Shakespeare's Globe director axed for being too unorthodox

Emma Rice had been in the post for only two years, but has been ousted in an apparent row over the use of light and sound

Emma Rice is to step down from her post as artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe in 2018, following an apparent row over the usage of light and sound in the theatre.

Rice has served in the position for a mere two years, yet the theatre has now announced it will return to the traditional "shared light" productions that dominated its schedule before Rice's arrival (via The Guardian). Utilised by predecessors Dominic Dromgoole and Mark Rylance, 'shared light' involves using electric lights to simulate natural daylight, as most performances take place in the evening.

She had fallen under certain levels of criticism for introducing microphones, neon, and light rigging to the traditional setting of the replica Elizabethan theatre; though her re-inventive production of Midsummer Night's Dream received favourable reviews, the board has now overruled her in favour of its previous practices.

Neil Constable, CEO of Shakespeare's Globe, praised both Rice's "mould-breaking" work and "exceptionally strong" box office returns; but added, "Following much deliberation and discussion, the Globe board has concluded that from April 2018, the theatre programming should be structured around ‘shared light’ productions without designed sound and light rigging."

"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."

Rice certainly didn't shy away from the experimental approach in the staging of Shakespeare's classics; giving new life to the Bard's work, with her inaugural season featuring a new version of Cymbeline "renamed and reclaimed" to focus on the king's daughter. She had also set out to tackle the gender deficit in Shakespeare's oeuvre by targeting for a "50/50" split between male and female performers.

Though she'd previously led Kneehigh, acclaimed as one of the UK's most innovative theatrical companies, she admitted to having little interest in Shakespeare's work and having not read many of his plays; stating, "I have tried to sit down with Shakespeare but it doesn’t work. I get very sleepy and then suddenly I want to listen to The Archers."

"I have had a wonderful time creatively here at the Globe, but I respect the board’s decision for its future direction," Rice has said in a statement.

Her work will continue for now, with the summer 2017 season seeing Romeo and Juliet directed by English National Opera's artistic director Daniel Kramer and a new Twelfth Night directed by Rice.