Just what does a theatre director do during coronavirus lockdown?
Paul plans the return of live shows to Stephen Joseph stage – and relaxes rules on parenting
Artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough Paul Robinson talks about life and work in lockdown.
What does a theatre artistic director do during lockdown?
At the moment: planning ahead, with necessarily limited information; talking to local artists; looking at creative ways we can do things; deciding with my team what can go online; trying to keep staff morale high; reporting to the board; trying to progress various commissions.
How has it differed from
before lockdown? What was an initial break in the routine quickly gave way to missing everyone.
Of course – talking to people via Zoom. I enjoyed it at first, but have grown to loathe it. One day last week I had 11 hours of Zoom meetings.
I love seeing the family as much as I do and one thing I do like is being able to work in my shorts.
How has it been not going to see productions live?
Terrible. The best bits of my job are welcoming new artists and companies into the building and being there for them at the end of the show.
As for online work, the quality end of the online stuff is, of course, fantastic: but it will never replace the live experience and the buzz of having people in a building.
The best we can do at the moment is to be there for our community in whatever ways they need us. Our civic role is important under normal conditions but being there for the inhabitants of this town and region is more crucial than ever at the moment.
How do you keep in touch with what is going on in the theatrical world? The situation has brought us closer to the other theatres in the country. Imagine if this had happened 30 years ago, when all we had was our landlines, and if we were really at the cutting edge, a fax. Now, there’s a constant round of communication on email, social media, Whats App groups …
Have you had time to look at things differently?
The last couple of months have forced us to look at things in different ways – we have to be ready for and responsive to whatever the ‘new normal’ turns out to be.
We don’t yet have a clear steer for the sector – we’re all lobbying the government for clearer guidelines and financial support. Theatre is in a crisis. Current estimates are that 70 per cent of theatres are under threat and may not be here without further government support by the end of the year.
We understand, of course, that we’re never going to be at the top of the government’s list of priorities, but I think
Keeping in touch I loathe zoom. I had 11 hours of meetings on it in one week
it’s worth pointing out that, according to the most recently available figures from UK Theatre and Society of London Theatre in 2018 British theatres attracted a combined audience of more than 34 million people and created ticket revenue of nearly £13bn a year – twice that of the Premier League.
That’s a vibrant sector and our theatres are envied worldwide. But – just as a start point for everything else that follows – we need to know when we can bring our staff safely back into the building – and then we need to return stronger.