Item 7a Chair’s Foreword Only three of the eight plays that make up the RSC's acclaimed 2003 Stratford Festival season will make it to London over this autumn and winter. The RSC’s Measure for Measure, Richard III, Titus Andronicus, As You Like It & Cymbeline will not be performed in the capital. This failure of the RSC to secure a comprehensive run of its 2003 Stratford season in London represents a serious loss to the city's theatre scene. The RSC is perhaps the world's most famous theatre company and has for the past 40 years provided London with some great theatre. RSC performances at the Donmar, Aldwych and Barbican have introduced Londoners of all ages to Shakespeare and honed the talents of the likes of Judi Dench, Ian McKellan and Alan Rickman. Excellence doesn't come cheap however. As a theatre company, the RSC is second only to the National Theatre in the level of funding it receives from the Arts Council. This year the RSC will receive more than £13 million of public money which is conditional on staging its plays in London. The RSC has failed to perform its core activities in 2003/04 and must not be allowed to do so again in 2004/05. After hearing from the RSC, Arts Council and others it is clear to the Committee that that the RSC must re-establish a permanent and prominent presence in the capital. The RSC has set itself a deadline of October 2004 to establish a London RSC venue. We expect the RSC to meet it. Similarly we expect the Arts Council to ensure that conditions for public funding are actually met. As the RSC's principle sponsor the Arts Council must ensure that they don’t write a blank cheque to the RSC for 2004/05 when there are many other organisations clamouring for arts funding in London. We sincerely look forward to the RSC bringing its 2004 season in its entirety next year. 1 Item 7a 1. Introduction 1.1 For over four decades the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has developed and staged contemporary and vibrant high quality theatre in London that has contributed significantly to the capital’s reputation as one of the finest theatre cities in the world. For generations of Londoners the RSC have provided a powerful introduction not only to Shakespearean classics but to modern theatre. It is estimated that 850,000 people see RSC productions a year in the UK – over a quarter of which are under-25. 1 1.2 Since his plays were first performed in Southwark, Shakespeare has been synonymous with theatre in London. The RSC has had a permanent base in our capital starting with the Aldwych and Donmar during the 60’s and 70’s and the Barbican since 1982. 1.3 However, once the RSC decided to leave the Barbican in 2001, it has lacked a permanent base in London. This winter the RSC has only been able to secure a limited eight-week run part of this year’s Stratford season. At one stage even this limited run looked unlikely. 1.4 Without the RSC’s presence in London this winter Londoners access to Shakespeare has been compromised. The Guardian’s theatre critic, Michael Billington, told us: ….this winter all one gets in London is random Shakespeare productions: a very good Pericles in Hammersmith and two slightly eccentric versions of Romeo and Juliet at the Arts and the Young Vic. 2 1.5 The Committee decided to investigate this matter when in October this year it came to light that this year’s Stratford season was not likely to tour London. The Committee considers the RSC’s presence in London is vital not simply because of the added artistic value the RSC offers to London’s theatregoers. The RSC has a duty to perform in London as the large public subsidy that the RSC receives from the Arts Council is given on the assumption that they perform in London. 1.6 This brief report charts the reduced presence in London for the RSC and explores the options now available to both the RSC and bodies such as the Arts Council to ensure that the RSC secures a prominent and permanent presence in London. This report is also an opportunity to place on public record the evidence the Committee has received3 and to outline what we expect from the RSC and the Arts Council regarding a RSC presence in London in the future. 1.7 Chapter 2 examines the background to the decision to leave the Barbican in May 2002 and the subsequent attempts to develop an alternative RSC London presence – including harnessing the commercial sector as a possible provider of finance. It also looks at the role that the RSC’s principle source of funding, the Arts Council, played throughout. 1.8 Chapter 3 explores the options now available to the RSC and looks at the wider issue of the long-term viability for Shakespeare productions in London, both 1 http://www.rsc.org.uk/aboutthersc/51.asp 2 Michael Billington, November 2003, Appendix D 3 Appendices A-E includes the written and evidence received from the RSC, Arts Council, Barbican, Guardian Theatre Critic Michael Billington and the Society of London Theatres. 2 Item 7a RSC and non-RSC. With commercial producers more cautious and Shakespeare productions reporting losses there is no guarantee that Shakespeare will be staged within the commercial sector. 1.9 Chapter 4 looks at the role that funding agencies such as the Arts Council can play in plugging the gap left by the commercial sector and assesses to what extent subsidised organizations, such as the RSC, are held to account in performing the functions for which they are subsidised. 3 Item 7a 2. A Winter of Discontent Why did London miss out on the 2003 Stratford season? Background 2.1 Peter Hall and Peter Brook formed the RSC as an ensemble touring company in 1960. Its founding aim was to reexamine Shakespeare; to “connect Shakespeare to contemporary drama.4” It sought to develop a comprehensive presence with a rolling ensemble that was both year-long and national. Today, the RSC employs approximately 500 people including directors, actors, writers, technicians and administrators. 2.2 The RSC’s base has always been Stratford-upon-Avon but its presence in London has been “absolutely vital5” to its continuing development. Initially the RSC established a residency at the Aldwych. The Aldwych housed RSC work throughout the year that would also include specifically commissioned London work. By 1977, the RSC had expanded its London presence to include the Donmar. However, the split essentially proved unwieldy and the RSC moved to the Barbican in 1982, where it remained until 2002.6 2.3 In the early 1990’s the RSC expanded its regional touring operation which included regular annual visits to Newcastle. As a result the RSC was no longer able to fulfill a twelve-month residency at the Barbican and reduced its residency to six months a year. Leaving the Barbican 2.4 In May 2002, after a year of deliberating its artistic future under the previous management regime of Adrian Noble and Chris Foy, the RSC launched Project Fleet. The RSC feared that by tying itself to a handful of theatres, the company had become insufficiently flexible and too institutionalised. The project’s plans included: • demolition and reconstruction of 1932 Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford at a cost of £100m; • pulling out of a 10-year deal with the Barbican in favour of a more extensive touring schedule and of shorter runs in commercial West End venues • doing away with two-year contracts in favour of short-term contracts, smaller companies of actors and staff cuts7 2.5 Adrian Noble said that he wanted to shift the emphasis of the company from a building-based one to an idea-based one and to encourage artistic flexibility (including the use of different theatre spaces)8. 2.6 Adrian Noble agreed to step down as the RSC’s Artistic Director in 2002 and was replaced by Michael Boyd in 2003. On Boyd’s succession, managing director Chris Foy also stepped down to be replaced by an Interim Managing Director, Vikki Heywood. 4 Michael Billington, November 2003, Appendix D 5 RSC written submission, Appendix A 6 The RSC’s written submission provides a timeline of events from 1960 to the present day. 7 www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,576400,00.html 8 www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4193239-103690,00.html 4 Item 7a 2.7 Much of Project Fleet has since been abandoned. Boyd has stated that a core rolling ensemble of 38 RSC actors will be employed for his inaugural season in 2004 and the renovation work in Stratford is unlikely to start for a few years. However, the one remaining legacy from the aborted Project Fleet remains the decision to leave the Barbican and seek an alternative London presence. 2.8 At the Barbican, the RSC was guaranteed a six-month residency each year in the Pit and the Barbican Theatres (supported by the City of London Corporation to with a grant of £3 million a year, that was due to be reduced to just over £2million in May 20029). The reasons the RSC gave for leaving the Barbican, outlined in written evidence to the Committee, included the following. • Audiences were “put off by the Barbican’s separateness from restaurants, bars and the general ‘buzz’ associated with a night out at the theatre”.