Greg Doran delivers inaugural lecture

Actor, director and producer Greg Doran delivered his inaugural lecture as the Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre on Wednesday 25 October, 2023.

The lecture, My Shakespeare: A Director’s Journey through the First Folio, saw Greg Doran in conversation with Professor Bart van Es about his rich and long career both before and during his years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, including dealing with unscrupulous funders in his student years, working with actors from underrepresented communities to bring new dimensions Shakespeare’s characters, directing a performance during the events of 11 September, 2001 and collaborating with his late-husband Sir Antony Sher on the one Shakespeare play he had tried to avoid.

Greg Doran is the 29th Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre, following icons of the theatre world including last year’s professor Adjoa Andoa, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Miller, Dame Diana Rigg, and Sir Patrick Stewart.

Speaking on Greg Doran’s appointment at last summer’s final workshop, Adjoa Andoh said, ‘Greg was my first director at the RSC in 1989 and for the last decade he has brilliantly been at the helm at the Royal Shakespeare Company, where I was delighted to become an associate artist under his stewardship. […] He is not only a wonderful human being, but a wonderful director. What he doesn’t know about Shakespeare – probably Shakespeare didn’t know.’

You can see the full lecture and Q&A session above, or watch it directly on YouTube.

Find out more about the Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre and upcoming events.