Dames and thrones: Shakespeare Live is royal hit
Dame Helen Mirren declared Shakespeare Live “phenomenal and terrifying” in an exclusive chat with the Herald after last night’s gala show broadcast live on BBC from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
The Herald was on the Royal media rota, one of group of just five journalists. We joined The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall at the Swan Theatre as they met a line up of principal actors and entertainers after Shakespeare Live had finished.
Dame Harriet Walter joined her friend Helen Mirren as she enthused about the show to the Herald.
Helen said: “We were all so terrified but we were so pleased to see each other, because we all so rarely get together at the same time. So in between being terrified we are being so supportive of each other – ‘Darling, you were wonderful’, a lot of that going on. And also gossiping. It was a funny mixture of being at a party and being terrified. Phenomenal.”
Harriet agreed: “It was a phenomenal night. We all felt incredibly proud to be here and that mostly took over from nervousness.”
“It was just different and delightful. It just reminded me of what a f***ing genius is,” said Helen of the evening and Shakespeare.
Harriet added: “That was its job tonight, to make us think ‘My God, he is the greatest playwright in the history of any language’.”
RSC artistic director Greg Doran, who put the show together, told us about how he had got Prince Charles involved in the Hamlet sketch.
He said: “Charles has been our president at the RSC for 25 years and we wanted something to mark that and when I told him about the show, and because he is a fan of Shakespeare and the RSC, I took my courage in my hands and said how about being in it, and he jumped at it.”
He continued: “I knew that he would be game and up for it and just wanted to make it appropriate and fun – he read [the script] and loved it. I must say it helped that I had the genius Tim Minchin assist with the writing.”
Speaking about what he hoped the audience had got from the evening, Greg said: “I hope that it was a real variety bill that gave a sense of just how Shakespeare’s influence and inspiration is so wide. And how so many people have drawn inspiration from him – from hip hop, to Bernstein to Prokofiev.”
See Thursday’s Herald for exclusive interviews with many of those involved including Dame Judi Dench, David Suchet, Al Murray, Dame Hilary Mantel and others.
