Other bloggers have already mentioned Michael Fentiman (here and here), but he warrants multiple posts.

Michael is the assistant director of the RSC's production of As You Like It, which we saw Saturday before exiting Stratford. To put the performance in perspective, I'm told secondhand that Professor Post called it one of the best productions of As You Like It he has seen in the last 25 years. High praise, and deserved.

It's no surprise then that Michael was dynamic and profound when he came to speak with us. The journalist in me took down some of his nuggets of wisdom: "We don't really know that we're talking about — we just try to discover it," and "Actors are like children. We play."

But what really stuck me was Michael's description of a production of Romeo and Juliet he did. Taking a major risk, Michael decided to stage Shakespeare's classic love story using only a dozen professional actors alongside more than 60 gang members off the streets of London.

Some actors initially got frustrated during rehearsal over their colleagues lack of experience. The production largely became an acting school that employed him and the other professionals as the teachers. Michael described scenes that needed actors to walk like thugs or threaten violence, and how the actors with real experience in those capacities were an invaluable asset to the production. Essentially, he spoke about how the group, from such different bubbles and backgrounds, came together to create a wonderful production. But perhaps even more important, he said that everyone learned about a life different than their own and in so doing, learned a lot about themselves.

He smiled as he recalled one actor who brought each of his seven "baby mothers" to one rehearsal each so they could watch him work. Clearly, this new actor was proud of his artful achievement, and possibly even proud of taking of first step toward turning his life around through the arts.

What a story.

As You Like It may have been great — but I'd have paid 100 pounds more to see Michael's production of the star-crossed lovers.