Almost as soon as she took up her post as Artistic Director of Cardiff’s Sherman Cymru in February, Rachel O’Riordan was faced with huge cuts in public funding, and the inevitable consequences in terms of redundancies and cancelled commissions.
She referred to these financial challenges whilst announcing details of the autumn 2014 season, the first on which she has been able to put her personal stamp.
O’Riordan will herself direct the revitalised company’s first main stage productions. We are promised a “violently modern” take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; and the Christmas show will be a revival of Dominic Cooke’s 1998 adaptation of Arabian Nights.
The festive offering for younger children will be a new version of The Ugly Duckling by incoming writer-in-residence Katherine Chandler, which will also play in a Welsh-language translation by noted poet Mererid Hopwood.
Visiting productions will include Johnny McKnight’s sex comedy Wendy Hoose from Birds of Paradise and Random Accomplice and, marking 30 years since the miners’ strike, National Theatre of Scotland’s revisiting of Joe Corrie’s In Time O’ Strife. Comedians Ruby Wax and Mark Watson will also bring their new shows to the theatre.
Addressing the longer term, O’Riordan signalled that under her tenure, the main house would be devoted to classic, popular work, whilst the studio would be the space for contemporary, cutting-edge drama.
Having championed new writing in her previous post at Perth Theatre and as co-founder of Belfast’s Ransom Theatre Company, she indicated that the work of Welsh and Wales-based playwrights would continue to find a home at the Sherman.
As well as expressing a commitment to touring and co-producing, O’Riordan stressed the need to build relationships with local communities. The theatre has been fortunate to receive a grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation to assist in this task.
The launch took place in the theatre’s cavernous foyer, the atmosphere enhanced not only by the free Pimm’s which was on offer, but also by the general impression that a long-overdue fresh start was imminent. Rachel O’Riordan’s stated intention to “unapologetically aim for the stars” was enthusiastically applauded.