RSC Shrew Finds London Suitor???

Our News story last month revealing discontent amongst the acting company in Stratford-upon-Avon caused a bit of a stir (See News, 7 Oct 2003), not to mention headlines in numerous national newspapers. With no London home and no co-production arrangements in place, it looked like there would not be a single London transfer from this year's RSC Festival season - for the first time in the company's history. Now perhaps there's a silver lining to the negative press, for at least two of the productions from the 2003 repertoire. Since the story broke, several commercial producers have stepped further into the breach, chief amongst them the ever-busy Bill Kenwright, who lost a load on last year's Olivier Award-winning RSC Jacobethan season and who is also backing the transfer of the upcoming Judi Dench-led All's Well That Ends Well. We hear that Kenwright has now been persuaded to bring two more Gregory Doran productions - his history-making pairing of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and John Fletcher's lesser-known sequel The Tamer Tamed, both starring Alexandra Gilbreath and Jasper Britton - to Shaftesbury Avenue as well. The productions have just completed their Stratford season and will have a Christmas run in Washington DC after The Tamer Tamed's stint as part of the RSC's annual Newcastle visitation this month. All going to plan, they'll then open early in the new year in the West End.

Got some goss? Contact gossip@whatsonstage.com

Related Content