I should like to respond to comments made by David Farr in his interview with your correspondent Aleks Sierz, regarding the Bristol Old Vic Theatre (Profile, August 25, page 10).
In the article, Mr Farr is quoted as saying that when he and Simon Reade took over the artistic directorate of the theatre, the Bristol Old Vic “was a major theatre that had fallen on hard times - it was moribund”. He then goes on to say “it was very hard work to turn it around” and that the staff - whom I agree are magnificent, as he says - “soon realised that what I was doing was better than previous work”.
How dare he make such a claim. Was he there? Did he see any previous productions prior to his apparently magnificent reign? I was fortunate enough to work as an actor, on several occasions, under the previous artistic director Andy Hay and I find Mr Farr’s comments both insulting and totally disrespectful to Andy’s legacy. Andy Hay is a man of unchallengeable integrity, who worked selflessly and strenuously for several years for the good of the Bristol Old Vic. His passion and enthusiasm kept the theatre alive. The productions with which I was associated were of the highest artistic standards. How dare he say that this theatre was moribund? It certainly was not and the people of Bristol responded with enthusiasm and attendance.
So please, can we stop reinventing the wheel by proposing that everything was in a terrible state before the arrival of the Messiah. Andy Hay did a wonderful job, without which, Mr Farr’s tenure would not have been possible. I’m afraid that Mr Farr displays the arrogance of youth and a total disrespect, not only for the previous incumbent of his post, but for a theatrical tradition in Bristol. A personal apology to Andy Hay would not go amiss.
Andrew Jarvis
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