Michael Billington: A Decent Man Who Fell Victim to Political Naivety
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. But, with the season barely begun, Noble has indicated that he has had enough.
Cynics will argue that the overwhelming success of his production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, from which he will earn a tidy sum, has given him the freedom to depart. But I don't believe that is the real reason. After several conversations with him I know how passionately he believed in the need for a radical overhaul of the RSC.
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.
Like Tony Blair, Noble has realised that you cannot carry on a battle on several fronts simultaneously. His plans for restructuring the company to create a series of short-term, project-led groups have been widely criticised by actors. His dream of demolishing the 70-year-old Royal Shakespeare Theatre to create a more audience-friendly space has inflamed local opinion and angered architectural conservationists. And his plans for a phased withdrawal from the RSC's London base have not exactly delighted either the Barbican directorate or many West End theatre owners.
To carry out any one of these ideas would have been difficult: to try to execute all three simultaneously was asking for trouble.
But on whom will the succession light? If the RSC governors want to pursue Noble's dream, they will logically appoint an in-house candidate: either Gregory Doran or Michael Boyd. But if they wish to wipe the slate clean and return to fundamental RSC principles, they will be forced to look outside: Edward Hall is a name that springs to mind or even, were he interested, Kenneth Branagh.
Either way it is difficult not to feel sympathy for Adrian Noble. He is a decent man and a very good director who has become the victim of his political naivety. He has tried to revolutionise an institution that needed only gradualist reform.
A year or so ago the RSC was doing famously with its production of Shakespeare's histories. Now, with Noble's departure, it looks like an organisation in desperate need of a cool head and long-term stability.
Cynics will argue that the overwhelming success of his production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, from which he will earn a tidy sum, has given him the freedom to depart. But I don't believe that is the real reason. After several conversations with him I know how passionately he believed in the need for a radical overhaul of the RSC.
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.
Like Tony Blair, Noble has realised that you cannot carry on a battle on several fronts simultaneously. His plans for restructuring the company to create a series of short-term, project-led groups have been widely criticised by actors. His dream of demolishing the 70-year-old Royal Shakespeare Theatre to create a more audience-friendly space has inflamed local opinion and angered architectural conservationists. And his plans for a phased withdrawal from the RSC's London base have not exactly delighted either the Barbican directorate or many West End theatre owners.
To carry out any one of these ideas would have been difficult: to try to execute all three simultaneously was asking for trouble.
But on whom will the succession light? If the RSC governors want to pursue Noble's dream, they will logically appoint an in-house candidate: either Gregory Doran or Michael Boyd. But if they wish to wipe the slate clean and return to fundamental RSC principles, they will be forced to look outside: Edward Hall is a name that springs to mind or even, were he interested, Kenneth Branagh.
Either way it is difficult not to feel sympathy for Adrian Noble. He is a decent man and a very good director who has become the victim of his political naivety. He has tried to revolutionise an institution that needed only gradualist reform.
A year or so ago the RSC was doing famously with its production of Shakespeare's histories. Now, with Noble's departure, it looks like an organisation in desperate need of a cool head and long-term stability.
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