Pathways to Shakespeare

How did our actors and directors first find Shakespeare? What drew them to it in the first place and kept them coming back?

Viv Graver interviews

Viv Graver is a retired teacher, who taught Shakespeare for more than 30 years in the north of England. Her blog is a series of interviews with RSC cast and creatives about their path to Shakespeare and how they first came to it, at school and elsewhere.

Richard Katz

Richard Katz

Pathway #50 - 8 January 2024

RSC veteran actor Richard Katz, recently seen in The Fair Maid of the West, talks about his many roles on our Stratford-upon-Avon stages.

Dylan Read

Dylan Read

Pathway #49 - 5 October 2023

The actor talks about drawing on his Jacques Lecoq physical theatre training to create a shape-shifting Witch for Macbeth.

Tyreke Leslie

Tyreke Leslie

Pathway #48 - 24 July 2023

A recent drama school graduate, Tyreke has already been cast in two RSC productions. He talks to Viv Graver about his route into the acting profession.

Madeleine Mantock

Madeleine Mantock

Pathway #47 - 23 May 2023

Madeleine Mantock discusses the challenges of bringing the central character of a beloved novel to life on stage in the world premiere of Hamnet.

Jamie Wilkes

Jamie Wilkes

Pathway #46 - 18 May 2023

Jamie is playing Iachimo in our new production of Cymbeline. He talks about seeing the show from every angle.

Heledd Gwynn

Heledd Gwynn

Pathway #45 - 23 February 2023

Heledd talks about playing Ariel in The Tempest, learning a new instrument and her favourite moments in the show.

Giles Taylor

Giles Taylor

Pathway #44 - 22 December 2022

A Christmas Carol's Giles Taylor talks about playing multiple roles in the same production and the joys of repeated collaborations with directors.

Emma Pallant

Emma Pallant

Pathway #43 - 24 November 2022

Emma Pallant talks about playing Mrs Cratchit in A Christmas Carol and her approach to Shakespeare over her career.

Emma Manton

Emma Manton

Pathway #42 - 24 November 2022

Viv Graver chats with Emma Manton about playing Twelfth Night's Malvolio as a woman.

Forbes Masson

Forbes Masson

Pathway #41 - 21 February 2020

Viv Graver talks to the Boy in the Dress actor about coming to Shakespeare later in life and his experiences with the RSC.

Charlotte Randle

Charlotte Randle

Pathway #40 - 26 November 2019

The King John actor talks to Viv Graver about onstage and off-stage motherhood and playing a tough woman.

Tom McCall

Tom McCall

Pathway #39 - 9 October 2019

RSC regular Tom McCall talks to Viv Graver about his role as Hubert in King John and 'falling into Shakespeare'.

Amy Trigg

Amy Trigg

Pathway #38 - 9 August 2019

Amy Trigg talks to Viv Graver about discovering Shakespeare, using a wheelchair on stage, and overcoming her imposter syndrome.

Amanda Harris

Amanda Harris

Pathway #37 - 24 July 2019

Actor Amanda Harris talks to Viv Graver about her long history with the RSC and being part of our 2019 summer of Shakespeare.

Lucy Phelps

Lucy Phelps

Pathway #36 - 3 May 2019

Lucy Phelps talks to Viv Graver about playing Rosalind in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and how being multilingual helps her unlock Shakespeare.

Joseph Arkley

Joseph Arkley

Pathway #35 - 16 April 2019

Joe Arkley, who plays Katherine in our gender-swapped version of The Taming of the Shrew, talks about becoming an actor and challenging expectations.

David Ajao

David Ajao

Pathway #34 - 25 March 2019

Actor David Ajao talks about finding his way into theatre and playing Orlando in our current production of As You Like It.

Patrick Drury

Patrick Drury

Pathway #33 - 29 January 2019

A regular feature of recent RSC productions, Patrick Drury talks to Viv Graver about what happens when good people get caught up in tragedy.

Claire Carrie

Claire Carrie

Pathway #32 - 2 January 2019

From Shakespeare to Christmas Past, Viv talks to Claire Carrie for our Pathways to Shakespeare blog about "thinking up" to the audience.

Sheila Reid

Sheila Reid

Pathway #31 - 6 November 2018

Actor Sheila Reid talks to Viv Graver about how she became an actor and her current role as Thersites in Troilus and Cressida.

James Clyde

James Clyde

Pathway #30 - 16 October 2018

Tartuffe and Tamburlaine actor James Clyde talks to Viv Graver about tragedy, comedy and the immediacy of theatre.

David Acton

David Acton

Pathway #29 - 18 September 2018

Viv Graver talks to David Acton about his contrasting roles in Macbeth and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Karen Fishwick

Karen Fishwick

Pathway #28 - 10 July 2018

"Shakespeare isn’t for or made by one kind of accent" - Karen Fishwick talks to Viv Graver about taking on her first Shakespearean role as Juliet.

Michael Hodgson

Michael Hodgson

Pathway #27 - 19 June 2018

The Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet actor talks to Viv Graver about coming late to Shakespeare, and his different roles at the RSC.

Niamh Cusack

Niamh Cusack

Pathway #26 - 9 April 2018

Macbeth actor Niamh Cusack talks to Viv Graver about coming from an acting family and the motivations of her character, Lady Macbeth.

Nicholas Bishop

Nicholas Bishop

Pathway #25 - 5 February 2018

Actor Nicholas Bishop talks about his journey into acting, and playing Orsino and Charles Dickens together.

Beruce Khan

Beruce Khan

Pathway #24 - 19 December 2017

Actor Beruce Khan talks about taking Hamlet around the world, and his current roles in Twelfth Night and A Christmas Carol.

Hannah Morrish

Hannah Morrish

Pathway #23 - 10 November 2017

Hannah Morrish talks about the complicated place of women in Shakespeare's Roman plays.

Amber James

Amber James

Pathway #22 - 31 July 2017

Rome Season actor Amber James talks about how she got interested in Shakespeare and her journey into theatre.

Josette Simon

Josette Simon

Pathway #21 - 23 June 2017

Passionate, strong and in control of her own destiny: the actor playing Cleopatra describes her pathway to Shakespeare.

Antony Byrne

Antony Byrne

Pathway #20 - 23 May 2017

The actor playing Mark Antony talks about rehearsals as a playground where you can chuck the paintbox around.

Martin Hutson

Martin Hutson

Pathway #19 - 26 April 2017

The Rome season actor talks about playing Cassius and Saturnius, and trying his hand at directing.

Alexandra Gilbreath

Alexandra Gilbreath

Pathway #18 - 2 February 2017

As Alexandra Gilbreath comes to the end of her run as Angellica Bianca in Aphra Benn’s The Rover, she confesses to feeling somewhat melancholic.

Joseph Millson

Joseph Millson

Pathway #17 - 11 November 2016

Joseph is back in the Swan Theatre playing the main role of Willmore in The Rover. He was last here ten years ago in Marianne Elliott’s Much Ado about Nothing.

James Corrigan

James Corrigan

Pathway #16 - 3 October 2016

Heroism, love, pathos: James, who plays Palamon, loves The Two Noble Kinsmen.

Bethan Cullinane

Bethan Cullinane

Pathway #15 - 26 September 2016

Bethan plays Innogen in Cymbeline. Bethan finds Innogen petulant, headstrong and flawed

Natalie Simpson

Natalie Simpson

Pathway #14 - 5 September 2016

Never in her wildest dreams could Natalie have imagined this year at the RSC: Ophelia, Guideria and Cordelia in one season

Lucy Ellinson

Lucy Ellinson

Pathway #13 - 15 July 2016

Lucy had worked in panto and done male impersonation in cabaret and found inspiration for her Puck there

Marcus Griffiths

Marcus Griffiths

Pathway #12 - 1 June 2016

Marcus has become a familiar face to regular theatre goers. He is currently playing Laertes in Hamlet and Cloten in Cymbeline

Sandy Grierson

Sandy Grierson

Pathway #11 - 16 May 2016

Anyone who has seen Sandy Grierson as Faustus must acknowledge the amazing energy of his performance

Paapa Essiedu

Paapa Essiedu

Pathway #10 - 5 April 2016

10 years ago Paapa had never acted, yet here he is at 25 playing Hamlet at the RSC

Chu Omambala

Chu Omambala

Pathway #9 - 10 March 2016

Shakespeare 'wasn't exactly a delight' at school for the A Midsummer Night's Dream actor

Dominic Skinner

Dominic Skinner

Pathway #8 - 4 March 2016

How did a young architect find his way onto the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stage playing Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Jonathan Broadbent

Jonathan Broadbent

Pathway #7 - 4 January 2016

Actor Jonathan Broadbent's journey to Shakespeare, and how this informed his Swan Theatre roles in Love for Love and Queen Anne

Miles Richardson

Miles Richardson

Pathway #6 - 12 November 2015

Miles says that his first memory of Shakespeare is “cold and green”

Patsy Ferran

Patsy Ferran

Pathway #5 - 21 August 2015

Patsy just knew she had to accept the role of Portia, an opportunity not to be missed. But she worried that she might be doomed

Joanna Vanderham

Joanna Vanderham

Pathway #4 - 25 August 2015

Playing Desdemona in Othello was a double first for Joanna Vanderham: her first Shakespearean role in her first big theatre

Nick Haverson

Nick Haverson

Pathway #3 - 16 January 2015

Nick Haverson, working at the RSC for the first time, had important roles in all three plays this season

Michelle Terry

Michelle Terry

Pathway #2 - 30 December 2014

Interview with actor Michelle Terry from Love's Labour's Lost and Love's Labour's Won

Edward Bennett

Edward Bennett

Pathway #1 - 30 December 2014

Edward Bennett appeared as Berowne in Love's Labour's Lost and Benedick in Love's Labour's Won in 2014

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