On the morning after Storm Isha, the sun has come out in Stratford-upon-Avon, and the swans are swimming calmly along the swollen river as it runs past the theatre that is home to the Royal Shakespeare Company. In a meeting room overlooking the scene, Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans exude the same sense of bright serenity. The RSC is one of those British institutions on which everyone from its president, King Charles III, downwards has a view, but its two new co-artistic directors are up for the challenge.
“People do view the RSC as being vital to the life of the country and we are just fortunate that we are the current custodians of that, and want to take it forward,” says Evans, in his warm Welsh tones. Harvey laughs and adds: “And that’s the great joy of doing it together. In the moments when I just want to curl up in a dark corner and cry, there’s someone saying, no, it’s all right, come on, we can do this. These jobs – the National, the RSC – are mammoth. So that is why we wanted to do it shoulder to shoulder.”
