RSC Friends

The Friends’ Q&A events always give fascinating insights into the work of the RSC, drawing as they do on the experiences of actors, directors, designers and musicians.

In this talk the designer Stephen Brimson Lewis described the collaboration between the RSC and the Imaginarium to bring groundbreaking digital technology to the RSC’s production of The Tempest.Simon commented that the 2 year partnership ‘…was a huge risk, but shouldn’t theatre be about taking risks? Simon was adamant that the new technology, with its ability to create 3 dimensional avatars that can interact with actors on stage, should always support the text of the play.

The capacity audience were drawn into the discussion and were keen to question Stephen on these points(these sessions are always popular and provoke thoughtful and erudite questions). The ensuing exchanges focused on how successfully actors can intreact with ‘non human’ characters be they puppets, holograms or muppets. Simon believes that where the use of these characters was mere gimmickry it would not convince an audience they would soon tire of it. He concluded that ‘…the best design should be invisible and not show offey…’