Greg Doran

Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Drama (2012-2013)

The Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Drama brings playwrights, actors, and directors to share their craft and explore the rich thought-provoking field of the theatre.

The Visiting Professorship in Drama is hosted by Brasenose College, Oxford. During the years 2010-2013 the professorship was generously supported by Eric Abraham. From 2014 onwards it has been made possible by the generous support of André Hoffmann.

Greg Doran is the Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Gregory Doran began his series with an ‘In Conversation’ with Sir Antony Sher. Doran and Sher shared anecdotes of their career putting on Shakespeare together, and treated the audience to a dynamic exposition on how to keep Shakespeare’s works fresh, relevant, and authentic in the modern age.

Doran’s second ‘In Conversation’ was with television director John Wyver, titled From RSC to BBC: re-conceiving two recent RSC productions. During the week Doran held two Acting Masterclasses, with student actors in front of a live audience. Doran gave the students and audience the unique experience of seeing how he analyses and rehearses Shakespeare’s text with the RSC actors.

Doran concluded his tenure with a symposium titled Pushing Shakespeare Off His Pedestal. Doran was joined by Professors Laurie Maguire and Jonathan Bate to discuss whether Shakespeare dominates the literary canon and theatrical repertoire in ways that are not always beneficial.