LAMDA’s Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama, Rodney Cottier, reflected on six decades in theatre and five decades of association with LAMDA in the Academy’s inaugural Professorial Lecture
On Friday 18 September, LAMDA students, staff, alumni, trustees and friends gathered in the Sainsbury Theatre for the Academy’s inaugural Professorial Lecture, delivered by Professor Rodney Cottier.
Titled “Here will I lie tonight. But where tomorrow? Well, all’s one for that…”, the lecture took audiences on a journey through six decades of theatre, drawing on Rodney’s remarkable career as a performer, teacher, director, scholar and champion of Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama.
The occasion marked an important moment in LAMDA’s 165-year history. Rodney is the first person to be appointed Professor by LAMDA itself, recognising an association with the Academy that stretches back more than half a century.
Beginning as a LAMDA student in the 1970s, Rodney went on to work at the Academy as a combat tutor, fight director, acting tutor and stage director, before later becoming Head of the Drama School. More recently, his work has focused on teaching, scholarship and sharing LAMDA’s approach to Shakespeare through masterclasses in the UK and internationally.
During the lecture, Rodney reflected on his earliest theatrical influences and his journey into the profession, paying tribute to the colleagues and collaborators who helped shape his thinking across his work at LAMDA, Shakespeare’s Globe and beyond.
Alongside personal recollection, the lecture explored Rodney’s approach to Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and the importance of enabling actors and directors to engage directly and confidently with the language, structure and theatrical possibilities of the work.
His influence can be felt across generations of performers, directors and theatre practitioners who have encountered his teaching throughout his career, something reflected in the range of alumni and colleagues who joined the audience for the evening.
LAMDA Principal & CEO Professor Mark O’Thomas opened the event, reflecting on Rodney’s many achievements at LAMDA and beyond, as well as the lasting contribution he has made to the Academy’s teaching and artistic practice.
The evening also looked firmly towards the future. Shortly after delivering the lecture, Rodney is travelling to the United States for his latest programme of masterclasses, working with young artists and students across a number of states and continuing to share the professional practice and scholarship developed over the course of his career.
