Scaffold Shakespeare
This company found its inspiration when in 2011 Sir Peter Hall said in The Stage: “I wish there was in existence a company of 15 or 20 actors that were eager to operate the classics, to find out how to do them.”
They share a desire to tackle the classics and believe in company, actor development and artistic freedom and that to remain a classic, a play must be vital and exciting for each generation.
They make no claim to be pioneers creating something new, believing originality should not be an aim but a consequence. They are taking time to find the possibilities within Shakespeare’s work—right now, the journey matters more than the result. They have not yet mounted a single production.
Instead they run workshops, which over a three-year period are studying all Shakespeare’s plays on two days every month for readings, group discussions and masterclasses.
Their actors are not committed to production so are free to accept work, but, after April 2016, when the canon will be completed, they aim to set up a touring rep company taking Shakespeare to places beyond the major cities not reached by existing companies. They may then apply the same methods to other classic drama.
The award goes to this company for their three-year Play out the Play programme.