Stratford on the Bayou

The stage at Hamman Hall may have been spartan, but once the Actors From The London Stage took the floor, there was no need for elaborate costumes or sets. Masterful acting combined with the potent imagery of Shakespeare’s Macbeth proved that any additional stage accessory probably would have been more a distraction than an enhancement.

The reason for the simple sets and neutral costuming, explains associate director Bruce Alexander, was to allow audiences the opportunity to exercise imagination and not be confined to a designer-led perspective of the play. As Homer Swander, founder of the Actors From The London Stage, puts it, “We believe in play, in the power of Shakespeare’s words in performance, and in the rich possibilities created by the imaginations of the participating audience.”

The five-actor team drew packed houses April 5–7, performing in an area of about 20 square feet, the rear border delineated by 10 chairs. Slim in number but not in craftsmanship and experience, they presented the full script of Macbeth, except for three lines that are not attributed to Shakespeare.

Performing the play, however, was not the only reason for the actors’ visit to Rice. On campus from April 1, Bruce Alexander, Jane Arden, Tony Bell, Sam Dastor, and Charmian Gradwell also were involved in the classroom, teaching English and theatre classes at Rice and at the University of Houston.

Alexander, who played the role of Macbeth, says the actors endeavor to show students how the words on the page are transformed into a play for the stage. After all, Shakespeare’s plays weren’t conceived as mere literary texts but were intended to be staged events. The actors also provided insight into the unique problem-solving challenges presented by such a production.

The group’s visit to Rice was part of a seven-week touring schedule and was sponsored by the School of Humanities and co-produced by the English department, Theatre Program, and the Rice Players in association with the University of Notre Dame, the company’s U.S. base.

Each fall and spring semester, Actors From The London Stage selects five actors from organizations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain, and the BBC Shakespeare Series to tour American college and university campuses. The organization was conceived in 1975 by University of California at Santa Barbara professor Homer Swander, who had been taking students on theatre tours to England since 1967.

Swander frequently went backstage after a performance to ask actors to come and address his class the following day. Few teachers had issued such invitations, and Swander found that the actors, given their experience and expertise, were unusually articulate about their work. In the 1970s, when the Royal Shakespeare Company toured the U.S., Swander made arrangements for five of the actors to visit the Santa Barbara campus for two weeks. These early meetings between acting professionals and theatre students soon evolved into an elaborate annual educational endeavor.

Mark Ramont, director of theatre at Rice, says he hopes to make the Actors From The London Stage an annual event at Rice. Jane Arden, who has toured the U.S. five times as a member of the London Stage, said this particular tour has been the most successful in her experience, and she hopes to return. Alexander, who has been on tour three times, described this as the “best trip,” adding that he would also welcome a return visit. For the other three members of the cast—Bell, Dastor, and Gradwell—this U.S. tour was their first with the London Stage.

—Tse-Ying Koh