The Stage

Rodney West

Published Friday 12 March 2010 at 16:05 by Lisa Bowerman

Rodney West served with the Bristol Old Vic for 22 years and was subsequently the director of London Arts Discovery.

Born in Leicestershire in 1943, he read English at Leeds before moving to Bristol to take a postgraduate certificate in the university drama department, starting a long association with the city he loved. He joined the Bristol Old Vic Company as an assistant theatre manager in 1967 on a student placement and, in 1968, became theatre manager, aged just 24 - the press reported him at the time ‘the youngest theatre manager in the oldest theatre’. He was appointed general manager in July 1984, on the retirement of Douglas Morris

His management was as immaculate and stylish as he was. As students at the BOV theatre school, many of us served under him as FoH staff during our training and have fond memories not only of his wit and wicked sense of humour, but of the guidance and support he showed all students. He was a manager we all respected.

In 1989, Rodney left the Bristol Old Vic after what was considered at the time a controversial redundancy. The following year, he was awarded an Arts Council of Great Britain bursary and spent three months in North America studying fund-raising and sponsorship. He joined London Arts Discovery, where he used his prodigious knowledge of the theatre, opera and the arts to plan visits to all parts of Europe and the UK, for sometimes very demanding clients.

Rodney had associations as a lecturer with University of Notre Dame in the US, Thames Valley University and Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where he was additionally coordinator and consultant for the Massachusetts International Festival of Arts.

Throughout his professional life, Rodney devoted a huge amount of his time to theatrical charities. He was a council member of the Actors’ Charitable Trust, deputy chairman of the house committee at Denville Hall and an active member of the Combined Theatrical Charities. His management skills and genuine care for the welfare of those in the industry made him the ideal person to ask to take on the deputy of the house committee role when I was appointed chairman four years ago. He proved an invaluable support and a real friend

Rodney died on January 27. Faith was also a big part of his life - he had served as a sidesman at All Saint’s Church in Bristol, where a full requiem mass was held for him, attended by more than 600 guests. He is survived by a sister Christine and his partner Alex. A memorial service will be held in London later in the year.