Carl Heap, previously an English student at Cambridge, has returned to direct The Cambridge Arts Theatre’s run of Much Ado About Nothing with the Marlowe society. Having studied Medieval theatre, and travelled round the country with his company, The Medieval Players, in the 1980s, this is a man who wants “the feeling of a touring troupe” when he directs. Of course, this production will remain confined in a five-day run, something which he expresses his regret for: “by Saturday night the actors will be wishing they could go on the road. I’ve become so attached, I feel I’ve been able to get a good company together…I’d love to take it on the road, I feel the show is in a good state for that.”

He describes touring as “a great experience for the actors, it’s about tuning in, and adjusting naturally as you go along.” Accustomed to bringing Shakespeare to a wide range of audiences, Heap appreciates the skills that actors need to achieve this: “the discipline of making the language really clear is something that is highly transferable between audiences.” He reproaches actors who “rattle off lines with a kind of false fluency”, but prefers to focus in on the words to make the performance accessible to all – his personal philosophy is that “the combination of saying the words and gesturing…it’s like a magic wand”. His motivation behind wanting transparent productions of difficult plays is clear, as he says of his company’s attitude to their Chaucer adaptations (which they perform in Middle English), “we thought: this stuff’s so good, it shouldn’t just be for the academics…but there’s a sort of language-barrier”.

So what is his personal approach to breaking this “barrier”? He suggests “a kind of Mediterranean expressiveness” in style, and a willingness to acknowledge the audience as individuals, as he speaks of the importance of “direct communication”. It is the development of this intimacy between the performer and the observer that is part of Heap’s answer to the question of what Theatre has that Film and Television can’t offer: “every thinking director since television and film has been trying to address that question, and the big answer is that the actors are in the same room as the audience.”

For him, however, it is not just making Shakespeare accessible that is important - he also wants to do justice to the text itself, and as such prefers a “simple and effective” stage-space: “I trust and admire [Shakespeare] so much I do not feel the need for a lot…I was accused by one of my designers for being anti-design, and I do disappoint a lot of lighting designers”. He looks for “spell-binding story-telling”, as he goes on to add: “I think the main production value has to come from the performers and the words”.

He describes his attitude to Shakespeare’s plays as one which is “very much about revealing rather than imposing”, and so doesn’t feel the need to re-invent the wheel when creating a production by actively differentiating his from what has gone before. It is less his personal interpretation of Shakespeare’s texts that he feels distinguishes him, but more his knowledge of the theatre that had gone before: “that’s what I’m bringing that’s different, the experience of working with the repertoire that was what the actors that Shakespeare worked with cut their teeth on”. As such, his admiration for the techniques of Comedia dell’Arte troupes is evident – “if you’re showing an actor who can do many things - act, sing, juggle - that wins the respect of audience” - as is his desire for appreciation of what he feels is the backbone to his work: “actors don’t get a lot of respect in this country for the right reasons, they get respect for their ‘star value’”.

This production promises to be an intriguing insight into Heap’s approach to Shakespeare, and as a man so dedicated to engaging his audience and treating the play with integrity, it shall surely be an entertaining one.

Book tickets here, and please note that there is a £10 discount for students.