Interesting to note this week that the Northcott Theatre in Exeter is to become the latest in a string of regional theatres to do away with the post of artistic director.
As part of a major re-organisation of the venue, it will now be led by a chief executive and ‘creative director’, which sounds rather like the ‘creative producer’ role which has been cropping up at other theatres across the country.
According to said chief executive Kate Tyrell:
“We don’t need an artistic director in the way that we have before. The post we’re going to appoint is a creative who will programme visiting companies , produce incoming companies and work with associate directors, who will direct the work.”
Gone are the days when regional reps had an AD who would direct the bulk of the work produced on its stage.
Even those working today under the title of artistic director often only actually direct one or two productions a year themselves - think Jonathan Church at the revitalised Chichester Festival Theatre, for example.
It’s no longer the case that the person in charge of a venue has to be a director. David Babani at the Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark isn’t and that hasn’t done too badly, has it?
The trend now appears to be towards having some kind of creative facilitator who brings in specialist associate directors to helm specific productions. This way audiences can be given more variety of artistic vision, while the man/woman in charge can spend more time worrying about the overall running of the building and the company’s general creative direction.
There are exceptions, of course. Nicholas Hytner (who interestingly started his professional career at the Northcott) at the National still directs a huge amount of work himself at the NT - especially for someone with such a large building to run.
Generally, though, this appears to be the way theatre is going. But is it a good or a bad thing?
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