Question: In 1988 Lord Gowrie the outgoing Chairman of the Arts Council condemned the new Labour government saying it was no better than the last in supporting the arts, do you think he was right?

Adrian Noble: I think the crucial event was the election of the new Labour government, and the feeling of a new start it promised in all areas of society. That new beginning was of inestimable importance to the arts for a number of reasons. It ended an era; this was crucial as someone needed to rule off from the Thatcher years when even the very language we talked in was reconstructed. Audiences became customers. The bottom line was all important. Shows became product. Underpinning all this was the belief that the only measure of value of the arts was the material one.

I think Grey Gowrie was a bit premature in what he said because a series of useful measures have been undertaken. Firstly, the reform of the Arts Council, which I think was literally dying on its feet. Secondly giving the Arts Council back its historic role as an advocate for the arts. And thirdly, to achieve the first increase in subsidy for the arts as a whole in possibly eight years.

What I think is disappointing though is that however much the Government talk about the centrality of the arts it still feels like they are reluctant to argue the case for the arts in a comparative way. It's hard to say that the arts are that important when hospitals are closing, when kids still can't read. But somebody does have to stand up and say that the spiritual health of the nation is very important. That is one of the crucial things that the arts can do. This Labour Government has been successful in addressing the agenda but I think there is a lot to be said about how much they have achieved.

Question: Looking to a possible second term Labour Government, what would you want them to do for the arts ?

Adrian Noble: I think it has to secure the infrastructure of the arts and we haven't yet done that in this country.

We have also got to somehow promote the notion of risk, of enterprise, of the support of the individual as well as the company. I think the Arts Council has got to be even braver in deconstructing themselves. It isn't just shedding bureaucracy, it is shedding an attitude where politicians or civil servants believe they should be setting the agenda for the arts. I don't believe that is true. I think that artists and the public should be setting the agenda for the arts, not the politicians and not the civil servants.

We have got to embrace the notion of risk taking at the very heart of the artistic community or culture. That doesn't mean one just throws money at the arts. It's about creating an environment where the innovative, the maverick is positively encouraged to sometimes go out on a limb.

I think we've also got to encourage an entrepreneurial attitude within the arts. We have come quite a long way - and a large number of our productions are either co-productions or strategic partnerships with other organisations. But I think there is also a role for Government here - in making it easier for companies and institutions to make a contribution to the arts. Promoting effective tax breaks and other attractive ways of giving must be part of the long term solution. I can see a confident RSC in 10 years time which has secured its future through effective advocacy with its partners - in business, in education, as well as in Government. But Government can do more to create an enabling environment to help us to make that happen.

Question: So you wouldn't rule out Coca Cola sponsored Romeo and Juliet?

Adrian Noble: Well, no I wouldn't. But there are more interesting ways of doing it. The Henry VI plays that have been sensational successes, have been the product of a unique artistic and educational partnership with the University of Michigan - one of the most important public universities in United States. Now, they have provided a really significant resource without which the Henry VI plays would never have been done.

But the Michigan deal is not just about cash, it's an artistic feast, an educational banquet and a real exchange of ideas and resource.

Question: Was it a positive thing to look internationally, or was that forced upon you because of not enough partnership interests in the UK?

Adrian Noble: Both. We have traditionally exported a lot of our work. We take five or six shows to New York every other year for example and we see that as an important cultural exchange from which we benefit. Secondly, in certain circumstances, money can come back to support work in the UK. Thirdly, it is highly desirable for say the Foreign Office or the British Council to see the RSC as a flagship, international, cultural ambassador. But we also see it as a way of developing and extending the Royal Shakespeare Company community.

Some partnerships are traditional co-productions, with them putting some money in and us putting some money in. When we are looking for the bigger idea, quite often and naturally our eyes fall abroad, and often to the US. There is a tradition of entrepreneurial funding for artistic projects that we don't have here in the private sector. There is also a closer integration of the artistic and the educational sectors in North America. I think partly because of that East Coast protestant ethic. If you go to Williamsburg it's fascinating from a touristic point of view, but also there is a lot of educational content.

Some of these ideas I am trying to develop in Stratford, I am trying to overlay the artistic and the education. So we are quite deliberately making a policy decision of seeking partnerships on an entrepreneurial basis that will bring resource back to the Company but will also take us into new territories.

Question: It must be very difficult to find the balance - to make mistakes, to be able to experiment, but it seems to go out and have that entrepreneurial exercise requires from your backers a degree of success, a degree of going for the winners and going for the crowd pullers. So where do you find that balance between going for experimenting possibly making mistakes and going for the crowd pullers?

Adrian Noble: It has to be said at this point that we are fortunate in being called the Royal Shakespeare Company. Obviously I accept that for many other organisations they don't have that brand name. The history of the RSC being the consistency of quality that has been achieved over the years, of course helps enormously.

But even with the power of that brand, you still need to keep reinventing yourself. For me that has meant a quite deliberate act of deconstruction that began in 1996.

The old RSC had a structure where a company was created, it went to Stratford, it stayed there for 10 months, it came to London and stayed there 12 months. But when you start deconstructing something, however terrifying it is, suddenly very exciting opportunities come your way. So in the old days to create a true history cycle of eight plays would have taken three years. I'm doing it in twelve months. That comes from a deliberate act of deconstruction.

There are interesting philosophical lessons to learn about the regeneration of any orgnisation that has a natural tendency towards institutionalisation. Whether you're Marks and Spencers or the RSC, if you don't intervene at the right moment you suddenly find that you have lost your audience, or your core audience is actually dwindling or ageing. You suddenly think, hold on a minute we've got all these clothes on our shelves and we can't shift them. So we made a deliberate choice to change and interestingly enough, we have just had a hugely successful season.

Question: A couple of the words that you have been talking about, risk, failure, experiment - they are not really words that people like in society at the moment. We seem to be devoid of those things, does that concern you that we have got strict standards now in education, strict work pressures, we can't really afford to fail?

Adrian Noble: It worries me as a citizen, and also worries me as a guardian of an institution like this. For example as a father of small children, I know there are many ways of judging a child's success. Of course I want my child to be numerate and literate, but I also want the creative space of my children to be nourished. People such as Charlie Leadbeater have noticed this as well. There is clearly a connection between the guys who make serious money these days and their ability to take risks. Charlie talks of living on thin air - about the fact that Microsoft happened because IBM was slow. Young entrepreneurs take risk, that is what they do for a living. And that is what we must do: take risks and manage failure.

Question: But is that missing in society do you think?

Question: The RSC are expected to play an educative role. Rather than merely assisting students in their linear procession through exams, how can the RSC provide a wider educational role in society?

Adrian Noble: Well I think there are a several strands to that. Our work tends to be very production focused and centres around the energy of the show. Secondly we put an enormous emphasis and resource into working with teachers, the trickle down theory. Which is basically very effective.

If you open it out from there then firstly you have to make a mental leap about what is education. My view is that the arts and education have so much in common that in many ways the closer we are together the better. What we have in common is that we are all in the business of enlightenment, of enriching people's lives. We also have to think about life long learning here, not just the schools.

I think new media provides us with an important opportunity to bring alive theatre in the classroom or wherever. Somewhere like Stratford can be a really exciting destination, either to hit on a website or to get on the plane, train or bus. Pilgrimage is very important. And I would hope that never goes away.

The last time we did Henry VI plays with Richard III, we bussed in kids from all over the country, 1,150 kids, for a whole day event. I know for a fact they will never forget it. As part of our redevelopment in Stratford we feel we can provide much better facilities. Our dream is that you could start the day with a voice workshop, then have a lecture in the afternoon, then look through our digitised archives and costumes, then finally go and see the show and perhaps have a debriefing with some of the actors afterwards. You will never forget that.

Question: You don't want the theatre to be too elitist. You want everyone to come to your place. You are appealing to younger audiences. How do you appeal to someone who has never been to a Shakespeare play, but also probably hasn't been to a theatre to see a play before. Are they off bounds for you?

Adrian Noble: It's very important for any organisation not to attempt to be all things to all men. If you say I am going to try and create art for everybody then I think you are going to really mess yourself up.

However I accept, especially for a company that receives public money, that these issues have to be really thought through. My generation had that theatre habit, or have access to it. There is a generation now that do not have it, it aint on the radar screen. Therefore it is not a case of do I fancy the RSC or not.

Having said that, one, we quite actively create work that has a direct appeal to children to encourage them to go to the theatre. Seeing it as a place of wonder, fun, fascination and quality when you are young is very important. It's not just somewhere you go that is a little bit tatty and has blokes dressed as women. I think you have to take young people's theatre seriously for a start. Secondly, theatre has got to be subsidised to go into schools. Ticket prices have got to be subsidised to get kids into the theatres. They have got to get the habit back and see it as part of their life, as part of their culture.

It's not a quick win at all, but it's particularly urgent for a company like the RSC because our work is language based. A love of language and the control of the language gives you control of ideas. Again it is a trickle down. The control of the ideas gives you access to notions of value, and value goes to judgement, which goes to democracy. All of those things are interdependent. If you can't control the idea then something goes funny with democracy.

Question: Talking about attracting a younger audience, Prince William has been to attend the RSC at Stratford, would you like to see him playing perhaps an ambassadorial role for the RSC?

Adrian Noble: I think it would be marvellous if he did, yes. But I believe that any young person - whether a young royal or not - has every right to go there own way, let's be honest. If Prince William doesn't have any interest in the theatre, that's fine, good for him, live your life, have a happy life. If you happen to like the theatre, great come and join us.