Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice University - Summer 2002

Stratford on the Bayou - Arts
Spring 2002
VOL.58, NO.4
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
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