Patrons, February 2017

Sculpture by Javier Marín www.javiermarin.com.mx

Issue 03 / February 2017

PATR ONS

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

ARTISTS CIRCLE PRIORIT Y BOOKING OPENS MONDAY 13 FEBRUARY 10A M ONLINE AND PHONE – 01789 272234 GOLD PATRONS PRIORIT Y BOOKING OPENS MONDAY 13 FEBRUARY 10A M ONLINE AND PHONE – 01789 272283 SILVER PATRONS PRIORIT Y BOOKING OPENS TUESDAY 14 FEBRUARY 10AM ONLINE AND PHONE – 01789 272318 BRONZE PATRONS P RIORIT Y BOOKING OPENS THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY 10AM

ONLINE AND PHONE – 01789 403438

Contents

In this edition of Patrons’ News

02

A note from Gregory Doran

Page 3

Winter 2017/18 Season

Pages 4 and 5

Supporters’ Evening

Page 6

Discover More

Page 7

Patrons’ Events Schedule

Pages 8 and 9

2016 AGM

Pages 10 and 11

Season Update

Pages 12 and 13

Creative Voice

Pages 14 and 15

Stay in touch

Page 16

– Find out more about our newly-announced 2017/18 Winter Season

– Read about your recent Supporters’ Evening and take a look at some of the photos from the event

– Learn more about other events, debates, and demonstrations coming up

– A full calendar of special Patrons’ events including dates for our Supporters’ Evenings in London and Stratford

– Find out more about our recent AGM from Catherine Mallyon and Gregory Doran

– News on Mischief Festivals and Queen Anne in London

–

Read about Christopher Luscombe, Director of Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing, and his forthcoming production of Twelfth Night

– Why supporting the RSC is so important to Geoff Kennard

A note from Gregory Doran

03

What a wonderful year 2016 was for Shakespeare and for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Our aim was to reach as many new faces as possible, and we did that in a number of important ways.

We visited China in February with our first major tour, of Henry IV and Henry V, and presented our first Chinese translation, with Chinese actors performing Henry V in Shanghai, in a production directed by Owen Horsley in November. We also took the entire tetralogy to New York for a residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in April.

Our Birthday weekend celebration of Shakespeare Live! from the RSC was a great success and we were delighted to welcome 200 Patrons for a special private screening of the performance in The Other Place. As well as reaching an enormous audience on the BBC it was broadcast on TV across the United States over Christmas.

Our tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream enthralled new audiences across the United Kingdom and, at home, we continued our journey through the Shakespeare canon with Hamlet, Cymbeline, King Lear and our innovative digital collaboration with Intel and The Imaginarium Studios on The Tempest. All these productions were broadcast live around the globe as well as to schools across the UK. I was delighted to receive one particularly wonderful letter, from a woman who had enjoyed one of these performances in a converted barn in Fishtail, Montana, on the edge on the Custer Forest, in the shadow of the Beartooth Mountains, in the deep heart of Cowboy Country.

We mounted excellent productions of Don Quixote, Doctor Faustus and The Alchemist, and celebrated 30 years of the Swan Theatre with two productions which were performed in the first season, The Two Noble Kinsmen and The Rover, and a visceral new play The Seven Acts of Mercy by Anders Lustgarten. We opened the new The Other Place with radical new plays by Somalia Seaton, Alice Birch and Fraser Grace.

Our work in 2016 was made possible with the very generous support of all our Patrons. Your continued involvement as we head in to 2017 is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Artistic Director Royal Shakespeare Company

Photo by Jillian Edelstein

Introduction

Winter 2017/18 Season

04

Winter 2017/18 Season

Rehearsals for our Rome Season began in December 2016 in our London rehearsal rooms and the Season opens with Julius Caesar next month. We will complete our exploration of Rome in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre with Coriolanus in September, with the marvellous young rising talent, Sope Dirisu playing Caius Martius. We are thrilled to be working with Sope again, following his appearance in our amateur Open Stages programme playing Pericles at The Courtyard Theatre in 2012.

We are delighted that Alex Waldmann is playing Brutus with Martin Hutson as Cassius and Andrew Woodall as Caesar. Antony Byrne will play Mark Antony opposite Josette Simon as Cleopatra and David Troughton will play Titus Andronicus later in the season. We also have a wonderful line up of composers for the season including singer songwriter Laura Mvula who is composing the music for Antony & Cleopatra and Mira Calix,

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

renowned for her multi-disciplinary installations, who will write the music for Julius Caesar.

We complete our journey through the world of Rome in the Swan Theatre with Christopher Marlowe’s beautiful play Dido, Queen of Carthage. And this will be followed by an exciting new epic adaptation of Robert Harris’ thrilling Cicero novels, which we will present over two performances.

I will be directing these plays, which are adapted by Mike Poulton who adapted our

award-winning productions of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.

In the Main House, next Christmas we are presenting a double treat: A Christmas Carol, and Twelfth Night. Writer David Edgar returns to Charles Dickens, after his multi award-winning version of Nicholas Nickleby, an iconic RSC production, to adapt Dickens’ great Yuletide story.

Christopher Luscombe, interviewed on pages 14 and 15,

The work of the RSC Literary Department is generously supported by THE DRUE HEINZ TRUST

who directed our much loved double of Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing which are currently playing at the Haymarket Theatre in the West End until 18 March, will return to direct the bittersweet Twelfth Night.

I hope you will join us for many of these productions throughout the year in Stratford-upon-Avon and in London.

Gregory Doran Artistic Director

Image by RSC Visual Communications

Winter 2017/18 Season

05

Supporters’ Evening

06

All photos by Gina Print

Our annual Supporters’ Evening took place on Friday 28 October 2016. Patrons mingled in The Gatsby Charitable Trust rehearsal room at The Other Place and then enjoyed dinner.

The walls were dressed with Caravaggio paintings from research for The Seven Acts of Mercy and projections of posters from productions in the Swan Theatre over the past 30 years.

Gregory Doran ran from The Tempest rehearsal room to welcome Patrons to the Supporters’ Evening. Gregory thanked them for their kind and warm engagement with the Company and shared a few memorable moments from the last 12 months.

After dinner, Blanche McIntyre, director of The Two Noble Kinsmen and forthcoming Titus Andronicus, gave some fascinating insight into the development and conceptualisation that went into the creation of the The Two Noble Kinsmen.

After the performance, actors from the The Two Noble Kinsmen Company joined Patrons for a night cap as they enjoyed music from The Rover Company.

A wonderful evening was had by all.

Around 20 Patrons joined us the next morning for a private view of our newly opened The Play’s The Thing exhibition.

Patrons enjoyed the exhibition, taking a magical journey through 100 years of theatre-making in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Charlotte Moss, a first time attendee of the event shared her thoughts about the evening:

“We both really enjoyed our evening. I have to admit I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like when we booked, but it was all thoroughly good fun! And I have to say I wouldn’t change a thing, the venue for dinner worked really well, the food, the production itself, the talks, meeting the cast, and the other Patrons but also a big part of it was meeting the RSC team – we can see that the whole team really do put in a lot of effort and it was great to talk to everyone.

A fabulous evening, thank you.”

Discover More

07

Discover More

We know Patrons enjoy discovering more about the plays, the creative process and the creative team at the RSC. There are many ways to get closer to our programme. All of these events are public events and can be booked online or through the Box Office.

2017 Draw New Mischief

Exhibition running from 25 February – 15 September 2017.

Stratford-upon-Avon

PACCAR Room, Level 2.

A free exhibition exploring 250 years of Shakespeare and political cartoons.

Writer/Director Talks Stratford-upon-Avon

These pre-show, onstage events in Stratford-upon-Avon offer a chance to hear the Director (and Writer where relevant) in conversation. They are a fascinating insight into the creative process.

Unwrapped Events Stratford-upon-Avon

Join the Assistant Director and Acting Company as they demonstrate skills used in making these productions.

Open Understudy Rehearsals

Public Exhibition

Free entry Wednesday 1 March – Snow in Midsummer Friday 17 March – Julius Caesar Tuesday 21 March – Antony & Cleopatra Tuesday 4 April – The Hypocrite Wednesday 17 May – Vice Versa Wednesday 7 June – Salomé Monday 3 July – Titus Andronicus

Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday Saturday

18 March – Snow in Midsummer 1 July – Salomé 15 July – Julius Caesar 22 July – Vice Versa 12 August – Antony & Cleopatra

Public Event 5.15pm - 6.00pm Tickets: £5

Public Event 10.15am - 11.15am Tickets: £5

Tuesday 4 April – Julius Caesar, 1.15pm Wednesday 12 April – Antony & Cleopatra, 1.15pm Tuesday 20 June – Vice Versa, 1.30pm Friday 30 June – Salomé, 1.30pm Friday 14 July – Titus Andronicus, 1.15pm

Public Event

Tuesday 21 March – Snow in Midsummer (BSL*) Tuesday 11 April – The Hypocrite Wednesday 3 May – Antony & Cleopatra Wednesday 31 May – Julius Caesar Thursday 6 July – Vice Versa Tuesday 18 July – Salomé Monday 24 July – Titus Andronicus Monday 14 August – Julius Caesar (BSL)

Public Event

Shakespeare’s Rome

Saturday 29 April – Julius Caesar with Season Director Angus Jackson

Public Event

A series of debates exploring the power dynamics of Rome as depicted

by Shakespeare, through the lens of modern society. The panels will include directors and lead actors, chaired by Angus Jackson, Rome Season Director.

Thursday 20 July – Titus Andronicus with Director Blanche McIntyre

Stratford-upon-Avon

Our new Open Understudy Rehearsals are not formal performances. Tickets will go on sale two weeks before each event.

Post-Show Talks Stratford-upon-Avon

Stay on after the show for a free discussion with members of the Acting Company and ask them questions.

Stratford-upon-Avon

Friday 4 August – Antony & Cleopatra with Director Iqbal Khan Thursday 5 October – Coriolanus with Season Director Angus Jackson

Tickets: £10

Tickets: Free, with a performance ticket. *BSL: British Sign Language Interpreted event

Details on times and locations at www.rsc.org.uk /debates Tickets: £8

Patrons’ Event Schedule

Date / Time

08

Event

2017 Wednesday 1 March 5.15pm – 11.00pm

Director Talk – Snow in Midsummer – pre-show onstage event, includes performance and a post-show nightcap with the Company.

Friday 21 April 7.00pm – 10.00pm

Artistic Directors Dinner – Join Gregory Doran for his annual celebration.

Wednesday 26 April 6.00pm – 10.30pm

Julius Caesar Live From Stratford-upon-Avon pre-show reception and live broadcast.

Sunday 7 May 2.30pm – 5.00pm

A rare archive screening of the 1959 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Sir Peter Hall in the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, featuring Charles Laughton as Bottom and Ian Holm as Puck with Diana Rigg and Vanessa Redgrave in minor roles.

Thursday 15 June 6.00pm – 10.00pm

Simon Russell Beale in conversation with RSC Board Member Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall. A unique opportunity to hear one of our best loved actors discuss his career and his current role as Prospero.

Saturday 17 June

A Day of New Writing:

1.45pm – 5.00pm

Celebrate the last day of our Spring Mischief Festival with The Earthworks and Myth and a post-show insight from a member of the Festival’s Creative Team.

7.00pm – 10.30pm

Vice Versa pre-show drinks with insight from a member of the production’s Creative Team.

Tuesday 20 June 12.00pm – 5.00pm

Open Understudy Rehearsal Insight around Vice Versa including performance and refreshments with members of the Company.

Wednesday 12 July 6.30pm – 7.15pm

The Tempest pre-show drinks with insight from a member of the production’s Creative Team.

Saturday 15 July 10.00am – 4.00pm

Showcase Day – open to book Our annual day of insight and engagement with the Company. Further details will be confirmed.

Friday 17 November 5.00pm – Midnight

Supporters’ Evening – open to book – Twelfth Night Further details will be confirmed.

Wednesday 13 December 6.30pm – 7.15pm

A Christmas Carol pre-show mince pies with an insight from a member of the production’s Creative Team.

5 and 6 February 2018

Imperium Part I & Part II pre-show drinks with an insight from a member of the production’s Creative Team.

Please note that as a registered charity some of these events are charged to cover costs. All timings for events are also subject to change.

Full details of these events are available online. Please visit your Patrons’ Room, www.rsc.org.uk.

*For further ticket information please contact Kate Perry at invitation@rsc.org.uk or 01789 403467

Patrons’ Event Schedule

09

Location

Booking Ticket booking opens with Priority Booking excluding*

Patron Level

Stratford-upon-Avon Swan Theatre

Tickets: £55 per person Tickets bookable online via your Patrons’ Room.

SILVER PATRON

Stratford-upon-Avon Studio Theatre, The Other Place

Tickets: Invitation only.

ARTIST CIRCLE

London Soho Hotel

Tickets: Invitation only.

GOLD PATRON

ARTIST CIRCLE

Stratford-upon-Avon Studio Theatre, The Other Place

Tickets: £25 per person + refreshments Tickets bookable online via your Patrons’ Room.

SILVER PATRON

GOLD PATRON

London Venue to be confirmed

Tickets: £25 per person Tickets bookable online via your Patrons’ Room.

Stratford-upon-Avon The Other Place Swan Theatre

Tickets: Free with the purchase of performance tickets. Please contact Kate Perry to reserve places and tables.

(See below).*

GOLD PATRON

ALL PATRON LEVELS

ALL PATRON LEVELS

Should you wish to dine in the Rooftop Restaurant in between these events, we have several tables reserved.

Stratford-upon-Avon Swan Theatre

Tickets: £20 per person Tickets bookable online via your Patrons’ Room.

Contact Kate Perry (see below).*

ALL PATRON LEVELS

London Barbican

Tickets: Free with the purchase of a performance ticket.

Contact Kate Perry (see below).*

ALL PATRON LEVELS

Stratford-upon-Avon The Other Place

Tickets: £40 per person Tickets are bookable online via your Patrons’ Room.

ALL PATRON LEVELS

Stratford-upon-Avon The Other Place

Tickets: £160 per person Tickets bookable online via your Patrons’ Room.

ALL PATRON LEVELS

Stratford-upon-Avon Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Tickets: Free with the purchase of a performance ticket.

Contact Kate Perry (see below).*

ALL PATRON LEVELS

Stratford-upon-Avon Swan Theatre

Tickets: Free with the purchase of a performance ticket.

Contact Kate Perry (see below).*

ALL PATRON LEVELS

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

All of our Artists Circle Supporters are invited 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.

ARTIST CIRCLE

ARTIST CIRCLE

2016 AGM

AGM pictures by Sam Allard

10

Alex Hassell as Henry V by Keith Pattison

On 17 November 2016, the Royal Shakespeare Company had its AGM. Artistic Director, Gregory Doran, and Executive Director, Catherine Mallyon, shared highlights from a year in which the Company celebrated Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary and reached more people than ever before.

•

2.8 million people enjoyed 2,487 performances of 28 productions and co-productions, including seven Shakespeare plays and four new plays, which played in Stratford-upon-Avon, London, on tour across the UK and around the world

•

600 years after the Battle of Agincourt, Shakespeare’s ‘Great Cycle of Kings’ toured to London, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York, undertaking the Company’s first major tour to China

•

A Midsummer Night’s Dream toured to every region of the UK, with 84 amateurs as Bottom and the Mechanicals and 580 schoolchildren as Titania’s fairy train, in partnership with 13 theatres

•

Our highly popular free Schools’ Broadcasts continued with three Shakespeare productions, supported by live Q&As with the creative teams, reaching 35,000 students in their classrooms

•

Three Shakespeare productions were broadcast ‘Live From Stratford-upon-Avon’ into cinemas in 17 countries around the world, reaching an audience of 131,000

•

Four productions of Matilda The Musical on three continents, reached 2 million theatre goers.

Over 5 million people have now seen the production worldwide, which has won over 70 international awards.

J.P. Morgan was the Global Tour Premier Partner for King & Country: Shakespeare’s Great Cycle of Kings international tour | Henry V was supported by Mark Pigott KBE The Royal Shakespeare Company in America was presented in collaboration with The Ohio State University | Live from Stratford-upon-Avon is generously supported by SIDNEY E. FRANK FOUNDATION | Live from Stratford-upon-Avon Schools’ Broadcasts are generously supported by Virgin Media

2016 AGM

11

The Company set out at the beginning of the year to prove that Shakespeare was for everyone. It achieved breadth and depth in audience reach – with 33% of audiences being new and interacting with a global audience of 6 million people.

2015/16 proved another successful year financially due in part to the success of the Austrailian co-production of Matilda The Musical. 77% of the total income was self generated from box office revenue, trading income and fundraising.

The significant but temporary income from Matilda The Musical allowed for the restoration of the Swan Wing, the new Studio Theatre at The Other Place,

redevelopment of digital platforms and enabled the company to extend its reach for 2016 celebrations of Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary, as well as a transfer to reserves for strategic investment in future artistic projects.

Gregory Doran and Catherine Mallyon said: “As we celebrate 400 years of Shakespeare, never has he been more relevant. We are proud that this year we have shared his work and influence with a wider audience than ever before, giving more people the opportunity to be connected with his words.

“We have had a successful year, buoyed by strong box office, commercial and

philanthropic income, and the extraordinary phenomenon which is Matilda The Musical.

All these factors have allowed us to invest in a broad, rich and contemporary body of work, which has drawn in new and more diverse audiences around the country and across the world.

This has only been possible as a result of strong partnerships with artists, theatres, cultural organisations, schools, sponsors, supporters and investors who have brought their creative talents to bear on our shared mission to ensure Shakespeare is for everyone. We thank them all for their huge contribution.”

Season Update

12

Mischief Festival New work at The Other Place

In 2017 we will have two festivals of new work at The Studio Theatre at The Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon. The first runs from 24 May to 17 June, with a double-bill of plays.

Myth

Co-written by Matt Hartley and Kirsty Housley Director Kirsty Housley Designer Rosanna Vize 24 May – 17 June “I can only see wrong choices.

Things that will make everything worse.”

Photo by Sam Allard

In one wine-fuelled evening, two couples debate their materialistic lifestyle. As their dinner party descends into chaos, their friendship and their lives are irreparably changed. A theatrical experiment into those things we don’t want to see or say.

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First Performance Press Night - limited availability Last Performance Audio Described Performance Captioned Performance Pre-or Post-Show onstage event Semi-integrated British Sign Language Interpreted Performance

By Tom Morton-Smith

24 May – 17 June

5

= P = L = ■ = ● = = =

The Earthworks Director Erica Whyman Designer Rosanna Vize

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PATRONS’ PRIORITY BOOKING Dates as per front cover TICKET PRICES - £15 Disabled people: If you require the services of a companion, their ticket is free.

“The universe doesn’t care if we know how it works.”

On the eve of the activation of the Large Hadron Collider, two strangers – a journalist and a scientist – share their experiences of loss and hope in a funny but deeply touching one-act play.

Tom Morton-Smith’s Oppenheimer, created for the RSC in 2014, was a smash hit, transferring to the West End. Full details of the second Festival and Patrons’ Priority Booking will be announced in May.

Season Update

13 TRH Productions presents the RSC Production of

Queen Anne

Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, 30 June – 30 September 2017

SCHEDULE WED 28

THU 29

FRI 30

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■ = Preview F = First Performance P = Press Night - limited availability L = Last Performance ■ = Audio Described Performance ● = Captioned Performance

PRIORITY BOOKING DATES FOR QUEEN ANNE Telephone your Ticket Hotline, or visit www.rsc.org.uk GOLD PATRONS - 6 FEBRUARY 2017 SILVER PATRONS - 7 FEBRUARY 2017 BRONZE PATRONS - 8 FEBRUARY 2017

TICKET PRICES AUGUST

AUGUST

JULY

JUNE

TUE 27

J U LY

1702. William III is on the throne and England is on the verge of war.

Princess Anne is soon to become Queen, and her advisors vie for influence over the future monarch.

Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, a close friend with whom Anne has an intensely personal relationship, begins to exert increasing pressure as she pursues her own designs on power.

Contending with deceit and blackmail, Anne must decide where her allegiances lie, and whether to sacrifice her closest relationships for the sake of the country. Helen Edmundson’s (The Heresy of Love, 2012) gripping play explores the little known story of a monarch caught between friendship and duty.

It played in the Swan Theatre in 2015-16 and now transfers to London.

Directed by Natalie Abrahami, Emma Cunniffe reprises the role of Queen Anne. Romola Garai (King Lear and The Seagull 2007) returnes to the Company to play the Duchess of Marlborough.

MON 26

Previews £55 / £45 / £35 / £25 / £15 Monday to Saturday £65 / £55 / £45 / £35 / £25 / £15 A limited number of Premium seats priced at £95 (£85 for Previews) are also available at every performance.

Tickets for disabled people cost £25.

If you require the services of a companion their ticket will also be £25.

Groups 10+: £45 per person for all Monday to Thursday performances.

Families: up to 4 under 18s tickets at half price with every full price adult for all Monday to Thursday performances.

Up to 10 tickets per booking.

Over 60s: 20% off Monday and Tuesday performances.

Discounts are not available on Premium Seats and are only available during Priority Booking.

Creative Voice

Christopher Luscombe © Copyright

14

We caught up with director Christopher Luscombe Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you’re working on with the RSC at the moment.

I’m currently moving my productions of Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing into the Theatre Royal Haymarket, following seasons at Stratford-upon-Avon, Chichester and Manchester.

You began your career as an actor – did you enjoy being on stage and how did you make the transition to being a director?

I loved acting and thought it was all I’d ever do. But I put together a show called The Shakespeare Revue with some friends back in 1993. It was intended as a Sunday night charity event in the Swan Theatre, and it was the first bit of directing I’d done.

It rather took on a life of its own, and eventually ended up in the West End. So I became a director by accident really. But once I’d tasted the forbidden fruit, there was no going back!

How does it feel to be reviving Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing in London and are there any particular challenges of moving the productions to the Theatre Royal Haymarket?

I was anxious about transferring the plays to London, as they were geared so specifically to the thrust stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. But, thanks largely to the genius of our designer, Simon Higlett, we’ve managed to re-jig the shows for a proscenium arch, and I don’t think anyone will really notice the difference.

What was the thinking behind pairing Shakespeare’s great romantic comedies together and setting them either side of World War One? It was Gregory Doran’s idea.

He was keen to test out the longheld theory that Much Ado might have been known as Love’s Labour’s Won in Shakespeare’s time. The Edwardian setting was really prompted by the centenary of the Great War. We knew from experience that Love’s Labour’s Lost fitted 1914 remarkably well – and had a hunch that Much Ado About Nothing might sit comfortably in 1918.

You played Moth in Ian Judge’s 1993 production of Love’s Labour’s Lost, has that given you a special insight into the play?

Yes, I also played Dogberry in Michael Boyd’s 1996 production of Much Ado About Nothing, and I’ve loved having the chance to revisit both plays. It’s very helpful to know at first hand how they work with an audience.

What is it that you enjoy about directing comedies?

I’m obsessed by comedy. Even two years after we opened I’m still poring over the lines with the actors. The incentive is to have an audience laughing out loud at material that was written 400 years ago.

Creative Voice

All production photographs by Manuel Harlan

15

Both plays take place on the same country estate. What was the inspiration behind Simon Higlett’s beautiful set?

Both plays take place on a country estate. Our inspiration was Charlecote Park – a magnificent Elizabethan house that Shakespeare knew.

The architecture is of a piece with his language, and yet it was a thriving family home well into the 20th Century. It gave us a wealth of settings – library, deer park, gatehouse – even the roof.

Is it true that your and Simon’s names are carved into the set’s fireplace?

Yes, although I knew nothing about this until I embarked on the technical rehearsal! The initials weren’t on the model, but Simon got the builders to include them at the last minute. I hope people assume they’re an obscure Latin motto!

Given the Edwardian period setting, did the company receive any special training to understand that particular era?

We read anything we could get our hands on about the period, sharing snippets of information about Edwardian life.

Alastair Bruce was our historical adviser. He worked on The King’s Speech and Downton Abbey, and is a mine of information.

Music is a big part of both productions, what was it like working with Nigel Hess?

I’ve known Nigel for many years and feel very fortunate to collaborate with him. He’s the doyen of theatre composers, and an absolute master of his craft. The period setting of these shows gave him the scope to channel everything from G&S to Novello, Elgar to Noël Coward - it’s quite a score!

You’re directing Twelfth Night as part of the Winter 2017 Season, what can you tell us about the preparations for that production?

I’ve started the design process with Simon. I’m also discussing the music with Nigel, making lists of casting ideas and reading the play over and over. I think the biggest challenge is to get the tone right. It’s a very funny play, but it’s shot through with melancholy. I acted in the RSC’s 1991 production, so that experience will doubtless inform this new version.

Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing (Love’s Labour’s Won) performances run until 18 March and tickets are available through the Haymarket Box Office.

020 7930 8800 | www.trh.co.uk Learn more at www.rsc.org.uk/twelfthnight

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Photo: Gina Print

Geoff Kennard – being part of the RSC Family

Like many others, the seeds were sown with school theatre trips to Stratford-upon-Avon. I remember the experience being captivating, glamorous and exciting. Seeing theatre at its best inspired me, taught me to aim high and

showed me what could be achieved. It was also enormous fun. My relationship with the RSC has continued on and off throughout my life with my children also coming under the spell. The whole family still come to Stratford-upon-Avon every Christmas and would be mortified if we missed it.

The RSC is very special and the impact it can have on people and communities is profound.

It engenders passion and great loyalty in everyone associated with it. The contact I get with the Company as a result of being a Patron allows me to experience this first hand. I often bring friends along to events and they all say how surprised they are that everyone is so friendly and welcoming. There is a distinct

sense of ‘family’ at the RSC that is inclusive rather than exclusive and I value that greatly.

Having benefited so much from the RSC, I feel it is important to give back and to do whatever I can to be involved in its future.

Joy and I have a particular interest in the education and community activities of the RSC and being Patrons allows us to gain a greater insight into that work. To make Shakespeare accessible and enjoyable to new generations and the wider community is, for me, central to the work of the RSC. I don’t think it is too strong to say that getting this right can change and influence lives – it did mine.

I can’t think of a better way to offer my support.

Geoff Kennard, Gold Patron

The Big Year celebrates 2016 with photos and stories from behind the scenes, giving an insight into what it took to create this year-long celebration of Shakespeare’s legacy. Released in March 2017, you can pre-order your copy now from www.rsc.org.uk/shop.

Paperback, RRP £15.

We would love to hear from you

Please keep in touch. It would be great to hear from you if you have a story, if you want to share your memories or tell us why you support the RSC, or if you just have some feedback.

Get in touch

Individual Giving Team: Pete Warman, Michele Cottiss and Rosie Kew Tel: 01789 403470 Email: patron@rsc.org.uk