With its links to BP, I can’t stay in the Royal Shakespeare Company | Mark Rylance

I'm leaving the RSC because of its sponsorship deal with the fossil-fuel giant. What would Shakespeare have made of this?

" Mark Rylance is an actor, director and playwright
" Mark Rylance resigns from RSC over BP sponsorship

As a teenager, disenchanted with religion, I turned to Shakespeare for ethical guidance. I was inspired by the work of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It represented the ultimate company of conscious artists, speaking and playing Shakespeare with humour and insight.

In my 20s I was fortunate to join the company, play Hamlet and Romeo, and become an associate artist. I have been delighted ever since to be connected with thousands of artists and audiences who have made the RSC what it is. And yet today I feel I must dissociate myself from the RSC, not because it is any less of a theatre company, but because of the company it keeps.