thu 12/12/2024

The Seckerson Tapes: Fiona Shaw | reviews, news & interviews

The Seckerson Tapes: Fiona Shaw

The Seckerson Tapes: Fiona Shaw

What it's like playing Lady Gay Spanker while wrestling with opera

Stage polymath Fiona Shaw talks Lady Gay Spanker and directing a Hans Werner Henze opera
Fiona Shaw talks about the not inconsiderable demands of juggling Restoration comedy with German Expressionism. It almost doesn’t bear thinking about. Between shows at the National Theatre, where she’s been delighting audiences with her rollocking Lady Gay Spanker in London Assurance, she enthuses about her second foray into the challenging business of directing opera: Hans Werner Henze’s early gem Elegy for Young Lovers for English National Opera at the Young Vic. She enlightens us about this strange, dream-like opera-play, about the not-so-delicate balance of being a working actor and director at the same time, about her own aversion to being “directed” and what she hopes is her “Zen-like” presence in the rehearsal room.
Fiona Shaw talks about the not inconsiderable demands of juggling Restoration comedy with German Expressionism. It almost doesn’t bear thinking about. Between shows at the National Theatre, where she’s been delighting audiences with her rollocking Lady Gay Spanker in London Assurance, she enthuses about her second foray into the challenging business of directing opera: Hans Werner Henze’s early gem Elegy for Young Lovers for English National Opera at the Young Vic. She enlightens us about this strange, dream-like opera-play, about the not-so-delicate balance of being a working actor and director at the same time, about her own aversion to being “directed” and what she hopes is her “Zen-like” presence in the rehearsal room.

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