HowlRound: What should the role of a board and administration be in determining the artistic direction of a theatre? Must an artistic director adhere to the founding vision of an institution? These are among the thorny and pressing questions raised by the recent news that Emma Rice will leave Shakespeare’s Globe—a decision of the theatre’s CEO and board—scarcely six months after the start of her first season as the institution’s artistic director.
2 comments:
I've already commented on two articles about Emma Rice's departure from the Globe Theater a couple weeks ago, but I still haven't gotten over my initial reaction to this incident. Of course they cited artistic differences as the reason for her leaving, but I think it's fairly clear to everyone that creative differences are probably fairly low down on the list of actual reasons why she will be gone. Art is constantly evolving and moving forward, and there will always be those who oppose its progression. What I think is most ironic about this situation that this article brought to light for me is the fact that Shakespeare himself was a theatrical pioneer and boundary-breaker, and there was no staunch following of tradition in his theatrical production process. I understand that this is a little different because the Globe is such a historical theater, but I still assert that Emma Rice's idea of an evolving, dynamic version of Shakespeare is more in line with my man Billy's original intent for his works.
I agree with the author of this article that it feels like there is something else going on behind the scenes at the Globe. I just find it too hard to believe that they replaced an artistic director who was bringing in people and good reviews just because she was putting on modernized shows. If that was really the extent of the issue, then they massively overreacted. In that situation, wouldn’t it have made far more sense to reach some kind of compromise? Something where each season would include both traditionally performed shows and the more modern versions that Rice was doing. Personally, I would find the compromise more interesting than if it was just modernized Shakespeare or just tradition Shakespeare. Getting to see a show performed two different ways could be a really cool way of showing not just different performance styles but the different mindsets about theater of the two times.
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