You would imagine, wouldn’t you, that the Royal Shakespeare Company would have some idea about what it takes to get ready for a new production? Or that they would at least have some understanding of the “show must go on” ethic, traditional in acting even at the AmDram level?
But, no, the RSC seems incapable of both, and has cancelled my big night out tomorrow with one day’s warning! “Owing to the highly technical nature of this production additional time is required for installing the set and the technical rehearsals for the show.”
Bah! What does RSC stand for? Rubbish Shakespeare Company, that’s what.
Just thought I’d share. Why should I suffer alone?
What would have been the show, Astrid? (I agree that missing the opening night (?) is the worst crime in the playbook - it usually means either genuine technical issues, or more often creative issues such as the cast at daggers drawn with the director, or, as with the Spiderman musical on Broadway, both.)
I hope they’re offering you tickets for a future performance, plus freebies.
It was only The Merry Wives of Windsor, so it probably wasn’t going to be much good anyway. It’s a bit of an odd play. But this was the only time we could go, for various reasons, so we didn’t have a lot of choice about which play was on.
The RSC offered tickets for a different night (but no freebies) but that is no use at all, because Stratford-on-Avon is a bit of a trek from where I live, involving organisation and overnight stays and time off work and the like. Besides, it took ages to get my husband to agree that going to an RSC production was a thing he would like to do, so I don’t reckon much of my chances of getting him to agree to a repeat performance! But at least I got the RSC email in time to meet the hotel’s cancellation deadline, so there’s no financial loss involved. Just the gutting disappointment, and the sad realisation that they are a shower of unprofessional incompetents. (Oh dear, I think that might have sounded bitter…)
I would love to be able to say “I will never darken their door again” but sadly I suspect that I might do just that. The one RSC production I have been to was great (magical, even), and I would really like to see what they have done with the theatre re-building. When I went before, they were temporarily in The Courtyard Theatre (or whatever it was called) while the rebuilding work was done.
Oh, I don’t know about that, s much. Isn’t TMWofW, the one with copious amounts of gratuitous violence; gymnasticated sex; multiple sado/masochist encounters, and cross dressing.
Sounds OK t’ me. Should be a good laugh. 'Ang on ang on! It could be R&J, I’m thinking about. Nahh, 'snot…it’s TMWofW Yeah… sounds like a bit of a giggle.
Vic
The first time I visited the RSC, I slept in a park gazebo across the river in order to be first in line to buy a ticket. That night I saw a very young, tall actress play Rosalind in As You Like It. Orlando was a darkly handsome dude, every inch her equal. They were Vanessa Redgrave and Ian Bannen, then unknown but clearly magnificent talents. tinyurl.com/c59n5p6
So, while I sympathize with your disappointment and inconvenience, I am inclined to say that you folks don’t know how blessed you are to have such plays as the RSC manages to assemble, despite money troubles and technical demands. I do hope that you both return to Stratford to see the production, and that in every way it will be as memorable as the two nights I spent there in July of 1961.
I know on Broadway here in the states they had Spiderman which was a highly technical set and it was a complete disaster. nypost.com/p/news/local/manh … SUjXM4Yp9I
Maybe because of the technical set and the horrible outcome of shows like Spiderman (which depended heavily on technical sets) have caused plague of Stage Fright in the industry?
Spiderman - Turn Of The Dark was a 65 million dollar bomb in many people’s eyes.
I think I’d still give my right arm to see 'em. Hell, seeing one of their shows would involve selling my right kidney for airfare, getting groped without having been bought a drink by the TSA, and finally being stuffed into a metal tube for 7 hours.
To druid and garpu and anyone else who wants to see the Royal Shakespeare Company…
I thought you might like to know that the RSC is about to start streaming some performances to UK and international cinemas, broadcast live from Stratford-upon-Avon to lots of venues all round the world. The first will be Richard II, directed by the RSC artistic director Gregory Doran, and with David Tennant as Richard, which will be screened (in the UK at least) on 13th November. I’m looking forward to it, as Richard II is possibly my favourite Shakespeare play. One of my favourites, anyway.
Digital streaming of stage productions, shown in local cinemas, is great. It’s not quite like going to the theatre, but not quite like watching a film either. We’ve been going to the National Theatre’s live-streaming events for a couple of years now, and have seen some excellent productions. Last night, we saw the best-ever Hamlet (in my opinion, at any rate – certainly the best of the half-dozen or more that I have seen), with Rory Kinnear as Hamlet, directed by Nicholas Hytner. It was shown as an “encore performance” to celebrate the 50th birthday of the National Theatre.
Generally speaking, the quality of the broadcast has been excellent, but yesterday there was a glitch at one point, and the whole thing hung for a couple of minutes, which was a bit sad because it broke the spell for a while. “Thunderstorms passing through,” we were told. But I’ve only seen a technical glitch in the streaming once before, and that was fleeting (a brief flicker in a production from the Metropolitan Opera in New York). Generally, the data transfer is excellent. And it is brilliant to be able to see shows that would otherwise be geographically impossible.
So, if you wish to see the RSC performing live at Stratford-upon-Avon, but visible from a cinema near you, check out the RSC On Screen website at http://onscreen.rsc.org.uk. National Theatre Live can be found at http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk.
The Richard II has been generally well reviewed in the UK (although Tennant’s isn’t apparently as standout a performance as might have been expected on the basis of his Hamlet). It’s a great play.
The best stage performance of Richard II I ever saw was Ian McKellen’s, which he did shortly after Marlowe’s Edward II, also brilliant.
But at least I got the RSC email in time to meet the hotel’s cancellation deadline, so there’s no financial loss involved. Just the gutting disappointment, and the sad realisation that they are a shower of unprofessional incompetents. (Oh dear, I think that might have sounded bitter…)
Should be a good laugh. 
'Ang on ang on! It could be R&J, I’m thinking about. Nahh, 'snot…it’s TMWofW Yeah… sounds like a bit of a giggle. 
