you can exchange any tickets free of charge, providing they are received at the Box Office no later than 72 hours before the performance. This service is offered to non-members for £2 per ticket.
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From Monday 26 September, you can also exchange them for an RSC Gift Voucher which is valid for 12 months and can be used as part or full payment for future ticket bookings made by telephone, online or in person.
If you think you currently have credit with us, please ask the Box Office to convert this to a Gift Voucher when you next call us. You may then use this credit online when purchasing tickets during your Priority Booking period.
If you would like to know more about becoming a Bronze Patron or other ways to support the RSC please contact us on 01789 403470 or patron@rsc.org.uk
12 | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | THE OTHER PLACE NEW WORK FESTIVAL 2016
THE OTHER PLACE NEW WORK FESTIVAL 2016 | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | 13
The Other Place HOME OF BOLD AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING NEW PLAYS
FALL OF THE KINGDOM, RISE OF THE FOOT SOLDIER
ALWAYS ORANGE FRASER GRACE
SOMALIA SEATON
GUARDIAN
‘COMPELLING... IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE TO WATCH, BUT IT'S MEANT TO BE’
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'POTENT AND PROVOCATIVE... A VISUALLY STUNNING PRODUCTION’
THE STAGE
'PASSIONATE AND POETIC... IFAN MEREDITH IS PARTICULARLY IMPRESSIVE’
THE STAGE
GUARDIAN
‘ITS FEROCIOUS PASSION IS INCENDIARY’ THE TIMES
All Always Orange images by Richard Lakos
Going forward, The Other Place will host two festivals of new writing each year and we will contact you early in 2017 with details of forthcoming productions.
‘NADIA LATIF'S SPARKY PRODUCTION... A FIERCE, PULSATING AND GALVANISING PLAY THAT MAKES YOU SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE’
All Fall of the Kingdon, Rise of the Foot Soldier images by Richard Lakos
On 27 July, we opened the doors of our brand new Studio Theatre at The Other Place for Making Mischief, a festival of new writing. Writers responded to our provocation – What is unsayable in the 21st century? – with daring explorations of language, race, gender and life in Britain today. Over five weeks, audiences saw ground-breaking plays on contemporary topics.
‘DONNACADH O'BRIAIN'S STAGING BRISTLES WITH STARTLING MOMENTS, RIPPLING THROUGH THE ACTION LIKE AFTERSHOCKS’ THE TIMES
The work of the RSC Literary Department is generously supported by THE DRUE HEINZ TRUST
14 | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES AND FACILITIES
ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES AND FACILITIES | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | 15
Access Matters at the RSC OUR AIM IS TO MAKE EVERYTHING WE DO ACCESSIBLE TO OUR AUDIENCES. WE HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMME OF PERFORMANCES THAT ARE ADAPTED TO HELP MAKE THIS HAPPEN, AS WELL AS PUTTING ASIDE SEATS AT EVERY PERFORMANCE FOR PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS OR WHO REQUIRE TO SIT NEAREST THE STAGE TO HEAR OR SEE BETTER. Whilst the range of adaptions shown on this page is extensive, it may not suit what you need, so please call us on 01789 403436 or email access@rsc.org.uk and we will do our best to make your visit happen.
Audience members learn about props and set on a Touch Tour
An RSC headset, used for Audio Described performances
A parent and child relax in the ‘chill-out’ zone during a Relaxed Performance Physical Needs The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Swan Theatre and the Studio Theatre at The Other Place have wheelchair accessible spaces. Book early to be guaranteed the space you need as they are booked on a first come first served basis. If you have any other requirements physically please call our access Ticket Hotline on 01789 403436 or email access@rsc.org.uk to discuss what might be possible.
Captioned Performances You may have spotted the LED Caption Box at our Captioned performances – a large screen above the stage which allows you to follow the words the actors are speaking while you watch the show. This allows people who are hard-of-hearing to follow the action, without having to hold a physical script. The names also come up on the screen, so you can follow who is speaking. We run two separate Captioned performances on every long-running RSC production in Stratford-upon-Avon. We also have induction loops in our auditoria, at the Box Office counter, Shop and Cloakroom, and at Susie’s Cafe Bar at The Other Place.
British Sign Language Interpreted Performances At the RSC, our BSL-interpreters are ‘semi-integrated’ into the action, which means they are on stage in costume and get up close with the actors as part of the performance. They can contribute to the humour or drama and even the storyline. We also run BSL-interpreted backstage tours directly before these performances, as well as interpreting our post-show discussions. Our next BSL performances are for Snow in Midsummer and Julius Caesar, see enclosed brochure for details.
Audio Described Performances We offer two separate dates on every long-running RSC production in Stratford-upon-Avon for Audio Described performances for people with a visual impairment. The Audio Describer watches the show on a monitor in a soundproof room at the back of the auditorium, so when you are watching the show in the auditorium, they are behind you. They deliver the description to personal headsets, between the actor’s lines – sometimes that might mean they only have time to say who’s leaving the stage and who’s coming on, but they also try to describe the action, humour, costumes and set. Introductory notes are available, which can be sent to you on a CD or downloaded from our website.
A Midsummer Night's Dream semi-integrated British Sign Language interpreted performance
Touch Tours We offer a free Touch Tour before every Audio Described performance. Visitors can go onto the stage to get a feel for the set, handle some props and costumes, and sometimes meet the actors from the Company to discuss themes of the play in more detail.
Relaxed Performances These are suitable for everyone, but have been particularly designed with the needs of people with an autistic spectrum condition, sensory and communication disorders, a learning disability or for anyone who would benefit from a more relaxed environment. Performances are adapted, with a more relaxed attitude to noise and movement in the auditorium, and adapted light and sound in order to reduce anxiety and ensure a safe, enjoyable theatre visit.
Ticket Prices Tickets for disabled people in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre or Swan Theatre are £16, whenever you visit and wherever you choose to sit. If you need the services of a companion, their ticket is also £16. Tickets for The Other Place new writing festivals are £7.50 Events & Exhibitions Theatre Tours and The Play's The Thing exhibition have their own discounted rates, please ask Box Office for more information.
The words the actors speak are displayed on a Caption Box above the stage
Access Matters We create a large-print guide, Access Matters, twice a year. It contains the dates of Captioned and Audio Described, Relaxed and BSL Performances, and a large-scale schedule highlighting these performances. It also includes information on our hearing loop, accessible parking, and other elements of our access provision. If you think Access Matters would be useful for you, a friend or neighbour, you can find out more at www.rsc.org.uk/access or sign up to receive the printed copy when you next speak to the Box Office.
16 | PREVIEW SEPTEMBER 2016 | STOP PRESS NEWS
Open Understudy Rehearsals WE HAVE A FULL UNDERSTUDY PROGRAMME AT THE RSC TO ENSURE WE CAN PERFORM SHOWS, EVEN UNDER EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES. As part of this programme, we offer audiences the opportunity to glimpse the technical and on-stage processes at an Open Understudy Rehearsal for each production. Performed with limited staging conditions and costumes, tickets cost £10 or £5 restricted view or standing. These rehearsals are marked OUR on the performance schedule in the enclosed brochure. Booking opens two weeks before the performance date to general public, with an additional 24 hour Priority Booking for RSC Patrons and Members. Call your Ticket Hotline to book tickets. To learn more about the understudy process, our Whispers from the Wings blog series has a range of articles that may be of interest. www.rsc.org.uk/blogs
RSC Shop NEW RELEASES ON DVD www.rsc.org.uk/shop RSC Members enjoy 10% discount at the RSC Shop in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and online. Othello Filmed live in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in August 2015, with Hugh Quarshie as Othello and Joanna Vanderham as Desdemona, Iqbal Khan’s ground-breaking production was the first by the RSC to cast a black actor, Lucian Msamati, as Iago. Available on DVD and Blu-ray.
The Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses is a compelling version of the RSC's landmark production of William Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy and Richard III. Adapted and directed for the stage by Peter Hall and John Barton, The Wars of the Roses was acknowledged on its premiere in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1963 as one of the defining Shakespeare productions of the post-war years. The Wars of the Roses is presented here in its original form, as three plays first broadcast in 1965 and unseen since then. Recently digitally-restored, the trilogy can now be recognised
as one of the greatest achievements of the Royal Shakespeare Company and of British television in the 1960s.