- The Observer,
- Sunday April 28 2002
Whoever takes up the reins of the RSC needs to have real vision. Aside from being able to assess and address the current crisis, s/he needs to be experienced enough to front one of the world's most famous and important organisations. S/he will need to raise the slumped morale of somewhere in the region of 700 staff and handle an annual turnover of between £32 and 35 million. The person needs to be a great producer: someone who can inspire the best actors/directors/designers to work with them to create the best possible creative conditions to celebrate this country's greatest cultural genius. All of which rules out plenty of bright young things with a couple of good productions behind them.
The likely short-list - should they indeed be interested in so demanding a full-time job - will be VERY short. My vote goes to Jonathan Kent & Ian McDiarmid who have recently quit the Almeida after a decade of producing some of the country's most exhilarating theatre. They have the experience, the vision, the chutzpah. The great and the good flocked to work with them before and would do so again. They are great company men.
The unlikley but plausible candidate? Kenneth Branagh. He consolidated his early career at the RSC - playing Henry V for, ironically, director Adrian Noble. He then ran his own theatre company, then went into movies where he attracted talent like bees round a honey pot. His movie directing careers has, however, tapered off recently, although there are plans for him to direct a film based on an early Patricia Highsmith novel. He has acting commitments through to the end of the year but is intersted in theatre once again as evidenced by his recent return to the stage after 10 years, starring in Michael Grandage's superb production of Richard III at Sheffield Crucible. -
David Benedict, Acting Arts Editor, The Observer
Noble's RSC reign: what the critics say
As Adrian Noble announced his departure from the RSC, the critics had a chance to sum up his 11-year reign. The RSC director is unlikely to want to put the reviews up in lights with those of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Here is a round-up:
Adrian Noble's eventual departure from the RSC is in itself no great surprise: what is astonishing is the timing of the announcement. One assumed that Noble, having staked his reputation on the radical restructuring of the company, would wait to see how it turned out.
If he has chosen to announce his departure, I suspect it is partly because he has realised that his plans have not exactly earned the support of the profession, the public or the media. It is difficult not to feel sympathy for Adrian Noble. He is a decent man and a very good director who has become a victim of his political naivety. He has tried to revolutionise an institution that needed only gradualist reform.
-Michael Billington, The Guardian, 'How a decent man fell victim to political naivety'
Having recently pledged his future to the RSC until 2008, Adrian Noble's resignation as chief executive could be viewed as a surprise. It is no such thing, given that the criticism both of the company's work and of the radical changes he was making had become alarmingly intense. When the heat in the kitchen reaches boiling point, the thickest-skinned cook must leave and, as his own productions suggest, Noble is a thoughtful, sensitive person. The challenge facing a new director -if he can be weaned from films, Sam Mendes must be the first choice - will be to rebuild morale, restore standards and rethink some plans, notably the company's future place in London. Indeed, the challenge goes further: after Noble's controversial tenure, someone must convince us not only that the RSC matters but that we need it at all.
-Benedict Nightingale, The Times, 'Departure is a tragedy of his own making'
If ever a captain appeared to be deserting what many perceive as a sinking ship, then it is Noble. And, if he was determined to go, why didn't he do so before rather than after the opening of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? As it is, it looks as though he deliberately delayed until after the first night, when the reviews established he had a hit on his hands - and consequently a virtual guarantee of becoming a millionaire.
I have been almost alone among national newspaper critics in broadly supporting Noble's vision, which has attracted often venomous flak. If institutions don't adapt to changing times and circumstances, they die. What is in no doubt is that Noble's strategy was extremely risky. Yes, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre needs to be replaced, but no one can have any idea whether the new theatre will work.It has been claimed that Noble has been stung into leaving by the opprobrium he has received about his grand projet. But a bigger, braver personality would have stayed in the job and seen his daringly risky vision through to completion. He stands revealed as a hollow man who lacks the courage of his own convictions.
-Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph, 'How I feel the RSC has been betrayed'
