Excellent news! It’s true that Andrew Smaje diversified Hull Truck Theatre’s artistic profile, but to the ever-growing detriment of its mission, reputation and staff morale. After all, a theatre’s diversity needs to work in favour of the collective, providing entertainment, education and enlightenment; not to an individual’s every whim and fleeting fancy.

Over his two years of tenure, Smaje received countless opportunities to help the team to understand and feel proud of the changes that were being made, but instead a “my way or the highway” policy was evident from the start, with behaviour considered that of a bully in effect toward the end. That, combined with obstinate fabrications concerning comparative attendance figures, has finally resulted in his swift departure, which clearly wasn’t planned as many key figures were informed after he’d left the building for the last time.

Perhaps now a healthy balance can be achieved at Hull Truck. It doesn’t need to all be Godber and Tudor Price (although they, along with Nick Lane, did achieve far more bums on seats than Smaje’s beloved ‘Happy Now?’ and ‘The Lady in the Van’), but catering for an almost non-existent London audience in Hull city centre and alienating a loyal following built up over almost forty years isn’t the right approach either.

After a two-year artistic dictatorship, perhaps now Truck will have the chance to ask the public what they want, programme accordingly whilst still offering the unexpected, and continue to develop its previous tradition of doing our city proud, both locally and across the nation.

All the best, Truck; you’ve been through a dark patch, but now it’s time for you to shine again.Report comment

Long overdue. Maybe now Truck can get back to being ‘theatre for the people’ as it used to be. What a relief all round. Excellent news.Report comment

Andrew Smaje made me want to go to Hull Truck on a regular basis having never been before (although lived in the city all my life) under the previous leadership of Godber. Every thing I’ve been to see over the past eight months (including local plays) in the main house has been packed. I’m seeing Rapunzel tomorrow night and it’s all but sold out.

So much new writing, so much local writing, so many great plays, I was introduced to so many great companies like the RSC coming to Hull – I saw three brilliant Shakespeare productions that I wouldn’t have seen without the links Hull Truck made.

I don’t know what was going on behind the scenes but, as a customer, I think it’s important to give my view and as I saw it, the staff and Smaje made the theatre a great environment and I hope that whoever takes over will do the same.Report comment

Thank God he’s gone. The man is clueless.Report comment