{"id":12639,"date":"2026-03-27T11:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/?p=12639"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T11:52:11","slug":"richard-suttons-journey-to-the-rsc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/the-industry\/richard-suttons-journey-to-the-rsc\/","title":{"rendered":"From Self-Tape to Stratford: My Journey to the RSC"},"content":{"rendered":"

From last-minute self-tapes to Stratford-upon-Avon: One actor\u2019s journey to the RSC.<\/span><\/h2>\n

Having spent the early part of the summer kicking the metaphorical cat and telling anyone who\u2019d stand still long enough how \u201cunfair\u201d the business was, my phone tinkled with something other than a TodayTix marketing email. It was late on a Friday afternoon and like most actors at that hour, I was busy asking the wallpaper why no self-tape requests <\/span>had arrived for the weekend. Until one did: \u2018Deadline Monday\u2019, wrote my long-suffering agent.<\/span><\/p>\n

I immediately groaned, \u201cWell, that\u2019s my weekend plans gone, then!\u201d The classic actor contradiction \u2013 desperate to be seen, furious when we\u2019re prevented from moaning about never being seen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I soon stopped complaining. They wanted three scenes for the Royal Shakespeare Company\u2019s upcoming production of <\/span>The Winter\u2019s Tale<\/span><\/i><\/a>. Instantly, \u2018Mr Anxiety\u2019, with his two mates, \u2018Imposter Syndrome\u2019 and \u2018You\u2019re a Terrible Actor\u2019, pirouetted into my brain. I shouted, \u201cI haven\u2019t read this one!\u201d at a plant and whispered, \u201cHow can I learn all this in 48 hours?\u201d to the fridge. After a good hour of diva-ish despair, I sat down and began to read the thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image credit: Lloyd McDonagh<\/em><\/p>\n

The Kitchen Self-Tape Setup<\/h3>\n

What a play though: Love, jealousy, tragedy and a bit with a bear \u2013 perfect for an aged ham like me. I printed the scenes and tackled the longest one first, between Polixenes and Camillo. Miraculously, my addled brain retained the lines \u2013 a testament to the writing and not my grey matter. Next, the long court scene, followed by the Jailer\u2019s scene. Finally, I braved the biggest hurdle of all: asking the girlfriend to read in on the tape. And because she is brilliant, beautiful and desperate to get me out of the house for three months, she readily agreed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early next morning, I chose what to wear. ASOS being tragically low on ruffs and capes, I opted for a blue shirt for the \u2018King\u2019 and a suit for the \u2018Judge\u2019. Camera by the kitchen window for light, pages taped to the radiator in case I dried and the girlfriend bribed with the promise of a post-shoot bacon sandwich. Action!<\/span><\/p>\n

Three short hours later \u2013 and profanity, dear reader, I could never wish to repeat on the pages of Spotlight <\/span>\u2013 <\/span>we were done. The girlfriend went to apologise to the neighbours, while I fired the tapes off to Shakespeare HQ with crossed fingers.<\/span><\/p>\n

For four days, I thought of nothing else. The girlfriend shouted at me to do something useful to stop myself from moping. That afternoon, while begrudgingly doing a dreadful job of replacing the garden fence, the phone rattled. \u201cThe director wants a Zoom chat tomorrow. You free?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You bet I\u2019m free! Plus, it\u2019d get me out of mending the fence. Double win!<\/span><\/p>\n

The Zoom Call to Canada<\/h3>\n

The next morning, I researched everything about the director, the RSC and the play. I watched an old production on the Globe\u2019s website, scribbled notes, reread the script and prepared for my conversation with the world-renowned and intimidatingly talented Ya\u00ebl Farber, who would apparently be Zooming in from her car in Canada.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the call, I made a pathetic joke about her being a part-time Uber driver, which she politely and quite rightly ignored. We spoke for 20 minutes about the play (\u201cBrilliant\u201d), her vision (\u201cBrave\u201d) and my Shakespeare experience (\u201cNext question\u201d). She thanked me, then casually asked if I\u2019d like to start rehearsals on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contracts signed, Prosecco popped, the girlfriend relieved and the fence still broken, I was all set to grab my doublet and hose it down to the RSC rehearsal rooms in Clapham. It took 10 short days from being a miserable and unemployed actor to playing Zip Zap Boing with the finest theatre company in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rehearsals: Welcome to the Creative Gym<\/h3>\n

We gathered just before 10am in a humid rehearsal space. My nerves were volcanic. Everyone appeared so confident and cool; I felt shy and wildly out of my depth. We met the full team \u2013 Movement, Voice, Stage Management, Marketing, Casting and Costume. Daniel Evans, one half of the RSC\u2019s Artistic Director duo, welcomed us with a Henry V-style <\/span>Speech.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBerocca up!\u201d he urged in perfect Rhondda Valley vowels. \u201cThis process will make you fitter than you\u2019ve ever been. There is no wrong way to deliver this amazing language. However you say it, is the right way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

18 pairs of shoulders dropped in relief.<\/span><\/p>\n

After introductions, during which I\u2019d forgotten my own name, we were shown the set model and heard from Ya\u00ebl about her vision. Heads nodded, feet shuffled and tails wagged. It was going to be a bold new take on the play.<\/span><\/p>\n

That first week, we focused entirely on movement. I normally walk through life like a wounded animal and wearing a tracksuit for the first time since Thatcher was in power didn\u2019t help \u2013 I looked like a retired PE teacher. But under the guidance of our elastic choreographer Imogen, things slowly clicked.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll keep the rehearsal details private, but that room very quickly became a place where boldness was encouraged and risks were never punished. As an ensemble member playing three roles and also understudy for \u2018Polixenes\u2019 and \u2018Antigonus\u2019, my hours were long.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Richard Sutton during rehearsals for ‘The Winter’s Tale’ \/ Image credit: Marc Brenner<\/em><\/p>\n

An average day looked like this:<\/span><\/p>\n