Spotlight

Lucy Phelps invites Sir Greg Doran in the first of the Salon's Spotlight talks.

These will be a series of conversations with the biggest stars of the UK theatre industry, who will talk about their career highlights and life in the theatre, and share some of their favourite anecdotes connected to the Gallery.

Sir Greg Doran

Gregory Doran has been described as ‘one of the great Shakespearians of his generation’ (The Sunday Times). He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) as an actor in 1987, and became its Artistic Director in 2012, stepping down a decade later.

He initiated the ‘Live From Stratford-upon-Avon' programme – broadcasting to cinemas around the world, and streaming into UK schools for free. Notable productions include ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ with Dame Harriet Walter and Sir Patrick Stewart, ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Richard II’ with David Tennant, ‘All’s Well that Ends Well’ with Dame Judi Dench, and a digitally pioneering production of ‘The Tempest’ with Sir Simon Russell Beale. His production of ‘Julius Caesar’ with an all-Black British cast was described by Michael Billington as one the ten best productions in the 60-year history of the RSC.

Greg’s long relationship with his late husband, Sir Antony Sher, produced many acclaimed productions, including ‘Titus Andronicus’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘The Winter’s Tale’, ‘Othello’, ‘Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2)’ and ‘King Lear’.

He is an honorary senior research fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, a trustee of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and an honorary associate of the British Shakespeare Association. He was awarded the Pragnell Shakespeare Prize in 2023, and is currently the President of the Stratford Shakespeare Club.

He was knighted for his services to Theatre in 2024.

Greg’s most recent work includes ‘Richard III’, with Arthur Hughes, (the first disabled actor to play the role for the RSC); ‘Cymbeline’, which marked his 50th production for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ as the Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor at Oxford University. He directed Gogol’s ‘The Government Inspector’ at Chichester this spring.

He is currently on a quest to see as many extant copies of Shakespeare’s First Folio across the globe as he can. Greg’s latest book ‘My Shakespeare : A Director’s Journey Through the First Folio’ was published by Bloomsbury in April 2023.

Lucy Phelps

Lucy Phelps obtained a First Class Honours degree in French and Spanish from the University of Exeter before going on to train as an actor at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Her extensive theatre credits include leading roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Almeida Theatre, the National Theatre, Headlong, Shakespeare’s Globe, the Hampstead Theatre in the West End, Chichester Festival Theatre, the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, and the Sydney Theatre Company. In 2023, she represented the Royal Shakespeare Company at Windsor Castle alongside Dame Harriet Walter and Sir Simon Russell Beale in a special celebration for the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio.

On television her work includes: ‘Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes’ (Disney+); ‘Playing Nice’, ‘DI Ray’, ‘Grace’ (ITV); ‘Siblings’, ‘Call the Midwife’ (BBC) and 'The Chelsea Detective’ (Seasons 1-4, Expectation). Earlier this year she worked opposite Isabella Rossellini in Mike Newell’s new film, ‘The Bitter End’.

Phelps has worked as a translator for the Royal Court’s International Department, the Avignon Theatre Festival, the Théâtre de la Colline, and her first play translation, ‘The Pulverised’ by French/Romanian playwright Alexandra Badea had its UK debut at the Arcola Theatre and went on to a UK tour.

As an alumni of the British Centre for Literary Translation Summer School, Phelps is currently working on a new translation as part of the Orange Tree Theatre’s Writers’ Collective 2025-2026. Phelps also regularly teaches Shakespeare workshops in drama schools and works closely with acclaimed academic Dr Ailsa Grant Ferguson on hybrid creative / academic research projects, focusing on the life of Susanna Shakespeare and Women’s Theatre history.