SENIOR SCHOOL
Jaycob Clapp with Peter Reynolds.
The intensive
rehearsal process
took one month,
however the boys
delivered under
pressure and worked
well as an ensemble.
An interview with Peter Reynolds
Respected theatre academic and director, Mr Peter Reynolds, visited the School in Term 1, as guest director of the
Year 12 Drama Production “As you like it” by William Shakespeare. Head of the Drama Faculty, Ms Jane Diamond,
interviewed Peter on his experience working at Guildford Grammar School.
What is your background in directing
Shakespeare?
I have been directing for 35 years or so with
students from universities. I have learnt from
my students, and watching rehearsals of
great directors such as Sir Peter Hall, Nick
Hytner, Melly Still and many others.
What is it about Shakespeare’s work
that is extraordinary?
The range of the work, Shakespeare is
the dramatist of the family. Most of us are
interested in families for better or for worse.
Young people especially are trying to find a
way to live in the world, to find happiness,
but there is often a threat to our happiness.
The plays are just very beautiful, simple
and direct. They don’t need to use a lot of
words, just the right words at the right time
and themes that are common to us all such
as ambition, falling in love and jealousy.
What is it about Shakespeare’s work
that still captivates audiences today?
Why do so many theatre companies
and theatre and film directors revisit
his work?
Students still have to learn Shakespeare
in school, there is a ready market, he is a
cultural phenomenon, a cultural signifier,
a marker. For example, in Batman from
the 1960’s version there is a bust of
Shakespeare’s head that opens the door,
Peter Reynolds working on As You Like It with Matthew Healy.
Shakespeare opens doors. Aspirant young
people feel the need to know Shakespeare.
He is part of a tourist industry and cultural
knowledge.
of actors and other people, it is social.
Its presence is what I like. I like watching
drama on TV and film but it is a different
experience.
What is it about live theatre that has
kept you in its grip all these years?
Best advice to young aspiring actors?
That it is live, things can go right or they can
go wrong in live theatre. In the presence
Read, look at paintings, look at the current
world as well as the world of the past.
15