The National Theatre has long been the leading provider of “quality drama” in London’s theatreland, now that the West End is more or less dominated by musical revivals, imports, jukebox shows and other long-runners. The handful of plays in town – invariably on limited runs – are transfers from the Donmar like A Voyage Round My Father (soon to be followed, no doubt, by the Donmar’s current hit Frost/Nixon), the Royal Court’s Rock n’ Roll or the Tricycle’s The 39 Steps, with only a couple of new productions (of long-established plays) originated with the West End always in its sights, like Bent (opening this week at the intimate Trafalgar Studios) or Summer and Smoke (now in Nottingham en route to the Apollo).
But if the National’s dominant market position is now unchallenged, so is its power. West End producers may well have resented being cut out of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, the National’s biggest hit for years. After it opened on the South Bank two years ago, the National held onto its reigns tightly, keeping it in the repertoire there in order to maximise the return to themselves, rather than throwing it open to the commercial vultures to capitalise for their own profits (though under a pre-existing arrangement with Broadway producers Boyett Ostar Productions, who in return for upfront annual funding to the National have the first refusal on New York transfers, it was moved to Broadway under their auspices).
Now the news comes that, in the wake of last night’s Royal Premiere for the film version of The History Boys, the current national touring production of the play will come to the West End’s Wyndham’s in December. And once again, the West End is being cut out of the deal: the National is sufficiently confident of its own product that it is producing the West End transfer itself, together with National Angels Ltd, an Enterprise Investment Scheme company set up by a group of the National’s loyal supporters that is intended to give the theatre a bigger share of commercial profits when they are available.
Of course, there are no guarantees in the West End – the transfer of the National’s Democracy, also to Wyndham’s, failed to return a profit to producer Michael Codron, partly because it had exhausted its audience by the time it got to town after the National kept it in the repertoire of the South Bank and even moved it into the larger Lyttelton before it crossed the river, thus opening up many more seats. So the question is whether the appetite for The History Boys will continue to be as powerful as it has proved to be thus far, at higher West End prices and without the original company? I hope so.
There are some thrilling productions in west end theatres, even some excellent seasons or festivals of poignant work, but its theatres cling far too tightly to the tourism industry, and this stops them from treading new ground. A tourist in London wants to see Cats, Les Mis, The Lion King etc etc not the 'controversial' or the 'dangerous'. They want to be entertained not intellectualised. The National on the other hand, while still governed by similar market laws, has nurtured a tradition of mainstream/commercial + experimental work. This is partly to do with its multiple spaces, but of course mostly due to some key long-reigning artistic directors, riding on waves of anger from the 60's and 70's.
I suspect that if the west end suddenly vanished in the night, people would be restless for a day or two, but they'd ultimately head out into the 'zones' in search of new theatre.
It's worth pointing out that Frost/Nixon, Rock N'Roll and 39 Steps are all co-productions with commercial producers - always destined for the West End if they turned out well.
It just goes to show that the publically subsidised sector can actually give the commercial west end a run for its money when it pulls its finger out.
HURRAH!!!!
Thank God for FROST/NIXON.