One of the most ubiquitous – and distinctive – presences on the first night circuit, whether in the West End, on the fringe or at regional theatres up and down the country (and the week before last, in New York, too), is always Blanche Marvin, an 80-year-old American, a former actress and literary agent who has long been resident in the UK.
It has often been Americans who have appreciated our theatrical heritage even more than we have, particularly in its quirkier parts, and just as it took the late Dan Crawford to kick-start the fringe pub theatre network when he founded the King’s Head, so Blanche found a way, all of sixteen years ago now, to honour and reward the fringe toilers whose work isn’t typically recognized by the larger awards ceremonies, and beyond the award itself, to actually give them what many of them need most: a sum of money, from a fund that Blanche has endowed herself into perpetuity. The Awards, called The Empty Space/Peter Brook Awards, are the only awards originated to recognize the artistic standards in the body of work of studio venues, rather than specific single productions, across a particular year.
Today duly saw the latest set of awards presented at the Theatre Museum to an established studio theatre, to an up-and-coming venue (that may indeed be long established, like this year’s 40-year-old nominee the Little Angel Theatre, but has recently been grabbing attention), and for the newly created Dan Crawford Pub Theatre Award to recognize the pub theatre movement that he initiated some 35 years ago; the awards respectively went to Notting Hill’s Gate, Southwark’s Menier Chocolate Factory; and the Finborough Theatre in Earl’s Court.
I ought here to declare an interest: I am one of the judges for the award, along with the Guardian’s Lyn Gardner, the Daily Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish and the Evening Standard’s Fiona Mountford. But even if this is an under-funded initiative in a chronically under-funded sector of the theatrical industry, it has great symbolic value, and Blanche is to be applauded, not just for her determination in keeping it going, but also in her unstinting professional support of theatre that she travels constantly to keep up with.
