RSC pays tribute to Honorary Associate Artist Sir Patrick Stewart
"We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of RSC Honorary Associate Artist, Sir Patrick Stewart; a colossus of both stage and screen and one of the finest classical Shakespearean actors of his generation.
“Having first joined the company in 1966, serving as a core member of the RSC until 1982, Sir Patrick went on to appear in over forty RSC productions, taking on early supporting roles as a member of Sir Peter Hall’s resident ensemble before graduating to major classical leads, with standout roles including Shylock, Prospero, Macbeth, Antony, Claudius and Henry IV.
“Despite being one of the most recognizable Shakespearean performers in the world, Sir Patrick remained deeply connected to Stratford-upon-Avon and the RSC throughout his career. His contribution to our company and to our industry is beyond measure. Our thoughts go out to his family at this time and to all those touched by his greatness."
RSC Co-Artistic Directors, Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey.
"Patrick Stewart created the best performance of Mark Antony in Antony and Cleopatra I have ever seen. Patrick understood the role of the triple pillar of the world, reduced to the ‘Strumpet’s fool’, the man no longer able to live up to his own PR, who feels himself dissolving like evaporating clouds. Patrick restored the magnificence of the role in a tragedy so often regarded as ‘her play’.
“Having played Enobarbus twice for the RSC, Patrick Stewart - a veteran RSC performer - agreed to play Antony and returned to the RSC in 2006. It was like a homecoming for Patrick. He played Prospero in the same season for Rupert Goold, and then a magnificent double of Claudius and the Ghost in Hamlet with David Tennant. His genius was to play Claudius from his point of view, not the murderous uncle, but a man determined to restore order to Denmark after the instability of his belligerent brother’s reign.
“Patrick was a true Shakespearian, and at heart (however much he flew round the galaxies in the Star Ship Enterprise) a theatre actor in his bones.
I shall miss him greatly"
Former RSC Artistic Director, Gregory Doran
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