Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage (artistic director of the Donmar) in interview.
Two interesting points among many:
“The Grandage ‘ground rules’ are as follows. The first, although uncontroversial, is unusual. He expects his cast to have learned their lines before they set foot in the rehearsal room. And when they get there, he does not (as most directors do) have a read-through of the text. This is because some actors will have done more preparation than others and he doesn’t like unsettling inequalities paraded. Instead, the acting starts straight away: ‘The longer you leave the physical challenge, the harder it is.’ (As an actor, he suffered from directors who would spend a fortnight discussing a play round the table before anyone got up to act)….
…Directing must never be dictating. Grandage sees himself as ‘an interpreter’. Sometimes, this involves knowing when not to speak. ‘A good director will have an exact idea of how a line might be spoken and must then make a swift judgment when he hears it done differently. ‘Is this as good a way of saying the line?’ If the answer is ‘yes’, then his rule for himself is: ‘Don’t pipe up.’ If the line doesn’t work, he will ask questions, steer actors towards a rethink. He doesn’t criticise. He is determined actors should own their parts.”
He’s also directing Mark Ravenhill’s The Cut in 2006, which in an earlier version for a Paines Plough Wild Lunch is the only play I’ve “acted” inon the London stage (!)
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2 Responses to “Michael Grandage”
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About me
I'm a playwright and investment analyst. I have a broad range of interests: food, gardening, innovation & intellectual property, sustainability, architecture & design, writing and the arts. I sit on the board of Talawa Theatre Company and advise a CIS investment trust on socially responsible investments.
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Recent Work
Recent plays include, for theatre: Nakamitsu, Yellow Gentlemen, Lost in Peru, Lemon Love. For radio: Places in Between (R4), Patent Breaking Life Saving (WS).
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Nakamitsu
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Yellow Gentlemen
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what’s the story in ‘the cut’? – just curious, the donmar site doesnt’ say much about the play, it would be useful to know more -
Ravenhill may well have changed it since the draft I saw, but the story itelf is quite simple. A man has a blissful domestic life. We see him at work and at first it seems a normal corporate type job, but the further we go on we realise it has very sinister over tones such as big brother/torture/state control. He has to administer “The Cut” (which we don’t see). This continues to be juxtaposed with his ordinary non-work life and is perhaps more shocking for the contrast and complicity. I think the title was originally inspired by the street that the Young Vic is on – The Cut.