Ken Alexander is used to turning theatres on their head. When the newly
appointed – and first ever – artistic director of the Royal Court
theatre in Liverpool was in charge of the Byre Theatre in St Andrews,
he initiated touring and outreach programmes while at the same time
overseeing the in-house company’s move from its old premises to its new
lottery-funded state of the art home. Once in the new building,
Alexander increased production from five shows a year to eight, a
remarkable feat that paid dividends in both attendance and quality.
When Alexander took over Perth Theatre, where his career had begun as a
trainee director under theatrical legends Joan Knight and Clive Perry,
during his year-long tenure he re-established the venue as a producing
house and increased audiences.
Given the tragic closure of the Byre two weeks ago following the
company’s insolvency several years after its Scottish Arts Council
funding cut caused its production arm to be scrapped outside of
pantomime season, and someone with Alexander’s commercial and artistic
savvy is much needed. In that absence, however, given his central role
in the Byre’s former glory, Alexander is both mournful and angry.
“I feel pretty angry about the staff who’ve been with the company since
before the new theatre was built being laid off the way they have,” he
says. “But I think once the SAC removed core funding from the Byre, that
this was inevitable. The Byre was designed to be a producing theatre,
so after core funding was removed it was a no-brainer that something
was going to go horribly wrong.”
Alexander is speaking just days before a summit meeting between Fife
Council, Creative Scotland and the Scottish Government was held to try
and save the Byre. Whatever happens next, all parties might do well to
listen to Alexander’s experience.
“When I was at the Byre, we really had to fight hard to get the funding
that we did, and to convince the SAC that Fife was a place deserving of
producing work in its own right,” he says. “The SAC never regarded St
Andrews as strategically important, but to think that St Andrews can be
serviced by theatres in Dundee and Edinburgh is a big mistake and a
serious misjudgement. I’d really like the Byre to go back to being a
producing house, but you need the will of a strong management to
achieve that.”
It is Liverpool, however, where Alexander’s energies will be channeled
over the next few years, in a building which seems tailor-made for his
talents. For the last thirty years, the Royal Court was a music venue
before returning to its theatrical roots several years ago by way of a
series of commercial comedies served up in a Scouse demotic. Alexander
has already directed several shows there, including A Nightmare on Lime
Street and Dirty Dusting, and has plans for more ambitious fare.
“It’s a job that’s going to have its challenges,” Alexander admits.
“The Royal Court as a production company has only existed for six or
seven years, and so far its been done on a commercial basis, with shows
being paid for by the last thing that was done. Part of my remit is to
develop and expand the programme, and we’re at the first stage of a
four stage development. A lot of the plays that go on are by writers in
the Liverpool area. There’s a really strong sense that the theatre is
tapping into working class Liverpool voices, and I’m really interesting
in developing that, and finding new Liverpool talent.
“I’m also interested in taking some of the shows out on tour. Most of
the number one venues say they can’t find enough drama to puyt on, so
I’ll be looking to making links with various consortiums to try and
work out how we can do that.”
The Royal Court seats 1200, with cabaret style tables filling the
stalls where audiences can have a meal before the show. This speak-easy
vibe fits in perfectly with Liverpool’s strong theatrical history, both
with the Everyman, currently being rebuilt, and the 700-seat Liverpool
Playhouse. There is also the 2000 seat Liverpool Empire a stone’s throw
from the Royal Court.
“A lot of the top quality touring work that does exist tends to bypass
Liverpool and goes to Manchester,” Alexander observes, “so we’ll also
be looking at bringing some of that in, and looking at some kind of
possible relationship between the Royal Court and the Empire. It’s
important that what we do compliments what’s already there rather than
goes up against it, and I’d like to see us share work and resources
with the other theatres here.”
With plans to expand the theatre’s community and outreach work,
Alexander’s ambitious plans following his appointment comes at a
particularly fecund time for Scottish and Scotland-based directors
spreading their artistic wings. Former Dundee Rep director James
Brining is already in post heading up West Yorkshire Playhouse in
Leeds, while outgoing National Theatre of Scotland head Vicky
Featherstone is about to take charge of the more familiar Royal Court
in London. Only last week, Lorne Campbell, previously associate
director at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, was announced as the new
artistic director of Northern Stage in Newcastle, a city with its own
set of funding problems since the local authority scrapped it by 100
per cent.
While this is clear vindication for directing talent sired and nurtured
in Scotland, Alexander also points to other reasons for this trend.
“There’s not as much going on in buildings in terms of producing in
Scotland anymore,” he says. “That’s partly why I wanted to spread my
wings. I certainly learnt a lot in Scottish theatres, and was lucky to
work in such well-equipped theatres, but I don’t think there are as
many opportunities for directors to develop their craft in the way that
I did.”
Alexander will spend his first full year at the Royal Court
“fact-finding”, as he survey’s Liverpool’s theatrical landscape, and he
is unlikely to direct a show until this coming autumn at the earliest.
The theatre will nevertheless continue in a light-hearted vein, a la
Nightmare on Lime Street. Already lined up is another Christmas show
with a similarly local flavour, a science-fiction spoof revelling in
the name of Hitch-hikers Guide to Fazakerley, the latter word being a
northern suburb of the city. Bearing in mind that it was Liverpool
which pretty much invented the rock and musical by way of the very
first production of Return to the Forbidden Planet at the Everyman in
the mid-1980s, and such a focus on unashamed populism isn’t surprising.
“I would like to see the Royal Court in a position where we can plan
seasons with at least a couple of shows going out on tour,” he says. “I
would also like to see the likes of the National Theatre, the RSC and
the National Theatre of Scotland touring here. I want the theatre to be
running at least fifty weeks of the year. It has to be aspirational.”
www.royalcourtliverpool.co.uk
The Herald, January 12th 2013
ends
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