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Interviews
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Mandy Stewart - Taking the Haymarket to New Heights Steve Orme talks to the theatre boss determined to banish the dark days at Leicester. Mandy Stewart must have one of the most difficult jobs in theatre. She was chief executive of Leicester Haymarket when crippling debts forced its closure for more than a year and it had to plead with the Arts Council for a financial lifeline. Now she is spearheading a move to a multi-million pound performing arts centre described by the Arts Council as "one of the most significant theatre developments taking place in the UK today." The dark times may be behind her. In July 2003 the Haymarket amassed debts of £450,000, due largely to a series of culturally diverse productions failing to reach box-office targets. The theatre shut and more than sixty people lost their jobs. Leicester became the biggest city in the country without a major theatre, a situation which dragged on for fourteen months until live performances resumed in September after the Arts Council propped up the Haymarket with a £1.3m rescue package. Optimism aboundsNow there's huge optimism that the new performing arts centre, in what will become a cultural quarter, will inspire the people of Leicestershire as never before. Mandy is used to the pressures of turning around theatres' fortunes. She's worked in London, Glasgow and Newcastle, managing a wide range of theatres that have all played a part in the regeneration of major cities. But the challenge of leading Leicester out of the doldrums must be her biggest yet. I met her late one evening at the Haymarket after a production of To Kill A Mockingbird which exemplified the Haymarket's problems: it was a wonderfully staged piece of theatre which most people would be familiar with - but alarmingly there were quite a few empty seats. However, if anyone can sort out the problems in Leicester, Mandy Stewart can. She's a charming, approachable, engaging woman who hasn't shied away from making difficult decisions in her three years in Leicester. She had people clamouring for her resignation because of the closure of the Haymarket but she dismissed the criticism and is now completely focussed on driving the performing arts centre towards its opening. She's so adroit at sidestepping awkward questions that you feel she could become a politician if she ever needed another job. But you can't accuse her of using spin; she is full of enthusiasm and passion for the theatre - qualities you have to admire. Since it reopened, the Haymarket has had a change of policy and also takes theatre out into the community, encouraging more people to get involved. But isn't the main theatre still the centrepiece which has to be successful? "What needs to be successful," Mandy points out, "is the array of theatre. It's really important as we move our journey towards our brand new theatre in Leicester that we're able to go to all sorts of places to meet all sorts of people to perform theatre. Connecting with the county"And yet it's really important in that context that occasionally the Haymarket Theatre stage and the Haymarket Studio stage can be open to the public. But if theatre is only up those steps or through that car park into the old Haymarket theatre, it's not going to connect enough with the people of Leicester and Leicestershire. So the journey is about broadening out the way in which theatre is produced and presented across our area." When I suggest that the Haymarket needs to get people into the theatre so that it can make money, Stewart gives a philosophical answer. "We need to make theatre vibrant and by that I'm thinking of two things: the process and the power of theatre and the stories that theatre can tell; and how that can be of use to the education, the health and the social services sectors. Those sectors could enable us through their money to make theatre which would contribute to the economy. "I think the old Haymarket is very restricted in that sense because it's so invisible, so inaccessible. It's in an area of town which is not very vibrant. The new theatre will be completely different and I'm quite sure the fire brigade, the health service and all forms of the educational sector will want to use it. They'll use it from nine in the morning to three the following morning. And that will make the economy of the new theatre far more diverse and far more sustainable." In the meantime Mandy believes the work going on in churches, schools and community theatres across Leicestershire is extremely significant: "All that work is of equal importance (to the productions in the Haymarket) to engage with people and take them on the journey to the new theatre." Mandy denies that the Haymarket wasn't taking people on the right journey before the theatre had to close: "Before, we were in another way of working. Our financial situation was obviously the absolute root problem of our crisis. "We're a much smaller team now and we're able to produce theatre in a range of settings, we're able to create new partnerships and also reach new audiences and that's absolutely crucial to the success of the future." The implications are that the team at the Haymarket was too big and no one wanted to see the plays that the theatre put on. Stewart merely describes it as a "huge and complicated combination". The problems at the Haymarket have, naturally enough, meant that there is a much closer relationship between the theatre management and the Arts Council. But contrary to comments by Karen Hebden, chief executive of Derby Playhouse, in a previous BTG interview, Stewart says there is no interference, particularly on artistic matters. "Vibrant artistic force""We have two artistic directors. Paul Kerryson is renowned for major musical theatre. Paul's been here for thirteen years. He was joined three years ago by Kully Tiaira. Kully is known for new writing. The combination makes a very vibrant artistic force. "Leicester is incredibly lucky to have them and it must keep them. The Arts Council has no business to intervene. But as a major stakeholder it will of course want to enter into an appropriate dialogue about the artistic and the organisational future of the theatre. And we welcome that dialogue." The conversation returns to the new performing arts centre which looks to be revolutionary. It's described as a "breathtaking glass-fronted theatre with its inner workings visible from the street outside". Passers-by will be able to see sets being built and costumes being designed. The cultural quarter will also contain a film and media centre; a contemporary arts centre; a new music venue; and subsidised office space for arts organisations. The performing arts centre was due to open in two years; now it will be 2007 before everything's ready. Mandy admits it's vitally important that the new theatre is a huge success. But she's not worried that it's slipped behind schedule and there've been funding problems along the way. "I've been to many other major regeneration schemes to know that delays aren't unusual. Of course we want this to happen as soon as possible but it's got to be absolutely right because there might not be another opportunity to build from scratch a new producing theatre that's relevant for its community. So it's much better to get the proposition right than to worry about the timescale." With Stewart driving the project along, you get the feeling that Leicester's problems are firmly in the past and success is only a matter of time.
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