My Shakespeare: A Director's Journey through the First Folio

Description

This book charts the personal and professional journey of Greg Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2012 until 2022 and "one of the great Shakespearians of his generation" (Sunday Times). During his illustrious career, Doran has directed or produced all of the plays within Shakespeare's First Folio -- a milestone reached in the same year that the world celebrates the 400th anniversary of its original publication. Each chapter looks at a different play, considering the choices made and weaving in both autobiographical detail and background on the RSC, as well as giving insights into key collaborations, including those with actors such as Judi Dench, David Tennant, Harriet Walter, Patrick Stewart, Simon Russell Beale, Paterson Joseph and Doran's husband, the late Antony Sher, as well as seminal practitioners such as Cicely Berry, John Barton and Terry Hands. The book also includes 16 striking pages with stills from some of the RSC plays. Through Doran's account of this extraordinary journey, we see how Henry VIII, initially regarded as a poisoned chalice, became his lucky break; how the tragedy of 9/11 unfolded during a matinee of King John and how the language of the play went some way in helping to articulate the unfathomable; how a RSC supporter bequeathed their skull to the company to be used as Yorick in Hamlet; how meeting Nelson Mandela inspired the production of Julius Caesar; how Falstaff was introduced to China for the very first time; and how arachnophobia informed the production of Macbeth. This book uniquely captures the excitement, energy, surprises, joys and agonies of working on these greatest of plays; sheds new light on these plays through Doran's own research and discoveries made in the rehearsal room; and gives unprecedented access into the craft, life and loves of this exceptional director.

Greg Doran has been described as "one of the supreme Shakespeare directors of our era" (Financial Times) and "one of the finest present day directors of Shakespeare" (Sunday Telegraph). He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company as an actor in 1987 and became its Artistic Director in 2012. He has directed and/or produced every single play in the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays at Stratford-upon-Avon. His 2012 production of Julius Caesar was described by theatre critic Michael Billington as one the ten best productions in the 60-year history of the RSC and as one of his ten best nights in the theatre ever. Doran delivered the prestigious Richard Dimbleby Lecture on BBC One in 2016. He was awarded the Sam Wanamaker Prize for pioneering work in Shakespearean theatre in 2012 and won a special Olivier Award for outstanding achievement for a season of Jacobean plays in 2002. His writing credits include the book Woza Shakespeare!, co-authored with Antony Sher.

Greg Doran's My Shakespeare generously offers us all the most intimate understanding of what the works of Shakespeare can give us; life with all its tragic and comic masks. Doran writes for the lover of Shakespeare, but allows those tentative about Shakespeare's genius to understand why his storytelling is miraculously both universal and local. My Shakespeare is a worthy addition to the study of Shakespeare's plays in performance - and I'll be damned if it doesn't make me itch to get on stage again, to exercise my acting muscles in the greatest poetry-gym in the English language. * Paterson Joseph * Greg Doran's writing, like his productions, comes from an honest, ungimmicky place. He infects the reader with his own curiosity about the world that gave birth to Shakespeare and how and why he still connects with us. He combines an unostentatious erudition with stories of a deeply personal journey from schoolboy visits to the RSC at Stratford to becoming its Artistic Director. I am so glad everyone can now be let in on his revelatory insights and not just those of us who have been lucky enough to be in a rehearsal room with him. * Harriet Walter * It has given me so much joy to read the story of Greg Doran's journey through these great plays. Fantastic, informative, revealing, occasionally gossipy and thoroughly engrossing, this is a remarkable memoir of a remarkable career. Greg Doran's brilliance, clarity of thought and - most of all - his humanity shines through. * David Tennant *