Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company

Description

This is the inside story of the Royal Shakespeare Company - a running historical critique of a major national institution and its location within British culture, as related by a writer who is uniquely placed to tell the tale. It describes what happened to a radical theatrical vision and explores British society's inability to sustain that vision. Spanning four decades and four artistic directors, Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company is a multi-layered chronicle that traces the company's history, offers investigation into its working methods, its repertoire, its people and its politics, and considers what the future holds for this bastion of high culture now in crisis.Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company is compelling reading for anyone who wishes to explore behind the scenes and consider the changing role of theatre in modern cultural life. It offers a timely analysis of the fight for creative expression within any artistic or cultural organisation, and a vital document of our times.

First Sentence

When the Royal Shakespeare Company was founded in 1961, it was not conjured out of the sky.

Excerpt

When the Royal Shakespeare Company was founded in 1961, it was not conjured out of the sky.

Description

The story of The Royal Shakespeare Company is a gripping tale of art, rebellion, money, and above all, magnificent drama. What began as a radical, flourishing vision in the 1960s has today become a troubled conglomerate battling artistic decline. Revealing how the RSC went from glory to crisis, Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company tracks the heady conflicts between creativity and commerce that shaped the institution. Former RSC literary manager Colin Chambers goes behind the scenes to offer a rare analysis of the evolution and development of the world's most famous theatre company across four decades and four artistic directors. The talented artists who launched the cutting-edge RSC - such as Peter Hall and Peggy Ashcroft - offered a new vision of what a Shakespearean company could be: A large-scale ensemble presenting a classical and contemporary program relevant to its society. Art was reconnecting to social issues, forging a theatre of national debate that was move vivid and diverse than any since Shakespeare's day. Raising the curtain on a key part of theater history, Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company shows how this remarkable institution came to be, how it foundered on the economic shoals of the 1980s, and how it is fighting to recover the magic of its heyday under new leadership.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company: creativity and the institutionRoutledge2004-01-01
• Inside the Royal Shakespeare CompanyTaylor & Francis Group2004-01-01
• Inside the Royal Shakespeare CompanyTaylor & Francis Group2004-01-01
• Inside the Royal Shakespeare CompanyTaylor & Francis Group2004-01-01
• Inside the Royal Shakespeare CompanyTaylor & Francis Group2004-01-01
• Inside the Royal Shakespeare CompanyTaylor & Francis Group2004-01-01