It started a life long passion for and belief in the importance of the theatrical experience - Member

Most cherished memory? Where to begin..... Perhaps a star performance - Ken Branagh in Henry V; Toby Stephens in Coriolanus; Peggy Ashcroft in Alls Well; Anthony Sher in Cyrano; Donald Sinden in London Assurance; Glenda Jackson or Helen Mirren as Cleopatra; David Tennant in Hamlet/Richard II; Robert Stephens as Falstaff; Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan in Liaison Dangereuses....... Or perhaps a great ensemble production - Peter Brook's Midsummer Night's Dream; the hilarious Three Hours After Marriage; the immersive experience that was Nicholas Nickleby; the history cycle in the Courtyard theatre... The latter two productions are certainly in my top five theatrical experiences but the most precious memory must be John Barton's Troilus and Cressida in 1969. Achilles [Alan Howard] costumed in archaic greek style, emerged from his tent to join an outstanding ensemble cast of now familiar names. As a student newly arrived in London, discovering the RSC at the Aldwych, I had never seen anything like it. And it started a life long passion for and belief in the importance of the theatrical experience and the supremacy of Shakespeare as the playwright whose work shines the brightest light on the human condition.