An Interview with Patrick Spottiswoode
Director of Education of the Globe Theatre, London
Do you often give lectures on Shakespeare?
Yes, I give lectures on Shakespeare almost every day; on different things with Shakespeare, sometimes in Germany, sometimes in England.
What's your actual job?
My actual job - I'm called "Director of Education". The Globe Theatre, which is opening soon, has a department of education, and I'm in charge of it. And every year about 36,000 students from all over the world come to the Globe. And they have a lecture or a workshop, or they take a course in the Education Department; and also adult students, like in the "Volkshochschule", do so. That's my job really.
Why did you want to do something like that?
I didn't really; when I was in university, I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I had no idea, even in university. I only knew one thing, and that was I never wanted to teach. And that's what I'm doing. I was quite sure that I never wanted to teach. And I fell into the job with the Globe Theatre by accident. I mean, I loved Shakespeare. And there was a little advertisement in the newspaper, advertising a job in 1984, and I took it. And I got the job. I was not really sure, but within two years it suddenly became my life. And I became quite passionate about this type of theatre, this Globe Theatre. I liked Shakespeare, and I liked the Globe even more, almost, than Shakespeare. I think the Globe created Shakespeare.
What would you tell someone who wants to become an actor?
Don't!
Where do you like to sit in a theatre?
I like to stand in the Globe, in the yard. In a normal theatre? Well, anywhere that I can hide when I fall asleep.
In your opinion, is there a particularly advantageous or dreadful way to present a Shakespeare play?
Badly. It's always bad to do it badly. If you do it well, it's good. And if you do it badly, it's bad. I don't know. I think I don't like productions that think Shakespeare is God. I like productions where the director has a respect for Shakespeare, but not a reverence. This is quite a fine difference. Somebody who has a respect, a director who has a clear idea of what he wants as well as a view of what Shakespeare wanted. And that's an important marriage between now and then, the past and the present. Sometimes you see productions that are all about the past, and sometimes you see productions that are all about now, and Shakespeare may well have never existed. So it is very difficult to get that marriage between the present and the past, and that's when I like a Shakespeare play.
Do you have a favourite Shakespeare play?
I have lots of favourite ones, on different days. Let me think; probably "King Lear" right now. Yes, "King Lear" today. It means a lot to me. But I love "Othello". I think "Othello" is a very beautiful play. I think it's is tightest; the most passionate play. "Romeo and Juliet" I think is a wonderful play until the death of Tybalt, then the play dies as well. And it?s very boring. But my favourite scene is the balcony scene. I think that?s the greatest scene he ever wrote.
Do you have a favourite Shakespeare character?
To play? Someone I'd like to have dinner with or someone I'd like to play? I don't know; there are so many good parts for actors in Shakespeare. I think Richard III. I would never like to be Richard III, and I'm not really keen on the play, but what a part for an actor to play Richard III. But King Lear, or Hamlet of course is probably the most interesting. Hamlet for a young person, King Lear for an old person.
Do you believe that there is something in Shakespeare's plays that is still up-to-date?
Yes. Passion, emotions, arguments, ideas - the ideas are still alive. The language is difficult now, but his expression of those ideas hits you when you get to know it. So I think, the issues of people, those dramas about conflict, those conflicts, I mean our lives, the conflict between two lovers, between a daughter and a father, between the students and the teachers, between individuals and the state, those conflicts are always.
How should young people approach Shakespeare's plays?
By speaking it out loud, by acting it, by going to see it. In German is fine. Go and see it in German, get a feel of the story, of the issues and the conflict and then in English I feel very sorry for you - it?s very difficult. I still don?t know how to read Shakespeare very well. It takes years and years and years and years and something says: "Is it worth it? Should I not just go down to the pub?" But I think the best way is to try to feel it. And sometimes if you take a whole play it's too much. It's like you have a huge meal and you forget how good the meat was because you've stuffed yourself with puddings and cake. Sometimes it's good just to take a little scene. And to get to understand it, and then play it. And play it in different ways, not just one way. Take different sights of the conflict, then I think you get a feeling of Shakespeare, something is exploring. When we study Shakespeare in school, we are asked to answer questions. Shakespeare never answered questions, he asked them, and he explored them. But when you sit in an exam, you have to answer questions. But you should explore them, too. But, there?s a danger there, isn't it? Really, it's to explore always, not to define. Never define Shakespeare.
How should teachers convey the plays to the students?
Very difficult. Because you see, for me it's very easy. I only see you once a year. And I'm kind of like a prostitute. And I'm here for an hour and a half, just to go "woom!" But a teacher is like a wife, and he has to be with you all the time and maintain this relationship through thick and thin and through headaches and no headaches and I just go "woom!" So I don?t know how to. But I always think practically, so: get up, but that takes confidence, from the teachers, but also from the students. You know, often I think German students are very scared of getting up and play. But you don't have that in England; I first was on stage when I was six months old. I played "Jesus Christ". So, you can't have a better part than that. I'm still getting over it. But our tradition of teaching means theatre all the time. We have a course named drama in school. So when we're 5 or 6 years old, we're acting. And that gives you a confidence. And in German schools, you don't have that tradition. But that I think will come. Drama will be part of your curriculum, I think of the next 3 or 4 years. Too late for you? Well, then you'll have to do it in other ways. You like acting? Then get up and do some Shakespeare! And don't worry about making mistakes.
A. Washington,
O. Oehlke,
summer
1997
