Gregory Doran steps down

Well yes…I don’t think it has gone very well at all. But COVID is responsible for some of that…the one theatre. I don’t think they would have got the plays done anyway. It’s the company aspect I fell most. That is what made the RSC somewhat different. Especially the summer season lot. It was amazing to see the companies there and in a variety of roles and lots came back, or where contracted, for a number of years so it was great to see their relationships develop and deepen. The depth of the RSC was amazing. That all went.

Although I am in two minds about succession plans…every new boss should do their own thing. There shouldn’t really be a plan. But perhaps there should be some requirements to the role to preserve what about a place is its USP. I think definitely Inclusivity has really grown these past few years. But a lot of the fabric has been lost. And his 
partner did many of the big roles. That shouldn’t be allowed.

10 years in charge and where was the big success that would help fund the future of the company?

The original Wolf Hall double bill did extend in the West End but only managed a 5 month run in total. It did get a short Broadway season. They could have built on that with part 3 but screwed that up.

No musicals/family shows have transferred during his tenure

The Country House Much Ado/LLL did get further life at Chichester and then briefly into London. I think Queen Anne went from the Swan into the West End but didn't last long.

But that is about it.

Oh no. We did get the vanity project that was Death of a Salesman. A production that the RSC didn't need to stage and still didn't set the world alight

The Doran production style has always been somewhat pedestrian. He rarely truly surprises with his shows. And that has infected the rest of the company with a toxic lack of ambition.

So we have the failure to stage all the plays in the main house, the failure to develop long lasting relationships with new directors, the destruction of the ensemble and the failure to stage productions that can generate future income.

It has been a decade of disappointment, increasing mediocrity and failure to provide for the future.

What was the best Shakespeare production of his time in charge ? I can’t say really as so few transferred to London and of those that did I disliked all the ones with Sher and the Romans and all the comedies except Much Ado/Love’s Labours. I thought Doran’s Measure for Measure was very good.

The Boy in the Dress was supposed to transfer to the Savoy had it not been for the pandemic.

All this is true and the new appointment is,I believe,the most important the company will ever make.Get it wrong and it will finish the RSC. Already it is perceived as a community theatre with its continual use of amateurs and lack of ground breaking work. Will be interesting to read the job description when it comes out on Friday.My real fear is that the whole process is cosmetic and board engineered to switch EW into role. She would be fine at Court or similar but seems blind to the importance of RSC as international level company. Over past three years the whole operation seemed to close except for beloved schools work which is their pride and joy. Even now the place feels soulless with no indication of what the season is or when shows are playing…tv screens dead….No feeling that this is the once great RSC . I do feel sorry for Greg having lost his partner but the RSC should be able to survive, A full clear out…drastic ,painful for many but it is the only opportunity to revitalise the project and start again. Swan,TOP need to produce work…only 2 plays in theatre June to October…no reason to go down to Stratford.EW will further the destruction if she gets the job.Thete will be work and there will be huge participation but the status will permanently be lost. Please tell me I am wrong….I want to be.

That is true in general, and would certainly be true for the NT, but I just don't think there are enough qualified candidates to impose that restriction on the RSC. Remember when the Washington Shakespeare Theatre Company recruited they appointed Simon Godwin and those sensitivities are even more apparent in the USA, they had to do a lot of explaining but they appointed him anyway. 

Deborah Warner would be good and it seems she's now happy to run a building in Bath. 

Fall has not a single professional Shakespeare production to her name. She was once an assistant director on a Much Ado under Hytner.

That is not what the RSC needs or deserves. No matter how good she is with other repertoire.

It has to be someone who gets Shakespeare, who is at home with verse, knowledgeable about Jacobethan theatre. Otherwise what is the point?

My reason for never approving of Emma Rice running the Globe was not because of her style. It was about her lack of experience with Shakespeare.

I always thought that Rylance was an odd choice to run the Globe because he is an Oxfordian. How you can run a Shakespeare theatre when you don't believe that Shakespeare wrote the plays baffles me. But he did respect the plays if not the author.

I would welcome a director like Edward Hall. Not because of who his father is. But because he understands the core of the repertoire and is prepared to take risks.

Blanche McIntyre might well be in the mix. She is respected and experienced in a wide range of world drama. I don't like the approach she is taking for the forthcoming All's Well. But I can look over that.

But I would love to see Maria Aberg get involved in Stratford again. I know she is a marmite director for many on here. But at her best she is brilliant and bold. She would be top of my wish list.

I think limiting the options to people who have directed Shakespeare isn't a good thing. Surely they should looking at a wide range of candidates who may be able revitalise the organisation as a whole and shake things up, nobody should be ruled out just because they didn't direct or act in anything by the Bard.

I think there is a very good chance they will hire a candidate if the face fits, regardless of experience directing Shakespeare. The face will have to fit.

Maria Aberg would not make any list of mine. Marmite doesn’t come close. I would weep if she is appointed. But I think that nobody on your list, oxfordsimon will be selected. It is a shoe in for EW. You would have to find a reason NOT to appoint her. I don't hold a brief as they say. I have not admired all of her work but she has a handle on the job, has a big feel for the community aspect of it and is a good communicator to the Board, donors, punters and performers. Directing isn’t all of the job or even a half of it. I do think others should be looked at. Tom Littler really knows what to do with Shakespeare and has run a smaller enterprise in an inspired way especially through the pandemic but let’s face it, he is a man. They have all been men and with EW there is chance to change the image without rocking the boat. I’m all out of metaphors but you see what I mean. 

Warner would be excellent but she would not do it-given that she has just taken on AD role at Ustinov Studio. The job specifies,i believe,that the post holder must live in Stratford-that would be difficult for the headliners in the sphere. It boils down to whether board have future of RSC as major player on global stage or community resource in their decision.Branagh would bring world of experience and major players back to town,Icke would bring huge international perspective and top line directors,Cooke would develop ideas that he had when Associate some years back. If Board go with EW-the demise of the RSC will be complete.Its not that she is a bad director,just OK,but her vision is part of the disaster that the company is heading towards. I still believe this will be the outcome and the deal all but complete.

Not sure. That might have been specified last time just to favour Doran over Rupert Goold. Michael Boyd lived in north London as far as I am aware.


It's not so much that they should appoint someone with a Shakespeare track record but rather I can't imagine many without that actually wanting to apply - it is very restricting for directors who like directing contemporary plays and working with playwrights, and that is most of them.