From the increasing digitalisation of the industry, to environmental and financial sustainability, what the future of theatre looks like was up for discussion at our last masterclass of the summer. We were captivated by an incredible panel made up of industry heavyweights like the National Theatre (NT)’s artistic director Rufus Norris and award-winning playwright Roy Williams, whose work and influence has had much involvement in what theatre has looked like for the past twenty years.
Equally impressive was Creative Access alumni Atri Banerjee, theatre director currently directing Look Back In Anger at the Almedia, and Minoli De Silva, production coordinator at the NT; two trailblazers in the industry who have a lot to say about the future of theatre and how to make one’s mark in it. Chairing the panel was the fantastic Rachel Twigg, head of studio at NT, who guided the panel and room through the big questions with ease (and some swearing).
Roy Williams on the future of theatre and what about it excites him:
“Good storytelling and good theatre can’t help itself but arrive.
What excites me the most is the range of storytelling, of what’s already been told and what’s still to be told. Specifically, what it means to be British. As a Black man, it’s a question I’ve been asking myself in my work for many years, and no doubt will continue to as I get older and hopefully wiser.
So it’s those stories; the new generation of playwrights expressing how they feel about what it means to be British, whatever ethnicity, class, sexuality, and then bringing it to the stage. Those questions are important. The last few years have been uncertain and scary for all of us, so it’s interesting to see where we go from here.”
Atri Banerjee on theatre’s power to transform reality:
“It’s fair to say that there’s been a lot of worry and preoccupation of the future of theatre.
I do feel heartened by the prospect of a new government and what it might mean to have a culture secretary who tweets about the Oldham Coliseum and actually seems like she goes to the theatre.
But I think I’m most excited by the fact that theatre is one of the oldest and most resilient art forms we have.
The great Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal says, ‘It should not just reflect reality but try to transform it’ and theatre has always been a space to reimagine and reconsider the future.
We’ve been through such cultural upheaval and immense global struggle and conflict, but I’m heartened by the commitment of people towards new ethical working practices, the value of community, peer support and peer groups, rather than old hierarchical models.”
Minoli De Silva’s thoughts on digital content theatre and connection:
“The first thing I ever saw from the NT was a recording of Frankenstein for my A level. I didn’t step foot in and physically watch a show there until mid-pandemic.
For me, watching those NT at homes on YouTube was how I got to know their body of work, so from an access perspective and in terms of reaching new audiences, it’s exciting.
But the balance with live performance is really important.
In my previous job, the show was an improv comedy show in-person at a theatre, but during lockdown it was adapted to a live streaming model. Those artists were then socially distancing in a room performing live comedy to nobody but cameramen. They’re brilliant and made it work, and so many people contacted us to say how much it meant to them and enabled them to connect with people they loved across the world watching it.
But I do always think of that when discussing how we balance live performance with digital, and how we preserve that theatre is a live art form and the beauty of it is the connection that you have in the room.”
Rufus Norris on how the NT is embedding sustainability into its processes
“There are three areas to look at: the work you make on stage, the buildings that you make the work within, and touring.
I’ll talk about making the work. We’re signed up to the Theatre Green Book baseline standard, so from this year onwards, in every show you see on our stage, 50% of it has had a former life and 60% has to have a future life.
What it comes down to is reusing things, focusing on people instead of stuff, and thinking about it in the beginning of the process.
Allow it to be a useful restriction – it makes you work earlier and that is never a bad idea. Any of you that have made a theatre show, tell me of a show where you didn’t run out of time… it just what happens.
I think it makes the production better, because most shows, the simpler they are, the better they are.”
…And that was just a snippet of the riveting panel discussion! It was followed by networking between the panellists, the National Theatre team and the Creative Access community.
Thank you to everyone that joined us, we’re taking a short break for the summer and will see you in September.
