WHEN Sir Peter Hall was phoned by David Jacobs, a longtime friend, and asked to become director of a new theatre in Kingston-onThames, his heart sank. Another run-of-the-mill, out-of-London theatre, he thought, we do not need.
However, Hall, now into his mid-70s has launched Rose of Kingston with all the messianic fervour of the man who, 40 years ago created the RSC.
The theatre itself is the major attraction. Still half completed - another Pounds 6m to find - it's based on the original Elizabethan building, foundations of which were found 15 years ago under a building site in Southwark. Seating nearly 1000, its potential is palpable: a more open, smaller relation of Shakespeare's Globe, without its "thrust" stage but, crucially, more intimate.
That promise has still to be realised. The opening season includes a couple of funding galas hosted by Dame Judi Dench and Jimmy Tarbuck, and this production, starring Hall's daughter, Rebecca. Her Rosalind, seen originally last year in Bath, retains its gawky Diane Keaton-Jean Seberg-like appeal. Her unisex garb of crumpled shirt and slacks marks her out as of today's unisex crowd.
Unfortunately, her throwaway delivery tends to have a lacklustre effect on a production whose battery of fine, established actors - Michael Siberry (as a delightfully dry, cynical Touchstone), James Laurenson and Phillip Voss - and Dan Stevens's bold young Orlando produce magical moments, but which overall, also lacks contrast.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article