Directors

In Tim Walker's review of "Oliver" in Sunday's Telegraph he writes: "Part of the problem is that it has simply been choreographed to death." The director of this greatly anticipated production is Rupert Goold and I am not at surprised to read that he had "choreographed it to death" having seen his "Macbeth" at Chichester a couple of years ago, the one that thrilled many critics and audiences not least because it starred Patrick Stewart in the title role. I may be the only person who saw that production who hated it. And it was my belief that Goold had choreographed that one to death.
Tim Walker writes on "Oliver" that "From Rowan Atkinson downwards every member of the cast seems to be placing his or her feet in precisely the right points on the stage - to the miilimetre - at every microsecond."
I too had the impression that the cast of "Macbeth" were over-directed so that they were sometimes like robots following orders. One of the most unbearably moving scenes in "Macbeth" is when one of the characters (Macduff?) is informed that his wife and children have been murdered. In the Chichester production it was as if he had been informed that the tax inspector was about to come and look at his bank statement.
I have the feeling that Rupert Goold is determined to make a name for himself by stamping on productions his own personality, and this I'm afraid, usually is at the expense of the work.
I don't think directors in my young days were quite so imposing and dictatorial as they are now; even when visiting the cinema we went not because Ford had directed a film but because it starred John Wayne. Though we know now how great a force Ford was he usually remained someone in the background. When asked about his art he said "I just make Westerns."