Derek started rehearsals at high speed. He wanted a dramatic and highly theatrical production that acknowledged the rich store of theatrical imagery in Hamlet. He worked amazingly fast and knew every single word of the text, so that when anyone dried, he was ahead of the stage management in prompting them. At first I resisted his suggestions, and I was determined not to be hurried over over-awed. There were a couple of days wariness, and then we both began to trust each other and went to it with a vengeance. The play was blocked in a week. He had marvelous ideas for the women: there were extra entrances and even re-allocated lines to help produce a truly heart-rendering Ophelia from Sophie Thompson and a very strong Gertrude from Dearbhla Molloy. Derek directed my Hamlet with amazing sensitivity- I had my own instincts and he shaped them. There wasn’t an acting problem that he hadn’t already faced and analyzed himself, and the alternatives he offered me were fascinating. He was also of tremendous help in colouring speeches and knowing when to rest on lines, which was particularly useful for the closet scene, which seems to me the Becher’s Book for Hamlets. At Drama School I had fallen into the trap of ranting through it and running out of steam early on, and Derek showed me how to pace myself and to find enough breath and energy to get through and make sense of the lines.