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2003: The Year in the MidlandsWith critics continually complaining about the lack of quality productions in the West End, the provinces took on increasing importance in 2003 and largely rose to the challenge of staging innovative, entertaining theatre. As the RSC has no permanent home in the capital, the only place to see the company on a regular basis is Shakespeare's home town Stratford. It's been an eventful year for the RSC: Michael Boyd has begun to steer the organisation in a different direction from his predecessor and has made great inroads into the company's huge deficit. On stage it's been a mixed year. A couple of productions weren't quite up to the standard expected from this country's leading exponent of the Bard's works - but others were sensational. Gregory Doran was the most successful director, with three blockbusters to his name: The Taming of the Shrew coupled with John Fletcher's sequel The Tamer Tamed were excellent, as was his production of All's Well That Ends Well, not only because of Judi Dench's superlative performance as The Countess of Rossillion. Dominic Cooke's Cymbeline also deserves special mention. On my own East Midlands doorstep, the biggest disappointment was the closure of Leicester's Haymarket. Debts of £450,000 meant the theatre had to shut. The management had tried to put on a programme to appeal to all sections of the community but, for whatever reason, not enough people went through the doors. The Arts Council has stumped up £1.3 million to rescue the theatre. Hopefully the Haymarket won't remain dark for much longer. Derby Playhouse faced similar problems and was on the verge of closing, but the creative team of Karen Hebden and Stephen Edwards have turned around the theatre's fortunes with a series of well-produced offerings which have appealed to the public. Highlights were a masterful performance by David Threlfall in The Entertainer; an hilarious revival of Joe Orton's Loot; and a heart-warming A Christmas Carol, justifying the theatre's decision to jettison the customary panto. In Nottingham the Playhouse continued to present challenging theatre to make you think. Robert Lepage's Polygraph and the first British production of Peter Brook's The Man Who were real head-turners. Across the city, the Theatre Royal presented some of the best touring productions in the country, including The Picture of Dorian Gray, Saturday Night Fever - The Musical and Ronald Harwood's Taking Sides with exceptional performances by Neil Pearson and Julian Glover. And who can forget the R J Williamson Company's open-air take on Shakespeare at Nottingham Castle? This year's productions of As You Like It and Hamlet were delightful. Theatre in the provinces it may be - but don't refer to it as provincial theatre. Articles Indices: |
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