An Interview with Doug Rintoul Photo courtesy of Doug Rintoul Special feature for the One Year Anniversary of Deborah Warner's Julius Caesar at the Barbican Theatre Amongst other things, Doug was one of two assistant directors on Deborah Warner's mammoth touring production of Julius Caesar, one of the most highly publicised Shakespearean productions ever to take to the London stage, an integral part of the Bite series of Young Vic productions at the Barbican Theatre in April and May 2005.
John: Hi Doug. Many of our newer readers aren't familiar with your work. So could you please give us, and them, a little synopsis of your theatrical career to date?
Doug: I used to be an arts administrator for the company Complicite until I won a Channel Four Theatre Director Scheme bursary to Salisbury Playhouse in 2000, where I became the resident director for two years. Since leaving Salisbury I have directed in regional theatre, for drama schools and assisted Deborah on Julius Caesar . Most recently I was associate director to Simon McBurney on the Complicite production Measure for Measure, which toured the world and returned to the national theatre earlier this year.
John: Would you please tell us how you came to be an Assistant Director for the large-scale production of Deborah Warner's Julius Caesar at the Barbican last year? What responsibilities did your role entail?
Doug: The designer Tom Pye, who I had worked with the previous year, recommended me to Deborah. Deborah and I met up a couple of times and then she offered me the job. Unusually there were two assistant directors on the project, William Oldroyd and myself. Deborah tried to specify what our responsibilities would be before we started the project, but the project was so huge and organic that these changed as the rehearsal weeks went by. I ended up casting and directing the crowd for Julius Caesar in each country that the show played.
Hattie, William and Doug on tour Photo courtesy of Doug Rintoul
John: At what point in the production process was your input required? How closely did you work with the director and other members of the production team?
Doug: Will and I were involved in the production for about a month before rehearsals started. We both helped Deborah cast the main cast and the crowd. We would make suggestions for actors, check out their availabilities, read in at auditions for her or run auditions when it came to the crowd. Will and I forged very close relationships with Deborah, the company, the Young Vic, the Barbican, the creative team, the production team and crew because everyone was so lovely and committed to such an exhilarating project. Clear communication between everyone on such a huge project was vital.
Auditions Photo Courtesy of Doug Rintoul
John: Julius Caesar featured a group of sixty community extras, as well as forty equity actors, in addition to several principal cast members. As it was part of your job to work with the crowd, preparing them for their mob scenes in the play, could you tell us what was it like, directing such a large group of actors and extras?
Doug: I think it was probably one of the most terrifying, unique, and special experiences I have had in my career to date. Firstly there were so many names to learn. A director rarely ever gets the chance to direct a hundred people, it demands very particular things. You have to connect with each individual and make sure they understand, are inspired, feel creative and committed to the project. Trying to release the collective creative imagination of 100 people is difficult but highly rewarding. I made such wonderful friendships on the project all over Europe. It's lovely bumping into JC extras on the street in London, it has also happened to me in Paris and Madrid. I'm always so pleased to see you guys. Someone should organise a big reunion!
The French Crowd Photo Courtesy of Doug Rintoul
John: How does your approach differ when working with non-actors as opposed to experienced players, and crowds as opposed to individuals? How did that experience differ for you when Julius Caesar went to Europe?
Doug: I try not to treat actors or non-actors differently. Acting is about engaging the imagination. We all have imaginations, therefore we are all capable of acting. The actors in France and Spain worked quickly because they had more confidence and experience but what they lacked was the sheer energy, enthusiasm and life of the ‘60' at the Barbican. When we went to Luxembourg, the crowd was made up of film extras, so all non-professional actors, most had never appeared on stage. We had to re-rehearse the scenes in 10 days, whereas in London we had rehearsed together over a long period of time. It was exhausting work for Joyce and I but I felt that we had recaptured the spirit of the original crowd in London again. It was wonderful to see their faces when we started to perform on stage with the main company. I don't think any of them had quite realised what they had let themselves in for or what ‘theatre' was about, or capable of achieving. It felt very similar to those first performances at the Barbican.
Warming Up in Luxembourg Photo Courtesy of Doug Tintoul
John: Do you think the role of an Assistant Director has changed since you started in your profession?
Doug: To be honest I don't know. The role of an Assistant Director is so different from job to job. I've only been an assistant four times but each time the role changes depending on the play you're working on, the director you're working with and what happens in rehearsals. I've been lucky in that I've always played a strong role in the life of the productions I've worked on an assistant. I know lots of friends who have assisted whose roles haven't been so integral. Sometimes you can just end up making tea for everyone.
John: Is there any specific type of production or playwright you prefer working with?
Doug: I love Shakespeare. I was always petrified of Shakespeare because I never studied him at school or University. I have now worked on seven productions of Shakespeare and what you come to realise, is that Shakespeare understands the complexity of what it means to be human. Working on Shakespeare's texts, I've learnt more about humanity and about myself than with any other playwright. He's not as hard as we think he is. I hope that's one thing that everyone who worked on Julius Caesar took away with them. Saying that, I think my strength as a director lies in contemporary text. I suppose that's due to being part of the MTV generation, I'm very visual. My favourite playwright is the Scottish writer David Greig. He writes in such an immediate, poetic, filmic and visual way.
John: What has been your most challenging and/or rewarding theatrical experience to date? The worst?
Doug: To be honest working on Julius Caesar was the most challenging job I've done so far just because of the huge scale of it. I've always been inspired by Deborah's work, and when I was rehearsing scenes on my own I was always aware that my work had to be of a certain standard, it had to match Deborah's and reach her expectations, so I feel that I pushed myself as a director in a way that I probably hadn't before. Mind you, each project demands very different things. I've just worked on a Noel Coward play and his texts are very technical and work in such a different way to any other playwright, so you have to get into the playwright's head, work out what the playwright intended. Each play asks such different things. I've been very lucky not to have had a bad experience, yet!
Luxembourg Running on for the Bow Photo Courtesy of Doug Rintoul
John: With all the theatrically oriented courses on offer today, what criteria do you think students should use in choosing one if they want to work with actors as you do? What difficulties do you think they might encounter when trying to begin their careers as Assistant Directors, freelance or otherwise?
Doug: I think as a director you just have to create the work. You learn through making plays. I think I have learnt more about theatre by making work than I ever did studying it at university. Just get out there and start doing it, whatever the scale. Work out what theatre you love and what theatre you want to make. What do you want to say to an audience as a director through your work? These are some of the most difficult questions as a director, but the most important. As with acting, there is so much competition for directors, you have to create a voice that is an integral part of who you are, this way you will be heard above everyone else.
John: Have you ever, or would you consider working in non-theatrical environments?
Doug: I've just directed a production of King Lear in a BMW car factory in Oxford (with Jo Montgomery from the London ‘40'). Working in site-specific spaces can be very inspiring and can unlock a play. It's a totally different experience to working in a traditional theatre space. It can be exhilarating for both the actors and especially the audience. Somehow we are asked to use our imaginations in a very different way and this can be liberating.
John: Are there any creative projects that you have always wanted to work on – theatrical or otherwise?
Doug: Yeah I have a whole list of projects I want to do. I'm going to keep them to myself; I don't want any of you stealing them!
John: What are you working on now, and what projects are on the drawing board for the future?
Doug: I'm currently in Paris for a few weeks. I'm going to work on my first French language play, so I'm leading a workshop in a few weeks with some of the actors I met on Julius Caesar in Paris. In the summer I'm going to be working with Deborah again, this time on an Opera. This will be my first foray into Opera. I can't wait! After that I will start work on my own show, which will be at the Barbican! I'll keep you posted.
Deborah and Tom Pye outside the theatre in Madrid Photo Courtesy of Doug Rintoul
John: What encouraging words of advice could you offer to the aspiring thespians amongst the ex community extras you worked with on Julius Caesar?
Doug: Keep finding ways to be involved and make your own work!
John: Thanks for your time Doug. As always, it's been a real pleasure talking to you.
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