Impact case study database

New knowledge and understandings of Ford have had benefits for theatre directors, audiences, a translator, Russian readers of drama, A-level pupils and teachers, and a wider public, changing perceptions and giving new contexts through the activities described below.

The RSC drew on Hopkins' research on Love's Sacrifice for the production itself (12 performances, 21 April to 24 June 2015, overall audience of around 5000), as well as in her commissioned RSC Programme Note. The director and programmes editor requested 'something that touches on Gesualdo – both something about him and his life/work, but also of course how it might fit in with the themes and characters of the play' ( E1). The note argued that the story and themes of Love's Sacrifice are rooted in the story of Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, composer and wife-murderer. This was the first performance of the play since 1631, and the director’s vision was influenced explicitly by this origin story, which was also noted in reviews, while the video trailer for the play emphasised this angle in its sub-title: 'based on a true story' ( E2). Hopkins' work on Ford's Catholic sensibilities also influenced the production style: 'steeped in ritual and patterned movement in a way which is profoundly Catholic'. Reviewers, including The Telegraph, The Independent and The Guardian, thought the play a notable revival for the stage canon: 'eminently stageable'; 'nuanced take on a difficult play' ( E3).

Hopkins' research was also used in Globe Education's Rarely Played programme note and public seminar for their Read Not Dead reading of Love’s Sacrifice, at Gray’s Inn (15/02/2015; audience of circa 200). The programme note has now been included in the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre archive created and marketed by Adam Matthew digital resources. The cast included senior members of Gray's Inn and raised their awareness of Ford's own legal training and his dedication of this play to his cousin, also John Ford, a member of Gray's Inn. Hopkins led the Rarely Played seminar for Globe Education’s Read Not Dead reading of Perkin Warbeck in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (28/06/2015), and wrote the programme note which argued that the play saw Henry VII as de facto king, but Warbeck as de jure monarch. She led the Rarely Played seminar for Globe Education’s Read not Dead reading of The Fancies Chaste and Noble, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (6/9/2015; audience of circa 50), which used her work on the idiosyncrasy of Ford's theatre to account for this particularly oblique play, with its exceptionally laconic style.

Hopkins' Revels edition of The Lady’s Trial was used by Edward’s Boys for their performance of the play (the first known since 1638), seen by circa 1500 people across its six performances at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, King Edward VI School, Stratford, Queen Mary Grammar School, Walsall, and the Globe's Wanamaker Theatre. A recording is available on DVD (47 copies sold in the UK, 8 overseas). Audience feedback included: ' my answer to your invitation to consider … whether this play is worth reviving is an emphatic "yes" '. The director said: '[Hopkins'] edition is exemplary in its authoritative detail and clarity; the introduction and notes proved particularly valuable … since it was no longer possible to ask questions of Ford, the next best thing was to email Lisa after many rehearsals' ( E4). Hopkins wrote the programme note for this production and gave a talk at a Globe Education Study Day on Ford linked to the performance at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, September 2015. The Head of Globe Education acknowledged Hopkins' contribution: 'Thank you for all you did in support of the Ford season, culminating in your brilliant lecture … It was packed with information and ideas' ( E5). Audience feedback through questionnaires included: [liked]: 'the Gesualdo connection'; 'clear explanation of problems to be addressed in performance'; '[liked]: 'elucidation of political elements', 'the placing of Perkin in the context of Shakespeare's history plays and Scottish history' ( E6). Hopkins wrote up both the John Ford Experiment and the Edward’s Boys' Lady’s Trial in a piece called ‘Body and Soul’ for THE Culture to share insights yielded by these stagings with an audience beyond Renaissance scholars ( E7).

Hopkins helped bring Ford to Russian readers by advising on the first Russian translation of Perkin Warbeck and writing an introduction giving a context for this new audience, particularly relating her work on Perkin Warbeck to the contemporary Russian pretenders (the three False Dmitris). The translator said that research by Hopkins 'revealed the wide historical and cultural context of the play, allowing for better stylistic decisions in the translation. I also greatly benefited from the personal communication with Hopkins who helped me setting up the overall understanding of the play and the epoch of Perkin Warbeck'. The translation and introduction were published in “ Sovremennaya Dramaturgia” (“ Modern Dramaturgy”), a quarterly magazine focusing on the theatrical repertoire. Many Russian public libraries subscribe to this journal, as well as theatres nationally, and a wider public interested in drama ( E8).

The inclusion of ’Tis Pity on the A level syllabus led Hopkins to record a new lecture on the play for Massolit, which provides online A-level learning resources (2016). The lecture drew on her work on stage-space and on analysis of the recent Ford productions. The lecture has been watched 2,037 times since 2016, making it the second most popular non-Shakespeare play on the site, and a number of log-ins represent teachers showing the lecture to a class. (E9).

Public engagement included three talks which introduced Ford’s plays in the context of local and particular interests ( Perkin Warbeck at Tullie House Museum, Carlisle, the Lit and Phil in Newcastle; The Witch of Edmonton, part-authored by Ford, to the 1152 Club, Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds; total audiences of circa 100). Questionnaire responses praised material: 'about relationship between Scotland and England', [historical] attitudes towards the border'; 'Ford's attitude to the monarchy', 'history of Perkin Warbeck' ( E10).

This overall programme of public engagement brought about a wide new awareness and understanding of the significance and value of Ford's theatre on stage and page for varied contemporary audiences and helped fulfil one of the aims of the John Ford Experiment and RSC productions: to show that his plays could and should be part of the contemporary theatrical as well as academic canon.