News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK
The British Theatre Guide Newsletter
No 1177: 15 September 2024
Editorial
I started this week in a very different kind of theatre, although I slept through the whole thing, courtesy of some fine NHS anaesthetists.
The person directing proceedings seemed to think it went well, but it did mean that I’d planned to miss the press night for the Royal Exchange Theatre’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and catch up with it later, so I didn’t get the e-mails to say it was being cancelled (although it seems many who had booked didn’t get them either).
Within a few days, the production, directed by Steph O’Driscoll, had gone from having performances cancelled to postponing its opening to next week to being completely cancelled, but information from the theatre was scant, to say the least. In fact they haven’t replied at all to any of my e-mails, so I’ve had to rely on The Stage and the Manchester Evening News for information.
Both sources report that the theatre has blamed ‘technical reasons’ for the cancellation, although the MEN also mentions an injury to a cast member, while The Stage instead states that there was a dispute between the show’s company and the theatre’s management over “some of the creative decisions that were due to be included in the play.”
Rather than posting a notice on the web site explaining or apologising for the cancellation as might be expected, all references to the show have been removed as though it was never to happen, although a photo posted to the theatre’s social media accounts yesterday of the interior of the theatre features a poster for the show prominently.
The reasons for cancellation may be legitimate, but this information vacuum is bound to suck in speculation that won’t reflect well on the theatre; nor will the way they have handled the whole process, with performances cancelled at a few hours’ notice and some claiming they hadn’t had the e-mails and had turned up to find the theatre locked up and in darkness.
From one fairly middle-class theatre to Philip Fisher’s look at how playwright James Graham’s comments about the dearth of working class representation in British TV may apply to British theatre. Christopher Haydon said in our last podcast episode that there has been huge progress over the last few years in diversifying the stories we see on stage and the people telling them and running the organisations. However, in the current economic climate, there is a danger that it will become an activity only for the rich, or those with wealthy parents.
This isn’t just about arts funding, although that is part of it. After the Second World War, British theatre and cinema saw an influx of working class writers and actors due at least partly to increased access to free higher education with maintenance grants; there were lead characters, not just servants, on stage that didn’t speak with RP accents, even in Shakespeare. Julie Hesmondhalgh writes in her book about how artists could draw benefits for a while to enable them to establish a career or a theatre company when she was starting out in the business. All of this has now gone.
A state secondary school near me that once specialised in arts subjects recently turned a dance studio and its theatre into classrooms, but many private schools have drama facilities that many regional theatres would kill for.
So while theatre does have a class issue as much as TV, the roots of the problem are deep within many areas of society that benefited from postwar policies that have gradually been eroded since the 1980s.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
David Seadon-Young will play Professor Higgins in Leicester Curve’s Christmas 2024 production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s musical My Fair Lady.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
Royal and Derngate is to stage its fifth GenFest, part of the venue’s Generate artist development programme, featuring showcases, new writing and workshops.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
Royal and Derngate is to stage its fifth GenFest, part of the venue’s Generate artist development programme, featuring showcases, new writing and workshops.
Courtney Bowman will play Lauren in Curve’s production of Kinky Boots the Musical, which will tour the UK and Ireland after opening at the Leicester theatre.
David Seadon-Young will play Professor Higgins in Leicester Curve’s Christmas 2024 production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s musical My Fair Lady.
The Cabinet Minister (Menier Chocolate Factory) - Menier Chocolate Factory, London, –
Never Let Me Go (Rose Original with Bristol Old Vic, Malvern Theatres, and Royal & Derngate, Northampton) - Rose Theatre Kingston, London, –
Giant (Royal Court Theatre in association with Brian & Dayna Lee, Stephanie Kramer & Nicole Kramer and Robyn Goodman & Josh Fiedler) - Royal Court Theatre, London, –
Eugene Onégin (Northern Ireland Opera) - Grand Opera House, Belfast, –
Online
Vanya (Wessex Grove, Gavin Kalin Productions and Kater Gordon) - online / no venue, From
People, Places and Things (National Theatre, Mark Gordon Pictures, Gavin Kalin Productions, Seaview and Second Half Productions) - online / no venue, From
