Globe’s artistic director bows out after clashing with board

Emma Rice will step down as artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London after clashing with the board over the use of modern production techniques in a theatre dedicated to “original playing conditions” of the Tudor era.

Tensions erupted over her use of modern sound and lighting methods, including amplification, coloured lighting and strobes.

Ms Rice took over in April, having drawn acclaim for a series of productions for Kneehigh, a Cornwall-based group where she was artistic director. She quickly departed from the Globe’s traditional rules with a riotous treatment of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which drew sellout audiences over the summer. The Globe credited her with bringing new and diverse audiences to the theatre as well as achieving “exceptionally strong box office returns”.

But the decision to use contemporary lighting and sound techniques had drawn criticism from some commentators, who said it contradicted the theatre’s purpose as a venue for authentic historical presentations of Shakespeare, employing only natural light and acoustics. The Globe was fitted with a lighting rig long before Ms Rice’s arrival but was previously used only to create a flat impression of daylight during evening performances.

Neil Constable, chief executive of Shakespeare’s Globe, said in a statement: “The Globe was reconstructed as a radical experiment to explore the conditions within which Shakespeare and his contemporaries worked, and we believe this should continue to be the central tenet of our work.

“Whilst the realisation of Emma’s vision has been a vital part of our continuing experimentation as a theatre, we have now concluded that a predominant use of contemporary sound and lighting technology will not enable us to optimise further experimentation in our unique theatre spaces and the playing conditions which they offer.”

Alistair Smith, editor of The Stage magazine, said: “The thing I find strangest about this is the Globe knew what they were getting when they appointed her. She’s only done what she said she was going to do and she did it very well. So if that’s not what you want, don’t appoint her in the first place.”

Ms Rice will leave the Globe in April 2018 after completing the 2017-18 winter season. The Globe said it had yet to launch the process to identify a successor.

The announcement came alongside details of her 2017 summer season, with productions including Romeo and Juliet directed by English National Opera’s Daniel Kramer; Twelfth Night, directed by Ms Rice; and a revival of Tristan & Iseult, a play written for Kneehigh where it was first directed by Ms Rice.

Owen Horsley, an associate director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and former director of the Cheek by Jowl theatre group, said on Twitter that her departure was “terrible”. “Theatre is becoming increasingly afraid of change and more concerned with a safe product,” he wrote. Daniel Evans, director of Chichester Festival Theatre, tweeted his shock at the news. “The place is poorer without her.”