Interview with the RSC’s Hannah Miller, Head of Casting, and Kevin Fitzmaurice, Producer

Abstract

In the first of two commissioned interviews for this Special Issue, two prominent members of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production team, Hannah Miller, Head of Casting, and Kevin Fitzmaurice, Producer, discuss their approaches to casting. The role of the casting director is, perhaps, somewhat overlooked in the analysis of theatre and performance. However, since casting decisions for The Orphan of Zhao became the focus of intense debate, an opportunity presents itself to engage with the work of the casting director more fully.

Notes

1. Jami Rogers, ‘The Shakespearean Glass Ceiling: The State of Colorblind Casting in Contemporary British Theatre’, Shakespeare Bulletin, 31.3 (Fall 2013), 405–30 (p. 411).

2. Ibid.

3. Royal Shakespeare Company, Henry VI, dir. by Michael Boyd, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, first performed 30 November 2000.

4. The RSC sets diversity targets as part of its Strategic Plan, with the results reported annually to their board. However, the precise figures are not in the public domain, making it difficult to establish in what ways targets are met and in what capacities/on what basis BAME groups participate in productions.

5. As a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO), the RSC must respond to what Arts Council England calls ‘the Creative Case for Diversity’. This policy argues that diversity of all stripes is a fact of British society and that publicly funded organisations should make sure that equal opportunities regarding this diversity are fundamental to all of their artistic activities. This approach recognises that historical precedents and certain forms of artistic activity may disadvantage some groups, and so ‘promotes’ diversity on the basis of equal opportunity. See Arts Council England, ‘The National Portfolio Funding Programme 2015/16–2017/18 Guidance for applicants’, Arts Council England, date unknown, <http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/pdf/National_portfolio_2015-18_application_guidance.pdf> [accessed 26 June 2014].

6. Further research is needed to know the extent of BAME participation in the casting process across British theatre. Currently, no British theatre company is required to carry out ethnic monitoring of auditionees, and it was only in July 2014 that Arts Council England announced that it now requires all publicly funded theatre companies to monitor the diversity of actors employed in productions. See Nicola Merrifield, ‘ACE Forced Organisations to Monitor Diversity among Actors’, Stage, 2 July 2014 <http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2014/07/ace-forces-organisations-monitor-diversity-among-actors/> [accessed 8 July 2014].

7. Kevin Fitzmaurice is a producer at the RSC. He has been involved in producing over 150 productions at the RSC, the Almeida and, from 2001 to 2009, as Executive Director at the Young Vic.

8. Hannah Miller is Head of Casting at the RSC. Having studied Drama at the University of Hull, she went on to work at Cheek by Jowl followed by the National Theatre as a Casting Assistant. She then moved to the RSC as Deputy Casting Director, was Casting Director for the Birmingham Rep, and then returned to the RSC in 2008. She has also cast productions for Northampton Theatres, Hampstead Theatre, the Young Vic, Cardboard Citizens, Treatment Theatre, and Sheffield Theatres. Miller also works regularly in drama schools and with other industry organisations advising actors on professional development.

9. To download the report from the Opening the Door conference, see: Devoted and Disgruntled, ‘Opening the Door: East Asians in British Theatre’, Devoted and Disgruntled <http://www.devotedanddisgruntled.com/events/opening-door/> [accessed 7 July 2014].

10. Ashley Thorpe (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Amanda Rogers (Swansea University) conducted the interview on 18 November 2013 at the London office of the RSC.

11. Royal Shakespeare Company, Julius Caesar, dir. by Gregory Doran, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, first performed 27 May 2012.

12. Royal Shakespeare Company, Much Ado About Nothing, dir. by Iqbal Khan, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, first performed 4 August 2012.

13. Royal Shakespeare Company, Merchant of Venice, dir. by Rupert Goold, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, first performed 13 May 2011.