Photograph: Murdo Macleod
The former archbishop of Canterbury announces an upcoming Shakespeare project, explains how he still finds inspiration in his writings, and reflects on the difficulties of being archbishop, in a short interview with Robert McCrum for the Guardian.
From the Guardian:
Did he find Shakespeare any guide to being archbishop? “There’s plenty in Shakespeare,” he replies, “about the gulf between the robes and the reality. That’s helpful. And also the sense of paying attention to words. I’m glad I’d done some acting: it’s a way of feeling the words. You’re playing a role, but that does not mean you are falsifying. It just means, ‘This is what I have to do to keep this community fulfilling its purpose’.
“One of the problems for the church today is we don’t know what we’re for.” Shakespeare, by contrast, was a master of the compelling presentation of complex themes. “I don’t happen to be Shakespeare.”
It’s an interesting short interview, conducted as he prepared for a 4 day public retreat on The Winter’s Tale. Read the interview to learn more about regrets from his tenure as archbishop and to find out about the short play he’s currently working on.
Posted by David Streever