Barrie Rutter - Founder & Artistic Director
Barrie Rutter was born in Hull and since leaving school in 1964, his acting career has stretched from Hamburg to Helsinki, Bradford to Beijing and includes film, television and radio. But he is best described as “theatre animal”, and has had his happiest moments on the stage, whether in Shakespeare’s Globe, London or the ancient amphitheatre of Epidaurus.
His theatre work includes:
For the Royal Shakespeare Company: Henry IV, Henry V, Coriolanus and the Taming of the Shrew.
For the Royal National Theatre: The Mysteries, the Crucible, Guys and Dolls, the Oresteia, the Rivals, Animal Farm, Martine and the Trackers of Oxyrhynchus.
For Northern Broadsides: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra, King Lear, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice and Comedy of Errors.
Interview with Barrie Rutter before China tour
About The Tempest
Q: Any surprises with this Shakespeare adaptation? Have you uncovered any forgotten elements of the play? What makes this version of Tempest unique (or would you consider this a more conventional performance of a classic play)?
A: The text is exactly what we believe to be Shakespeare’s words – there is no “adaptation”, however, given the panache, delivery and musical element, which this production embraces, its sound has a very modern feel and is very accessible. As to uncovering new or forgotten elements of the play, I cannot make that claim, but we have certainly added a few of our own, which Chinese audiences will hopefully discover for themselves. The very fact of doing a classic play in 2007 automatically makes it unique compared to all the other versions. The best description of Shakespeare I ever heard was of a sandy beach, covered in footprints and then along comes the next tide and washes it clean and flat ready for the next set of prints. No two patterns the same.
Q. Anything special about casts of Northern Broadsides in Tempest?
A: We are all actor/musicians – instruments include the musical saw, the hang drum (percussion instrument with harmony) and a walking double bass! Most of the actors have been in our previous production thereby creating a real ensemble.
Q. Do you think young people today will love Shakespeare's production given the world is so different from the time of Shakespeare?
A: Yes! The conflicts of the human condition have not changed since the ancient Greeks first started recording drama. Redemption, forgiveness, charity, virtue, faith in the next generation and overall love are the final abiding emotions in this play. They are as contemporary now as they have ever been and easily recognisable by young or old, Chinese or British.
Q. What’s been the reception of Northern Broadsides in UK? And How about in other non-English speaking countries to your English-language productions?
A: In its first year (1992), this company achieved a new way of perceiving Shakespeare. 15 years later, and with many productions in its repertoire, and many countries visited (Brazil, USA, India, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Cyprus, not to mention the full range of Great Britain), the core values of alacrity, gusto, inventiveness, and a desire to always have a good time with an audience, whether it be the tears of woe in King Lear or the tears of joy in The Tempest has always been our overiding desire.
About China
Q. Why bring your theater troupe to China? And Why did you choose to present Tempest here?
A: 2007 is the centenary of foreign drama in China and the Milky Way organisation wanted some foreign drama – enter stage left: Northern Broadsides and The Tempest! The Tempest is our current production and is therefore the only one available to bring at this time. In 2008 our production will be Romeo And Juliet when we hope to receive further Chinese invitations to tour, particularly as there will be a Cultural Olympics complementing the Beijing Olympic Games.
Q. Beijing has quite a growing expatriate community ¨was your original intention to bring Shakespeare to normal Chinese audience, Chinese students learning English or expatriate community?
A: We have no control over the make up of our audiences, nor do we want it. ALL are welcome – ALL.
Q. You toured with Old Vic Theatre to China in 1979 and performed Hamlet in Beijing and Shanghai. What impressed you most at the tour?
A: In 1979 the excitement of being part of the first English speaking theatre group to visit China since the Revolution was a very emotional and spine-tingling experience. The enthusiasm and outstanding hospitality and the great welcome we received both on and off the stage was still very vivid as I stepped off the plane in January 2007 at the same but greatly changed Shanghai airport where I met with the modern version of that same warm welcome.
Q. When Old Vic Theatre came in 1979, the interpreter was Ruocheng Ying (a famous actor and translator in China, who later became vice Cultural Minister and has passed away). Do you remember anything about him?
A: I have very fond memories of Ruochang Ying, a man who had never been out of China, whose English was perfect, and whose simultaneous performance of my gravedigger in Hamlet is a treasured memory due to his timing of my voice and the reaction it created from the audiences. In 1980, Ying and his family came to Britain where we met again at the British Council offices and it was great to be part of the reunion – this time on British soil. I think I met the then 11 year old Ying Da and look forward to meeting him again in Beijing in his capacity as a well-known actor and TV star – consider this an invitation to The Tempest Mr. Ying Da! Any problem with tickets – give me a call!!
Q. Anything tourist-wise that you're looking forward to in Beijing? Have you been interested in China culturally?
A: Tuesday, June 19th being our day off, we have a trip organised to The Great Wall and The Ming Tombs for our company of 19 people - non of whom besides myself have been to China before – so that day is a MUST for us. The interest in China culturally has the same excitement as any first visit to a foreign land but personally, the larger excitement is in the sharing of the words of the world’s greatest dramatist.
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