Sir Kenneth Branagh hails arts as a ‘British super-power’

Sir Kenneth Branagh wants more money to be invested into the arts.

Sir Kenneth Branagh considers the arts to be a “British super-power to be proud of”.

The 64-year-old actor has enjoyed a hugely successful career on stage and screen, and Kenneth thinks more money should be invested in the arts sector in the UK.

He told the BBC: “For the 90p ticket price with which government subsidy allowed me to make my first visit to Stratford nearly 50 years ago, they changed my life and helped steer me and many others into careers, projects and work that have ultimately brought hundreds of millions of pounds back into the economy.

“Cultural power may be considered soft power, but I would call it a super-power – a particularly British super-power to be proud of.”

Kenneth is returning to the Royal Shakespeare Company for the first time in more than three decades to play Prospero in The Tempest at Stratford-upon-Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

And the veteran actor insists that he didn’t have any hesitations about committing to the production.

He said: “When they asked me to come back to the company, my response was a swift and enthusiastic yes.”

The actor has worked on 35 productions of Shakespeare across his career, and he hopes that Shakespeare’s work continues to resonate with audiences for generations to come.

He said: “We needn’t overthink the so-called battle with technology or be militant about making people ‘like’ Shakespeare.

“The desire is to divert, not convert. That can be a lot of fun!”

Kenneth previously revealed that he loves the distinct challenges of stage and screen acting.

He told The Talks: “I suppose in the theatre, particularly with Shakespeare, you are working on stories that have magic.

“Just before Murder on the Orient Express, Judi Dench and I had been in Shakespeare’s play A Winter’s Tale, which is full of magic, it’s a fairytale. Shakespeare often has ghosts, he always has magic, and in the theatre, you find your way to express this in the staging and in the way the actors perform, and often there are magical moments, effects, and coup-d’états in the shows.

“But when you are dealing in stories concerning magic and film and you live in a digital age, that has exponentially increased the possibility of making images of our greatest fantasies. It’s a wonderful opportunity to do some of the things you couldn’t do in the theatre.”