The Stage

The regions aren’t a rehearsal

Published Monday 29 June 2009 at 16:50

I read with interest your article Friends reunited (June 4, page 24), the interview with Sir Ian McKellan, having watched Waiting For Godot in Edinburgh during the regional tour prior to its West End run.

I was however slightly perturbed by his comment about touring: “It gives us a wonderful chance to rehearse the play - here we are arriving in London and we’ve already done 60 performances.”

This sentiment is echoed by Sean Maguire the following week (June 11, page 30): “If I do theatre, I would like to do something that starts somewhere out of town and comes into the West End. I want to make sure that it would be ready.”

Perhaps I am being idealistic, but I would like to think that when I pay my £30 or more for a ticket to see a production in the regions, that the performers also look on it as such, and not just as a rehearsal. I appreciate that the glare of publicity is intensified in London, but if actors feel that they need more preview performances before a play is ready to open, then surely this should be built into the schedule, or the performances should be billed as such.

Regional tours should not be viewed as a stepping stone to the West End. Audiences around the UK deserve (and pay for) the same standard of performance as London audiences.

Caroline Aston

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