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"Does Britain Need to Develop a New Tradition of Repertory Theatre?"
by Becky Prime
In Britain, the repertory movement was a theatrical movement that originated in the
early years of the twentieth century, was continued and developed between the two
world wars, and became, after 1950, the prevailing form of theatrical organisation
outside London. The earliest repertory companies were created and introduced as a
protest against London’s domination of the theatres in the regions, along with a desire
to counter-balance the commercial successes of the ‘West End’. My argument in this
essay is that the time has come for a renewal of that protest in the face of a modern
domination of British theatre by ‘The West End’.
By the second half of Queen Victoria’s reign, most people earned more money and
worked shorter hours than ever before. This meant that for the first time, ordinary
workers had enough leisure time to enjoy pastimes. By the mid-1800s, most of the large
towns had several theatres, providing a range of ‘song-and-dance’ shows that
entertained the whole family. By the 1860s, theatre became so successful that not only
were they decorated to make them more comfortable with proper cushioned seats and
carpet, but also matinées were introduced and the representational style of theatre was
replaced with a new realism, pioneered on the continent by writers such as Ibsen. This
meant box-sets were placed on the stage to create a proper room or rooms and the set
would then be decorated with all the household items appropriate to that type of room;
the set would appear exactly like a real-life room. At the beginning of the nineteenth
century, theatres had stayed open many hours, often until midnight, showing tragedies,
farces, pantomimes and other forms of entertainment that appealed to a mass audience.
Theatres were not always the most salubrious places to visit. However, by the end of
the century theatres were more attractive, stayed open for much shorter periods of time
and the theatre programmes again consisted of just a single play. Banks and Marson
(1998, p.45) claim that:
The court of Queen Victoria and so-called Victorian morality and attitudes affected the
theatre. The Queen invited actors and companies to give ‘command performances’ at
Windsor Castle;
thus the theatre became open and acceptable to all social classes, not just the lower
classes of the earlier part of the century.
After the end of the Victorian period, things began to change significantly. Annie
Horniman was “one of the most important forces in the shaping of twentieth century
theatre in England” (Flannery, 1970, p.34), funding many worthwhile and critically
acclaimed theatrical ventures and launching the careers of many famous figures in the
world of drama. Annie was one of the key promoters of realism in the theatre in the UK,
after observing with interest some of Ibsen’s plays. She also became aware of the
number of repertory theatres in Germany and was keen to introduce into England the
cultural value they brought. In her time Annie Horniman bought and renovated or
financed several theatres that went on to achieve international recognition, as well as
developing the modern repertory movement and enriching Britain’s dramatical culture,
for which she was awarded an honorary MA. Most significantly, Horniman collaborated
with W B Yeats on the establishment of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin as the first British
repertory theatre in 1903. In 1907, she then bought the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester
and redeveloped it as a regional repertory theatre. Harold Brighouse was another
supporter of Manchester’s Gaiety and a prolific playwright of over seventy plays.
Brighouse’s dominant style of writing was realism, and with Annie Horniman, was one of
the first Britons to introduce and project this new style of theatre into British society.
Brighouse, author of ‘Hobson’s Choice’, and other writers working in a similarly realistic
style at the Gaiety became known as the Manchester School, which influenced the work
of many other regional repertory theatres.
Barry Jackson shared with Annie Horniman her belief in the repertory movement. He
was responsible for opening the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, which offered a
valuable springboard for young actors wishing to work in ‘professional theatre’; through
his work in Birmingham, he was also financing and supporting four other theatre
companies. In 1904, a small group of theatrical players travelled around an area giving
performances of old plays such as, ‘Youth’. It was this group, the Pilgrim Players, that
later developed, under Barry Jackson’s guidance and influence, into the Birmingham
Repertory Company; soon small repertory companies were beginning to establish
themselves all over the country.
Although uncommon in British repertory theatres, some companies employed a form of
repertoire system. In theatre, a repertoire system can operate with a theatre putting on
many plays, including musicals, ballets and operas, at any one time. It is different from
a weekly (or three-weekly) repertory system in that each play will have a different cast
from within the same company, and possibly a different technical team too, making each
production quite separate and unique. There are many benefits to this system, such as
better quality and an increased variety of productions. However, the repertoire system
has drawbacks too, including increased production costs due to each show needing
separate sets, props, costumes, actors and publicity, with frequent changes to be
organised.
When the British repertory system was in its early period of great success, it used to be
that even smaller towns supported a theatre. The resident company would present a
different play each week, normally a revival from a range of classics, but occasionally, if
given the chance, a new play - the rights for which would have been recently released
after a West End or Broadway run. However, these companies were not known for
producing and developing new, untried work. Generally, companies would include a
‘leading lady’ and a ‘leading man’, two younger actors who would generally play the
romantic roles. There would also be a ‘character’ actor and actress who would usually
play the older roles and possibly a ‘soubrette’ who would play the cheeky, mischievous
roles, thus creating a resident cast of seven actors. Occasionally a ‘guest star’ would
be brought into the company for a short run to boost audience attendance and help pick
up ticket sales.
The process of weekly rep was very stressful and pushed both the actors and the
technical team to their limits. Typically the plays put on were three act plays and so
along with performing one play, perhaps seven times a week, they would also have to
learn lines, run and block a second play in their time between performances. However,
from the audience’s point of view, seeing so many more, different performances, nearby
and cheaper than the West End, was a fantastic and exciting opportunity. Local
communities would strongly support the actors and would treat them like celebrities.
According to the article on ‘repertory’ in Wikipedia, “sometimes entire families would
make a visit to their local rep as part of their weekly routine like going to church”. For
many of the younger audience members, this became a base for their future
recognition, acknowledgement and enjoyment of live theatre, and indeed, a base for
their social and cultural sense of self. However, today the practise of a new play every
week and a week’s rehearsal does not happen and the practise of rep is more likely to
be seen in large cities in well known establishments such as Birmingham Rep where
plays run for between three and six weeks. Now actors rehearse for at least three
weeks and as a result, a better show is produced and performed. However, a variation
of weekly rep can still be found in some places in the UK. For example, producer
Charles Vance still produces a successful weekly rep in Sidmouth based on a rotation of
twelve plays.
Local repertory companies were keen to ensure a regular, good quality production for
their communities. However, due to the World War between 1914 and 1918, the
development of repertory slowed so much, it almost ground to a halt. The repertory
theatres that remained open and successful such as Birmingham and Liverpool,
encouraged other theatres to open, and continued giving their own performances, even
twice a night. However, despite other smaller repertory theatres opening, by 1950, the
popularity of the old style repertory theatres was disappearing, being replaced by
regional theatres. Following an act of parliament in 1948, which established the arts
council, many new regional repertory theatres were built; these were better financed,
provided better facilities and put on longer runs of plays and invested in new writing,
although still in repertory.
Regional repertory theatre in Britain was at its most important and influential between
the 1950s and the 1980s. During this period the number of repertory theatres increased
and the movement offered a good solid base to teach actors their trade, often acting as
a preparation for professional theatre. This enabled many actors, such as Imelda
Staunton, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, who all began their careers in repertory
theatres, as did Laurence Olivier, Peggy Ashcroft, Edith Evans and Ralph Richardson at
Birmingham Rep between the wars, to go on to achieve universal recognition for their
acting abilities.
The financing of the early repertory theatres was found privately, either through
wealthy patrons such as Annie Horniman and Barry Jackson, or by local support. This
meant that the companies were dependent either on the public’s continual support or on
a patron having enough money to keep them running for a long period of time. This left
many companies in an unstable position; the money could disappear at any time and the
group would dissolve. However, the importance of keeping morale high during the
Second World War was recognised by government funding for the first time, through
what would become the Arts Council. This resulted in an increase of financial
assistance for repertory companies after 1945.There was also a noticeable growth in
local funding for resident companies or ‘regional theatres’ through the 1948 Act
authorising expenditure on the arts, from the local rates, by local councils.
The years between the 1950s and the 1970s were some of the richest for dramatical
culture in Britain with a wide variety of productions. Not only were the classics
performed, as we see in today’s professional theatres, but also many of the plays
produced, both in and out of the West End, were contemporary, with playwrights such
as Willy Russell, John Osborne and Harold Pinter bringing a new meaningful depth to
British theatre. Regional repertory theatres enabled a wide variety of new writers to
develop an interesting range of drama, often with a local or a social and political theme.
A feature of the work of Peter Cheeseman… at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent,
has been… historical documentaries of local interest, using idiomatic speech and
researched by his own group of actors. (Goorney, undated)
In contrast, the same theatre was the early training ground for the famous comedy
writer, Alan Ayckbourn. On the stage today, there are fewer plays being written to be
performed specifically in professional theatres, again reducing what could be a very rich
theatrical culture.
The vast development of the regional theatres throughout the 1960s and 1970s was
followed by a huge decline in the 1980s. Cutbacks in funding meant that seasons had to
be cut back and some of the studio theatres were closed completely. The closing and
disappearance of repertory theatres is due to the year-on-year reduction in funding,
whether it be funding from the local communities, the regional arts boards, or from
central government, the financial support is simply being denied to them. The increasing
difficulty for theatres in finding sponsorship and benefactors to fund their work is
resulting in lowering wages, reducing cast and company sizes and restricting budgets,
all of which have a clear effect on the final performances; a reduced quality production
is the outcome. This has become a concern for many politicians. In February 2003,
Robin Harper, MSP for the Green Party, challenged the Scottish Executive over the
funding of Scottish theatre, saying, “Core funding for the Scottish Arts Council has been
at a standstill, causing many theatre companies to suffer financial hardship, and their
capacity to stage productions to be severely restricted.” Repertory theatre depends
upon money and support from local and national government; failure to provide
sufficient support will mean that repertory will not survive and Britain will loose a key
educational and entertainment resource. In a Lords’ debate on 14 July, 1998, Lord
Jenkins of Putney quoted Sir Cameron Mackintosh, a leading commercial theatre
producer in Britain, saying:
The reason that British theatre is the envy of the world – both artistically and
financially – is that public money was invested in revitalising regional theatre from the
1950s onwards… most UK theatres outside the West End were built, saved or funded by
public money. (Lords Hansard, 1998)
Bill Alexander (1998) wrote to The Independent newspaper about the benefits of good
funding from his experience at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, saying that good finance:
…will see us almost double the number of performances and productions… launch
Birmingham’s only venue for new writing… produce more work for children and family
audiences, double our investment in education and community activities… and bring a
rich programme of large-scale work to our main stage.
Today, the situation with theatres has much reverted to how it was pre-repertory, with
the ‘regional’ theatres predominantly producing amateur productions, occasional touring
productions and one-night entertainment shows such as music evenings and dance
shows. In contrast the West End is dominated by Shakespeare and musicals - many of
which are the work of Andrew Lloyd Webber - with only very few theatres presenting
plays, and those that do are long-running and change infrequently. Television has
become the dominant medium at the expense of live drama. Without repertory theatres
there are very limited opportunities for actors to develop their talents and train and
learn their craft, thus resulting in the whole of the British arts system wilting and being
reduced to a very primitive and unpolished existence. As Lord Rix said in the House of
Lords, on 14 July 1988, “Regional theatre is the birthplace of most new work and the
training ground for our industry.”
Film and television have been an increasingly dominant medium for drama and acting
over the last fifty years with many actors who had been professionally trained in
theatre, turning to work ‘on the big screen’, a career change that pays more and brings
greater public admiration and acknowledgement. However, film and television do offer a
lot, especially for those who cannot afford to go to the theatre regularly; a wide range
of classics and dramas are constantly being reproduced on film and aired on television,
making it possible for the majority of the population to have some experience of
cultured drama.
It is inevitable that the experience of watching television at home, alone or in a small
group, watching a film in a cinema in the company of a larger audience and being part
of an audience at a live production in a theatre are not the same. The improvement in
cinemas, both physically and in terms of technology, has lead to huge revival in cinema
going in Britain in recent years. Watching, for example, a comedy or a horror film with a
large audience around increases the individual’s pleasure and involvement in the film,
because it is easier to laugh out loud when others are laughing around you too, and
when one person jumps or screams, others feel the tension too. However, the
performance on film is fixed and cannot react to the mood of the audience.
The unique quality of live drama is not only that the performance of the actors changes
and develops from performance to performance, but also the involvement of the
audience with the production adds an extra dimension to the experience for both actor
and audience. The most obvious form of this is in the ever-popular Christmas
pantomime. However, in more subtle ways, the same is true for all live productions in
the theatre. This interaction is the key force that enables you to understand what is the
purpose and underlying meaning behind the play. We need theatres in Britain that
present a rich variety of drama from both contemporary and classic sources and from a
range of different cultures. As Goorney (undated) suggests:
A popular theatre cannot be built solely on the basis of contemporary plays concerned
with the political or social ills of our society. The plays inherited from the great theatres
of the past, the Greeks, the Elizabethans, the Commedia dell’arte and the Spanish
theatre of Lope de Vega, are the heritage of all people and must not remain, as at
present, the privilege of the few.
I believe there are many good reasons why we need more repertory theatres today,
perhaps most importantly because they encourage, prepare and train young actors and
dramatists for professional theatre so thoroughly, presenting a more experienced and
better trained actor to the public. This has worked for hundreds of actors over the
years, many of whom have gone on to become Britain’s finest dramatic performers.
There is no point training the best stage actors if there is no demand or opportunity for
them to exercise their dramatic performing skills. The whole community is impoverished
if we are not able to be challenged, entertained and educated by the experience of
seeing meaningful scripts brought to reality by skilled and exciting actors. As Goorney
(undated) says, “…Art generally, including theatre, exists to enrich our spirit, to inform
and extend our horizons…” In the past, regional repertory theatre has been at the heart
of that experience and I believe it is time for it to be so again.
by Becky Prime
In Britain, the repertory movement was a theatrical movement that originated in the
early years of the twentieth century, was continued and developed between the two
world wars, and became, after 1950, the prevailing form of theatrical organisation
outside London. The earliest repertory companies were created and introduced as a
protest against London’s domination of the theatres in the regions, along with a desire
to counter-balance the commercial successes of the ‘West End’. My argument in this
essay is that the time has come for a renewal of that protest in the face of a modern
domination of British theatre by ‘The West End’.
By the second half of Queen Victoria’s reign, most people earned more money and
worked shorter hours than ever before. This meant that for the first time, ordinary
workers had enough leisure time to enjoy pastimes. By the mid-1800s, most of the large
towns had several theatres, providing a range of ‘song-and-dance’ shows that
entertained the whole family. By the 1860s, theatre became so successful that not only
were they decorated to make them more comfortable with proper cushioned seats and
carpet, but also matinées were introduced and the representational style of theatre was
replaced with a new realism, pioneered on the continent by writers such as Ibsen. This
meant box-sets were placed on the stage to create a proper room or rooms and the set
would then be decorated with all the household items appropriate to that type of room;
the set would appear exactly like a real-life room. At the beginning of the nineteenth
century, theatres had stayed open many hours, often until midnight, showing tragedies,
farces, pantomimes and other forms of entertainment that appealed to a mass audience.
Theatres were not always the most salubrious places to visit. However, by the end of
the century theatres were more attractive, stayed open for much shorter periods of time
and the theatre programmes again consisted of just a single play. Banks and Marson
(1998, p.45) claim that:
The court of Queen Victoria and so-called Victorian morality and attitudes affected the
theatre. The Queen invited actors and companies to give ‘command performances’ at
Windsor Castle;
thus the theatre became open and acceptable to all social classes, not just the lower
classes of the earlier part of the century.
After the end of the Victorian period, things began to change significantly. Annie
Horniman was “one of the most important forces in the shaping of twentieth century
theatre in England” (Flannery, 1970, p.34), funding many worthwhile and critically
acclaimed theatrical ventures and launching the careers of many famous figures in the
world of drama. Annie was one of the key promoters of realism in the theatre in the UK,
after observing with interest some of Ibsen’s plays. She also became aware of the
number of repertory theatres in Germany and was keen to introduce into England the
cultural value they brought. In her time Annie Horniman bought and renovated or
financed several theatres that went on to achieve international recognition, as well as
developing the modern repertory movement and enriching Britain’s dramatical culture,
for which she was awarded an honorary MA. Most significantly, Horniman collaborated
with W B Yeats on the establishment of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin as the first British
repertory theatre in 1903. In 1907, she then bought the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester
and redeveloped it as a regional repertory theatre. Harold Brighouse was another
supporter of Manchester’s Gaiety and a prolific playwright of over seventy plays.
Brighouse’s dominant style of writing was realism, and with Annie Horniman, was one of
the first Britons to introduce and project this new style of theatre into British society.
Brighouse, author of ‘Hobson’s Choice’, and other writers working in a similarly realistic
style at the Gaiety became known as the Manchester School, which influenced the work
of many other regional repertory theatres.
Barry Jackson shared with Annie Horniman her belief in the repertory movement. He
was responsible for opening the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, which offered a
valuable springboard for young actors wishing to work in ‘professional theatre’; through
his work in Birmingham, he was also financing and supporting four other theatre
companies. In 1904, a small group of theatrical players travelled around an area giving
performances of old plays such as, ‘Youth’. It was this group, the Pilgrim Players, that
later developed, under Barry Jackson’s guidance and influence, into the Birmingham
Repertory Company; soon small repertory companies were beginning to establish
themselves all over the country.
Although uncommon in British repertory theatres, some companies employed a form of
repertoire system. In theatre, a repertoire system can operate with a theatre putting on
many plays, including musicals, ballets and operas, at any one time. It is different from
a weekly (or three-weekly) repertory system in that each play will have a different cast
from within the same company, and possibly a different technical team too, making each
production quite separate and unique. There are many benefits to this system, such as
better quality and an increased variety of productions. However, the repertoire system
has drawbacks too, including increased production costs due to each show needing
separate sets, props, costumes, actors and publicity, with frequent changes to be
organised.
When the British repertory system was in its early period of great success, it used to be
that even smaller towns supported a theatre. The resident company would present a
different play each week, normally a revival from a range of classics, but occasionally, if
given the chance, a new play - the rights for which would have been recently released
after a West End or Broadway run. However, these companies were not known for
producing and developing new, untried work. Generally, companies would include a
‘leading lady’ and a ‘leading man’, two younger actors who would generally play the
romantic roles. There would also be a ‘character’ actor and actress who would usually
play the older roles and possibly a ‘soubrette’ who would play the cheeky, mischievous
roles, thus creating a resident cast of seven actors. Occasionally a ‘guest star’ would
be brought into the company for a short run to boost audience attendance and help pick
up ticket sales.
The process of weekly rep was very stressful and pushed both the actors and the
technical team to their limits. Typically the plays put on were three act plays and so
along with performing one play, perhaps seven times a week, they would also have to
learn lines, run and block a second play in their time between performances. However,
from the audience’s point of view, seeing so many more, different performances, nearby
and cheaper than the West End, was a fantastic and exciting opportunity. Local
communities would strongly support the actors and would treat them like celebrities.
According to the article on ‘repertory’ in Wikipedia, “sometimes entire families would
make a visit to their local rep as part of their weekly routine like going to church”. For
many of the younger audience members, this became a base for their future
recognition, acknowledgement and enjoyment of live theatre, and indeed, a base for
their social and cultural sense of self. However, today the practise of a new play every
week and a week’s rehearsal does not happen and the practise of rep is more likely to
be seen in large cities in well known establishments such as Birmingham Rep where
plays run for between three and six weeks. Now actors rehearse for at least three
weeks and as a result, a better show is produced and performed. However, a variation
of weekly rep can still be found in some places in the UK. For example, producer
Charles Vance still produces a successful weekly rep in Sidmouth based on a rotation of
twelve plays.
Local repertory companies were keen to ensure a regular, good quality production for
their communities. However, due to the World War between 1914 and 1918, the
development of repertory slowed so much, it almost ground to a halt. The repertory
theatres that remained open and successful such as Birmingham and Liverpool,
encouraged other theatres to open, and continued giving their own performances, even
twice a night. However, despite other smaller repertory theatres opening, by 1950, the
popularity of the old style repertory theatres was disappearing, being replaced by
regional theatres. Following an act of parliament in 1948, which established the arts
council, many new regional repertory theatres were built; these were better financed,
provided better facilities and put on longer runs of plays and invested in new writing,
although still in repertory.
Regional repertory theatre in Britain was at its most important and influential between
the 1950s and the 1980s. During this period the number of repertory theatres increased
and the movement offered a good solid base to teach actors their trade, often acting as
a preparation for professional theatre. This enabled many actors, such as Imelda
Staunton, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, who all began their careers in repertory
theatres, as did Laurence Olivier, Peggy Ashcroft, Edith Evans and Ralph Richardson at
Birmingham Rep between the wars, to go on to achieve universal recognition for their
acting abilities.
The financing of the early repertory theatres was found privately, either through
wealthy patrons such as Annie Horniman and Barry Jackson, or by local support. This
meant that the companies were dependent either on the public’s continual support or on
a patron having enough money to keep them running for a long period of time. This left
many companies in an unstable position; the money could disappear at any time and the
group would dissolve. However, the importance of keeping morale high during the
Second World War was recognised by government funding for the first time, through
what would become the Arts Council. This resulted in an increase of financial
assistance for repertory companies after 1945.There was also a noticeable growth in
local funding for resident companies or ‘regional theatres’ through the 1948 Act
authorising expenditure on the arts, from the local rates, by local councils.
The years between the 1950s and the 1970s were some of the richest for dramatical
culture in Britain with a wide variety of productions. Not only were the classics
performed, as we see in today’s professional theatres, but also many of the plays
produced, both in and out of the West End, were contemporary, with playwrights such
as Willy Russell, John Osborne and Harold Pinter bringing a new meaningful depth to
British theatre. Regional repertory theatres enabled a wide variety of new writers to
develop an interesting range of drama, often with a local or a social and political theme.
A feature of the work of Peter Cheeseman… at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent,
has been… historical documentaries of local interest, using idiomatic speech and
researched by his own group of actors. (Goorney, undated)
In contrast, the same theatre was the early training ground for the famous comedy
writer, Alan Ayckbourn. On the stage today, there are fewer plays being written to be
performed specifically in professional theatres, again reducing what could be a very rich
theatrical culture.
The vast development of the regional theatres throughout the 1960s and 1970s was
followed by a huge decline in the 1980s. Cutbacks in funding meant that seasons had to
be cut back and some of the studio theatres were closed completely. The closing and
disappearance of repertory theatres is due to the year-on-year reduction in funding,
whether it be funding from the local communities, the regional arts boards, or from
central government, the financial support is simply being denied to them. The increasing
difficulty for theatres in finding sponsorship and benefactors to fund their work is
resulting in lowering wages, reducing cast and company sizes and restricting budgets,
all of which have a clear effect on the final performances; a reduced quality production
is the outcome. This has become a concern for many politicians. In February 2003,
Robin Harper, MSP for the Green Party, challenged the Scottish Executive over the
funding of Scottish theatre, saying, “Core funding for the Scottish Arts Council has been
at a standstill, causing many theatre companies to suffer financial hardship, and their
capacity to stage productions to be severely restricted.” Repertory theatre depends
upon money and support from local and national government; failure to provide
sufficient support will mean that repertory will not survive and Britain will loose a key
educational and entertainment resource. In a Lords’ debate on 14 July, 1998, Lord
Jenkins of Putney quoted Sir Cameron Mackintosh, a leading commercial theatre
producer in Britain, saying:
The reason that British theatre is the envy of the world – both artistically and
financially – is that public money was invested in revitalising regional theatre from the
1950s onwards… most UK theatres outside the West End were built, saved or funded by
public money. (Lords Hansard, 1998)
Bill Alexander (1998) wrote to The Independent newspaper about the benefits of good
funding from his experience at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, saying that good finance:
…will see us almost double the number of performances and productions… launch
Birmingham’s only venue for new writing… produce more work for children and family
audiences, double our investment in education and community activities… and bring a
rich programme of large-scale work to our main stage.
Today, the situation with theatres has much reverted to how it was pre-repertory, with
the ‘regional’ theatres predominantly producing amateur productions, occasional touring
productions and one-night entertainment shows such as music evenings and dance
shows. In contrast the West End is dominated by Shakespeare and musicals - many of
which are the work of Andrew Lloyd Webber - with only very few theatres presenting
plays, and those that do are long-running and change infrequently. Television has
become the dominant medium at the expense of live drama. Without repertory theatres
there are very limited opportunities for actors to develop their talents and train and
learn their craft, thus resulting in the whole of the British arts system wilting and being
reduced to a very primitive and unpolished existence. As Lord Rix said in the House of
Lords, on 14 July 1988, “Regional theatre is the birthplace of most new work and the
training ground for our industry.”
Film and television have been an increasingly dominant medium for drama and acting
over the last fifty years with many actors who had been professionally trained in
theatre, turning to work ‘on the big screen’, a career change that pays more and brings
greater public admiration and acknowledgement. However, film and television do offer a
lot, especially for those who cannot afford to go to the theatre regularly; a wide range
of classics and dramas are constantly being reproduced on film and aired on television,
making it possible for the majority of the population to have some experience of
cultured drama.
It is inevitable that the experience of watching television at home, alone or in a small
group, watching a film in a cinema in the company of a larger audience and being part
of an audience at a live production in a theatre are not the same. The improvement in
cinemas, both physically and in terms of technology, has lead to huge revival in cinema
going in Britain in recent years. Watching, for example, a comedy or a horror film with a
large audience around increases the individual’s pleasure and involvement in the film,
because it is easier to laugh out loud when others are laughing around you too, and
when one person jumps or screams, others feel the tension too. However, the
performance on film is fixed and cannot react to the mood of the audience.
The unique quality of live drama is not only that the performance of the actors changes
and develops from performance to performance, but also the involvement of the
audience with the production adds an extra dimension to the experience for both actor
and audience. The most obvious form of this is in the ever-popular Christmas
pantomime. However, in more subtle ways, the same is true for all live productions in
the theatre. This interaction is the key force that enables you to understand what is the
purpose and underlying meaning behind the play. We need theatres in Britain that
present a rich variety of drama from both contemporary and classic sources and from a
range of different cultures. As Goorney (undated) suggests:
A popular theatre cannot be built solely on the basis of contemporary plays concerned
with the political or social ills of our society. The plays inherited from the great theatres
of the past, the Greeks, the Elizabethans, the Commedia dell’arte and the Spanish
theatre of Lope de Vega, are the heritage of all people and must not remain, as at
present, the privilege of the few.
I believe there are many good reasons why we need more repertory theatres today,
perhaps most importantly because they encourage, prepare and train young actors and
dramatists for professional theatre so thoroughly, presenting a more experienced and
better trained actor to the public. This has worked for hundreds of actors over the
years, many of whom have gone on to become Britain’s finest dramatic performers.
There is no point training the best stage actors if there is no demand or opportunity for
them to exercise their dramatic performing skills. The whole community is impoverished
if we are not able to be challenged, entertained and educated by the experience of
seeing meaningful scripts brought to reality by skilled and exciting actors. As Goorney
(undated) says, “…Art generally, including theatre, exists to enrich our spirit, to inform
and extend our horizons…” In the past, regional repertory theatre has been at the heart
of that experience and I believe it is time for it to be so again.
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