What happened at Bristol Old Vic is a terrible thing for British theatre. Something has gone badly wrong and nobody’s saying what.
It worries me that such a major decision about one of this country’s oldest and most respected regional theatres can be made so quickly. The justification for the theatre’s closure is one of refurbishment but this is clearly spurious. The money and the planning for this are not there.
Why has this been such a snap decision when the impact is so devastating, for both the theatre industry and the public? An exciting season was planned for the autumn - a theatre’s busiest period. The knock on effect of cancelled co-productions with other regional theatres and touring companies is serious and damaging. To turn people out of work on what seems like a whim and to deny the citizens of Bristol a producing theatre is a tragedy. Attempts to find out what exactly has happened have been relatively fruitless, with no clear and acceptable answers from the Board of Bristol Old Vic, Arts Council England and Bristol City Council.
Did the board or Bristol Old Vic have a problem with its artistic director? If so, there are better ways to deal with this kind of situation. Were the reasons for the closure financial? If they were, say so. In my opinion there needs to be an independent inquiry to look into the events in Bristol and I would urge ACE to take a lead on this (perhaps the TMA and Equity could help).
There may be important lessons for the boards of regional theatres up and down the country. This misguided decision must not be allowed to be repeated anywhere else and Bristol must not be allowed to lose its wonderful producing theatre.
Ian Brown
Artistic director and chief executive
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Quarry Hill
Leeds
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