Shakespeare Magazine 02

Interview: David Hywel Baynes
“I’d love to see some of the plays taken on
more by Hollywood nowadays. Imagine
what a huge budget could do with a play like
Macbeth.”
Have any Shakespearean actors
or directors been particularly
inspirational to you?
“As directors go, I’d have to say Nicholas
Hytner’s work at the National over the last
few years has been particularly memorable.
His Othello with Adrian Lester and Rory
Kinnear last year was immense. I really like
the way he makes the stories timeless and his
modern settings never detract from the telling
of them.
“As actors go, I could watch Mark Rylance
on stage all day. I saw The Globe’s Twelfth
Night and Richard III playing in rep on
Broadway in New York. I was concerned
watching his Richard because I came out
thinking ‘I have to play the part in a few
months and I’ve just seen it done perfectly’.
“Rylance really personifies what I like to
call ‘rock and roll Shakespeare’. He has this
ridiculous ability and confidence to make it
seem like he is making up the lines on the
spot, seeming to have little or no respect for
what he’s saying, when really you can see that
he is so respectful that he’s not just reciting
them, he’s making them his own whilst
keeping true to the story. His technique is so
absurdly good, that going to see him on stage
isn’t just going to see a show to me, it’s like an
acting masterclass. I’ve learned so much from
seeing him perform.
“I’d have to give Tim Carroll a mention
as well for directing him in Twelfth Night
and Richard. I thought his Twelfth Night
was ‘Shakespeare Comedy 101’ and really
showcased the Globe’s method in its best
light.”
Brutus stabbing
Caesar (Matthew
Mellalieu) with his
fellow conspirators.
Do you have any favourite non-
Shakespeare authors or works
from the same era?
“I’m a bit of a puritan when it comes to other
authors of the time and reading them makes
me feel a bit like I’m cheating on Shakespeare.
I do have a few, though. Marlowe’s Doctor
Faustus I think is amazingly dark and I love
thinking about just how controversial that
would have been back in the day.
“I also have a bit of a soft spot for
Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi, as it was
the first play I saw by another author of the
period other than Shakespeare. I have a real
penchant for gritty, dark storylines.
“When it comes to other authors of the time, reading them
makes me feel a bit like I’m cheating on Shakespeare”
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine