Paul Iles Obituary

Theatre Manager, Historian, Consultant
Born 1952 Died April 30th 2011

When Paul Iles, who has died of cancer aged 59, was in charge of Edinburgh
Festival Theatre, he ensured that the very act of attending the space
he'd overseen the GBP 22 million conversion from a bingo hall into one
of the brightest theatrical spaces in the city was a dramatic act in
itself. Having been put in charge of the former Empire Theatre as
General Manager since 1992, Iles oversaw the Festival Theatre's opening
in 1994, shaping it into a gloriously flamboyant affair, where even
ordering a drink or some confectionary in the Cafe Lucia, its menu
awash with all manner of sticky tarts, was an exercise in sensory
sumptuousness to accompany the theatre's programme.

Such excesses weren't too last, however, and in 1996 Iles fell out with the city
fathers over issues of revenue, which Edinburgh Council claimed were
unsupportable. By the time Edinburgh Council had been proved wrong,
however, Iles had resigned, leaving Edinburgh's arts scene a brighter
place to play in, and it's telling that on the announcement of his
death, the Festival Theatre flag was draped at half-mast in his honour.

Over a forty year career, Iles did more than most to understand the
value of theatrical entertainment, yet could put on programmes which at
the fesdtival Theatre included one night stands by Ken Dodd with
avant-garde performance from Rose English (and a horse) without any
noticeable conflict. While what went onstage was paramount, Iles
understood what a night out meant too to an audience. Perhaps his
razor-sharp instincts had been honed after leaving school aged fifteen
and running away to sea before becoming a cleaner in a theatre. This
was one of many stories Iles told his staff, who he spoke to with a
florid sense of passion and inspiration in meetings that fostered
loyalty and trust.

Prior to the Festival Theatre, Iles worked at umpteen regional
theatres, including the Watermill in Newbury, Manchester Royal
Exchange, he Oxford Playhouse and Blackpool Grand, where he returned in
2004, persuading Equity to name it National Theatre of variety just as
the National Theatre of Scotland was launched.

In Australia, Iles had worked as general manager and director of Nimrod
Theatre in Sydney, was general manager of the State Theatre Company at
the Adelaide Festival Centre and was a founding producer of the North
Queensland Theatre Company.

After leaving the Festival Theatre, Iles moved into consultancy,
applying his vast knowledge of theatre and theatre buildings with a mix
of pragmatism and passion to a range of clientele who trusted his
expertise implicitly. He also went back to university, acquiring two
research degrees from the University of Glasgow before becoming a
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Society of Arts.

At the time of his death, Iles was principal lecturer in arts
management at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, associate
director of the Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond, North Yorkshire,
chairman of Barrie Rutter's Northern Broadsides company and Leeds
Grand Theatre and Opera House.

Iles served nine years as a trustee of the Theatres Trust, the national
advisory public body for theatres, and was associate director of the
Scottish Centre for Cultural Management and Policy at Queen Margaret
University, Edinburgh. He became a director of assorted companies,
including Neil Bartlett's Gloria Theatre, Rambert Dance Company and the
Duke's Playhouse at Lancaster.

Iles was a glorious bundles of contradictions that co-existed happily
in his working life. First and foremost he was a scholar, who knew the
subject he was passionate about inside out, and whose studies of the
history of theatre and theatre management were defining reference
points for anyone in the industry. Beyond this, though, Iles understood
that a healthy irreverence was also important, and he carried around
with him a sense of mischief wherever he went. In some respects,
particularly during his Edinburgh tenure, this caused him to resemble
one of the old-time actor-managers he knew so much about. Yet Iles too
was a private and shy man, who would rather avoid the public spotlight
in deference to the work he was putting on stage.

Iles' Thistle Street home in Edinburgh was a treasure trove of a
lifelong theatre devotee. Books, posters and memorabilia of every
description filled the place. Much of it was rare, but some of it, as
with all things he loved, was acquired for the pure fun of it.

Iles' tellingly named website for his theatrical management consultancy
an invaluable source for researchers and students, with historical
insights into Edinburgh's old Gateway Theatre and the Royal Lyceum
amongst others, as well as his numerous reports in his capacity as a
consultant, the most recent being on Ayr's condemned Gaiety Theatre,
His Majesty's in Aberdeen and Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

Then there are the cheeky insights into eighteenth century marketing techniques,
and excerpts from letters sent to him while at the Festival Theatre,
and set alongside his replies. One was from a lady of some vintage
whose frock she claimed to have ripped on one of the theatre's seats.
Iles took pains to point out that no less a personage than her majesty
the Queen had sat on the very same seats and had managed to get through
the show without coming to any harm, sartorially or otherwise.

Such levity is rare in such documentation, yet, while all of Iles'
reports are full of gimlet-eyed observations and painstakingly
asccurate research, they are also eminently readable, going way beyond
the usual impenetrable tedium of such tomes. The material gathered on
Iles' website is to be treasured much as he treasured his own
collection. More importantly, budding theatre managers, producers and
administrators should learn from Iles' collected experience in a world
in which he loved nothing better than to see audiences captivated by
something joyous and unexpected taking place on the stage in front of
them.

The Herald, May 4th 2011

ends