Pitch and roles Scilly storm can't keep RSC tour off far-flung stages

'Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!" King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2.

- Steven Morris

A fierce wind and strong swell had turned the Atlantic into a rollercoaster and when the troupe made landfall on the Isles of Scilly, several members felt rather green around the gills.

The life of a touring actor is not always glitz and glamour but the first ever visit of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) to Scilly to perform King Lear - got off to a particularly rocky start.

"It was a rough crossing," said Oliver Senton, who plays Lear, as the 15-strong cast and crew recovered on the harbourside of St Mary's, the largest of the islands, 30 miles off the south-west coast of mainland Britain.

"We're more used to being in a van or train when we're going place to place. But it's wonderful to be here, breaking territory, bringing theatre to new places." Might he tap into this stormy weather for the famous scene in which Lear rages against the storm? "Well, I'd say the storm for Lear is inside him - the weather is a reflection of his feelings," Senton said. "But when you do a great play like this, you start to see echoes of it everywhere - in things you're watching and reading and what people say to you, even in the rain and wind." The show is a pared-down version of King Lear - about a third of the full length - mainly aimed at young people and their families.