Becoming the RSC: Terry Hands in Conversation

Abstract

In 2011 the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) celebrated its 50th birthday. In this interview, Terry Hands, who joined the company in 1966 as an assistant director and went on to run it as Artistic Director from 1983 to 1991, remembers the first decade, when the RSC was “becoming” itself. He remembers the “Builders”: Peter Hall, John Barton, Trevor Nunn, Peter Brook and himself, the young Terry Hands. He talks about the people – actors, designers, writers, administrators – and policies that established the RSC as the world's most significant Shakespeare theatre company, and he gives insight into the company's early practices, both on stage and in the rehearsal room. Terry Hands rehearsing Pericles, R.S.C.1969 (photo credit: Reg Wilson; © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust)