Artist Development and Training in the Royal Shakespeare Company a Vision for Change in British Theatre Culture
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Artist Development and Training in the Royal Shakespeare Company A Vision for Change in British Theatre Culture Volume I Lyn Darnley A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts of Royal Holloway College, University of London for the degree of PhD Department of Drama and Theatre Arts Royal Holloway College University of London Egham TW20 OEX March 2013 Declaration of Authorship I, Lyn Darnley, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________________ Date: ________________________________ Contents Volume I Page Abstract ......................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 2 Chapter One: The Royal Shakespeare Company and Training .............. 16 Chapter Two: Training and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre ............. 38 Chapter Three: Cicely Berry....................................................................... 72 Chapter Four: Training and Ensemble under Adrian Noble .................. 104 Chapter Five: The Pilot Programme December 2003 ............................. 140 Chapter Six: Training for the Comedies Ensemble – 2005 ................... 192 Chapter Seven: The Complete Works Festival 2006-2007 ..................... 234 Chapter Eight: Achievements, Challenges and Moving Forwards ....... 277 Bibliography .............................................................................................. 313 Volume II Appendices: The appendices are housed in Volume II ABSTRACT Artist Development and Training in the Royal Shakespeare Company A Vision for Change in British Theatre Culture The thesis provides a participant observer’s perspective of an ensemble training programme within a subsidised professional classical theatre company. Wherever possible, that personal perspective is tested, interrogated and critiqued. The study traces the RSC’s history of artist training from its beginnings and considers the contribution made by directors and key practitioners and the major theatrical influences on training within the Company. This provides a context for the specific focus which is placed on the first three years (2003/4-2006/7) of Artistic Director Michael Boyd’s Artist Development Programme. This discussion occupies the main part of the thesis and is its raison d’être. Ongoing artist development for actors and other artists is examined as an essential element of Boyd’s ensemble ethos and the RSC’s degree of success in meeting the requirements of its Royal Charter and of the Arts Council Document (1996) to provide training for its artists, and to support the development of the wider profession is evaluated. The discussion alludes to the current state of classical drama training in UK conservatoires with specific reference to the teaching of text and language before documenting the RSC’s attempts to establish greater links with both training and professional bodies in order to support actor and director training and the professional development of other theatre practitioners. Factors that have to date inhibited the Artist Development Programme including the impact of the redevelopment of its Stratford upon Avon theatres between 2007and 2011 are reflected on and their impact debated. An appendix bound as a separate document for ease of access and reference alongside the thesis, provides resource material for future researchers including schedules, artist feedback, company documents, archival material and photographs. It also allows the reader to take an empirical stance from which to assess the accuracy of the judgements offered. Lyn Darnley March 2013 1 Artist Development and Training in the Royal Shakespeare Company A Vision for Change in British Theatre Culture Introduction … our ambition at the RSC is for a place where artists can learn and make theatre at the same time.1 The Royal Shakespeare Company (1960) evolved from the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (1879), which in turn grew out of the yearly Shakespeare Festivals held in Stratford-upon-Avon from the time of David Garrick’s Jubilee in 1769. Throughout its history it has been associated with the development of outstanding actors and directors such as Olivier, Gielgud, Ashcroft, Dench, Rigg, Stewart, McKellen, Hall, Brook and Nunn. Training had been considered by the Company’s artistic directors since 1875 when Charles Flower first published a prospectus for the new Stratford theatre: …he proposed establishing along with it a ‘Dramatic Training School and College’, thereby beginning Stratford’s lengthy association with the idea of training and professional development.2 The Company has had a reputation for training and developing actors throughout its history but despite several attempts, the establishment of a school has never been realised. This raises the question of whether formal training is the right system for Stratford or whether an ensemble training system is better suited to the personality of the RSC. When Michael Boyd was appointed Artistic Director in 2003 he took a decision to make fundamental changes to the delivery of training within the RSC with the introduction of the Artist Development Programme (ADP) funded by the Weston Foundation for its first three years3. How Boyd set out to achieve a 1 Michael Boyd, University of Warwick press release on the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) grant for Creativity and Performance in Teaching and Learning (CAPITAL), £4.5 Million Performance Partnership for Royal Shakespeare Company and University of Warwick, 27 January, 2005. http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/news/RSCwarwick.htm. See Appendix 6.(4). 2 Colin Chambers, Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company, Routledge, London, 2000, p.140. 3 ‘The Garfield Weston Foundation was established in 1958 by Willard Garfield Weston, a Canadian businessman who arrived in the UK with his family in 1932. He was the creator of Associated British Foods and the Foundation was endowed with the donation of family-owned company shares. As a 2 training programme and how successfully he met the requirements of the Royal Charter and Arts Council Document (1996) is the focus of this study. Artist Development and Training are terms now used frequently within the RSC. Artist Development is cumulative and takes many forms including casting, performance, understudying, exploratory workshops, readings, sustained performance, academic knowledge and other ‘spiral learning’ activities whereas training is a more formal, linear concept and refers to classes, warm-ups and skills instruction. Training is one of many ways in which an artist may be developed. In the context of the RSC’s Artist Development Programme, training includes: Verse and prose speaking Voice training including the release of the voice and technical training in breath, muscularity, dexterity, modulation and singing Training in physical imagination and expressivity as well as stamina and alignment Vocal and physical flexibility within a variety of dramatic styles The development of ensemble skills and a sense of mutual support. Each of these themes has an ongoing relevance to the thesis and at different stages of the argument some of these aspects will take precedence over the others. The ethos of ensemble is inextricably linked to artist development within the Company. Although all directors commit to the ensemble principle, their individual interpretation of it differs slightly and this is reflected in their artist development choices. The Purpose of the Study The RSC describes itself as a subsidised company whose overriding aim is to provide world-class theatre. It also makes claims that it strives to develop new audiences and provide a training-ground for artists. The prime purpose of this study is to test the claim that the RSC is ‘providing an expert training environment for its actors, directors and theatre result, the Foundation is today the ultimate controller of the company.’ Garfield Weston Foundation Web page, http://www.garfieldweston.org/history/ 11 August 2011. 3 artists’4 against evidence of work undertaken with specific focus on actor training during the years 2003/4–2006/7. The second purpose is to consider the educational, cultural and historical precedents and pressures which brought about the need for change and to observe the way in which the Company worked to connect more fully to the theatrical community (specifically the training sector) in order to affect the industry with Boyd’s vision of an ensemble ethic of continual development and training for all artists in the theatre. Thirdly this study considers the development of actors in the context of changes in the wider profession and assesses to what degree the requirements of the Royal Shakespeare Company Royal Charter (see Appendix 1.(1)) and the 1996 Arts Council Policy for Drama have been met. (Further details of the Royal Charter appear later in this chapter.) It looks at the achievements that prove or disprove the level of success being currently attained. The degree of success or failure will be evaluated in the final chapter. A final but significant purpose is the creation of an archival record of the work undertaken by the Artist Development Programme5. The RSC has a comprehensive archive but has prioritised administration and performance records. The lack of documentation specifically concerned with training suggests