Creative Strategy: Reconnecting Business and Innovation

THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANYACT II: THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ACT

Previously, in Act 1, we considered how innovative processes combine discovery with creation in order to develop new ideas in rehearsal. Revisiting the RSC rehearsal room, it is time now to consider the ‘entrepreneurial’ motives and characteristics which drive this innovation process.

Creative thinking combines divergent processes of idea generation with convergent processes of application and verification. This creative interplay between imaginative play and technical skill is driven by entrepreneurial attitudes, from dilettante playfulness to diligent, obsessive attention to detail. The strategic entrepreneur has a special ability to combine or switch between these attitudes.

In his New York speech describing his approach to ‘ensemble’ theatre, Boyd emphasized the technical discipline of acting. Actors are trained in verse, voice and text through their time with the company. Boyd reintroduced a movement department to the company and the musical director was part of the rehearsals we observed. For Boyd's history plays there was a further technical challenge in the trapeze-like use of ropes in the battle scenes, which placed additional physical demands on the actors.

At the same time Boyd also emphasizes risk-taking and playfulness. He sees himself and the actors ‘walking a tightrope between reckless irresponsibility and playing it safe’. Risk is essential to innovation and demands trust between actors, director and audience. ...