0:01:34 > 0:01:36Exeter's Northcott - a once great theatre...
0:01:36 > 0:01:39It was an exciting place to be, and it got more and more so
0:01:39 > 0:01:41as the years went by.
0:01:41 > 0:01:42With a troubled past...
0:01:42 > 0:01:44We live in a very commercial world now and I
0:01:44 > 0:01:46think very few theatres can actually exist without commercial help.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Now, can one man turn the theatre's fortunes around?
0:01:49 > 0:01:49That doesn't work...
0:01:49 > 0:01:51which is why we have no phones.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53There's absolutely no landlhne in here whatever.
0:01:53 > 0:01:54I don't know why I'm laughing.
0:01:54 > 0:01:55It's ridiculous.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Or is time running out for the Northcott?
0:02:00 > 0:02:02We've got some issues with the mainline theatre audience,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05which is not as good as I would like it to be.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07So the History Boys coming tp for up for half.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11That's going to be on at thd end of May and I'd like that to be rather
0:02:11 > 0:02:14better than that, and we didn't do that well with The Business
0:02:14 > 0:02:17of Murder and that's a pretty sort of mainline commercial offer,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21so you'd expect that to do better.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24And we're going to not hit our target with the Out of Joint show,
0:02:24 > 0:02:25with Crouch, Touch, Pause, Dngage.
0:02:25 > 0:02:39In fact, we're going to miss it by quite a lot, I think.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Opera always sells well in this University Citx.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43But other visiting productions prompt frequent, anxious visits
0:02:43 > 0:02:44to the front of house...
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Can you get the report up on that?
0:02:46 > 0:02:51Show me what that one's likd.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54All the coloured ones need to bd sold.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engagd - a challenging drama
0:02:57 > 0:03:01about a gay rugby player, is failing to score at the box office.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04I think it's a bad title, I think that's part of the problem.
0:03:04 > 0:03:11Apparently it sold very well when they started in Wales.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Whilst we need to be commercially effective in what we progralme, some
0:03:15 > 0:03:19of the time, a lot of the thme. .
0:03:19 > 0:03:22It's important to have an idea of the sort of companies whose work
0:03:22 > 0:03:26we want in here and I have puite a strong idea of that and I think
0:03:26 > 0:03:28that should be an objective.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Paul's had 25 years in the theatre, directing productions all over
0:03:32 > 0:03:37the UK, including in the West End and at the National.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41My parents took me to theatre when I was little and I was hooked,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44I was absolutely hooked.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48I loved it and I wanted to do it, so I just decided that I wotld.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50But in all his time in theatre he's not faced anything
0:03:50 > 0:03:54quite like Northcott's backstage area - known as the "D".
0:03:54 > 0:03:58So our telephone system, it's been, erm, extensively cleaned up.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02That doesn't work, which is why we have no phones.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05There's absolutely no landlhne in here whatever.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06I don't know why I'm laughing.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08It's ridiculous.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12So what I've done is I've told my staff to go out and get pay
0:04:12 > 0:04:14as you go.
0:04:14 > 0:04:15This one does work, that ond there.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19You see those green lights?
0:04:19 > 0:04:22That's very good news, because that's the box office line.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24If that was down then we really would bd...
0:04:24 > 0:04:29seriously in trouble.
0:04:29 > 0:04:36Here we are in the "D", in amongst a stack of mess.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38Ice-cream...
0:04:38 > 0:04:39more ice-cream...
0:04:39 > 0:04:43The ice-cream's there because there's not enough room out
0:04:43 > 0:04:45front, and also the ice-cre`m's there because it's been left there
0:04:45 > 0:04:50for a while, and the ice-crdam needs to go somewhere else.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Believe it or not, this are` has been cleared up quite a lot
0:04:54 > 0:04:57since we took over, but there's still quite a lot more to go.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02We've got various bits of tdch kit.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05The theatre used to have storage on campus, which it lost, and ht also
0:05:05 > 0:05:08used to have storage in the city.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12So everything's been shoved down into here and piled up,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15and we desperately need to sort it out, and we will.
0:05:15 > 0:05:23It's a pain.
0:05:23 > 0:05:29ACTORS SING With ticket salds and the building both in nedd
0:05:29 > 0:05:32of improvement, change is ndeded at a theatre that's become `s
0:05:32 > 0:05:37well-known for the dramas offstage, as for those that happen on it. .
0:05:37 > 0:05:42The theatre has had more th`n its fair share of argument and problem.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47It's had...
0:05:47 > 0:05:50It's gone through some very choppy times which have involved
0:05:50 > 0:05:55Arts Council money being withdrawn, disagreement between Arts Council
0:05:55 > 0:05:59and the University, falling out between
0:05:59 > 0:06:04the directorate and the trustees.
0:06:04 > 0:06:13So there's a really bad pattern that we are determined to avoid
0:06:13 > 0:06:17When it opened on the Exeter University Campus in 196 ,
0:06:17 > 0:06:22the Northcott was a wonder of the theatrical world.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Its stark, modern design was revolutionary
0:06:25 > 0:06:28The Northcott Theatre here hn Exeter is an exciting achievement.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33An expensive achievement - ?200,000 to be precise.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36It's new in being, new in ddsign, new in concept.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40But what's even more import`nt is it will provide the south-west with its
0:06:40 > 0:06:42only permanent professional theatre.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45But within a year of opening the Theatre was already in trouble,
0:06:45 > 0:06:50the first of many battles to secure Arts Council Funding.
0:06:50 > 0:06:56The Northcott Theatre is supported mainly by the Arts Council, and some
0:06:56 > 0:07:03other local authority bodies, and the Arts Council isn't living up
0:07:03 > 0:07:06to its end of the support.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Consequently, because the Arts Council isn't giving anything
0:07:08 > 0:07:11like the money we had a right to expect, and indeed were asstred we
0:07:11 > 0:07:17might have, we are in difficulties.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20The Northcott survived, and went on to become one of the country s
0:07:20 > 0:07:25leading producing repertory theatres - launching the careers of people
0:07:25 > 0:07:31like Imelda Staunton, Bob Hoskins, Robert Lindsay, and Jon Nettles
0:07:31 > 0:07:36You were with a company of `ctors.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39We weren't starry in any sense.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43We weren't there to serve a star performance, as sometimes you
0:07:43 > 0:07:45are at the RSC and the National
0:07:45 > 0:07:48You were here to work together as a team to produce the best
0:07:48 > 0:07:49quality of performance you could.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54It was that air of camaraderie, of dependence on one another,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56which created a true companx.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59It was an exciting place to be, and it got more and more so
0:07:59 > 0:08:01as the years went by.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04When I went to Exeter, they were very heady days because it had just
0:08:04 > 0:08:09opened, it was new, and I rdmember being incredibly honoured that I had
0:08:09 > 0:08:13just auditioned for this thdatre and been asked to be - I think H was
0:08:13 > 0:08:17there for something like thd third production - and I was asked to be
0:08:17 > 0:08:21part of this theatre companx, which was electric in those days.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25You were part of a new comp`ny which was just forming
0:08:25 > 0:08:27and doing wonderful work, Shakespeare, Chekhov, you know.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32We'd go out touring round schools and community halls with
0:08:32 > 0:08:37The Bastard King, which we did about the Monmouth Rebellion.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39It was all very, very excithng.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44By the millennium, theatre audiences everywhere were f`lling.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47In 2008, the Arts Council once again withdrew funding,
0:08:47 > 0:08:50famously telling the Northcott it was attracting "the wrong sort of
0:08:50 > 0:08:53audience - too old and too posh .
0:08:53 > 0:08:58That didn't go down well.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01CHANTING: "SAVE THE NORTHCOTT!"
0:09:01 > 0:09:03I'm getting messages of support from all over the acting professhon.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06I've just had an email from Sir Ian McKellan expressing solidarhty,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10"Sir, having helped refurbish the Northcott recently, the Arts Council
0:09:10 > 0:09:13now seem perverse in threatdning to withdraw the grant for its work "
0:09:13 > 0:09:17It's coming in from all over the place.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20I was absolutely flabbergasted, but I very soon found that ht was,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22you know, part of a national picture `s well.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27It was the time when, a week or so later, there was an incredibly angry
0:09:27 > 0:09:36meeting at the Young Vic - from the whole theatre establishment - with a
0:09:36 > 0:09:40number of organisations getting cuts for seemingly inexplicable reasons.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Two years later, mired in financial problems, the
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Northcott went into administration.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52It had to be rescued by the University.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Ok, that's good.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57If you can strip that to nettral, please?
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Dominic Jeffery came to the Northcott as a student hn 2 03,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03one of a handful of staff to endure the rollercoaster ride of the
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Theatre's fortunes over the years.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09The theatre itself, as a building I think, has had some
0:10:09 > 0:10:12tricky times, but people within it are quite resilient.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14It's inevitable, as with anx arts organisation, you know,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16you have peaks and troughs with it.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18Sometimes what you are prodtcing, what you are putting on,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21is very successful, people want to see it, other times it is things
0:10:22 > 0:10:23that maybe don't sell so well.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28So when you have a season or two of things that don't sell
0:10:28 > 0:10:31so well or some unexpected bills that come through, inevitably you
0:10:31 > 0:10:33get on a little bit of a landslide.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Successive touring companies have left their mark on the theatre,
0:10:35 > 0:10:40but so have years of uncert`inty and financial constraint.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42You join us on the Fly Floor.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45This is the part of the equhpment that is responsible for flyhng all
0:10:45 > 0:10:48the lighting and scenic equhpment that we use for all the productions.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51This piece of equipment really hasn't had an awful of investment
0:10:51 > 0:10:55since the building opened in 19 7.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58For instance, if you look down through, there's cradlds that
0:10:58 > 0:11:01hold these big heavy 10kg wdights.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04They're fairly bulky items, and its not unusual for one of these to
0:11:05 > 0:11:06have maybe 70 weights in a cradle.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09That gives you an idea of the weight of some of the pheces of
0:11:09 > 0:11:12scenery that we put up in the air.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15But there should be a catch-all cage underneath, so that
0:11:15 > 0:11:18if someone was to drop one of these weights it doesn't come all the way
0:11:18 > 0:11:22down and hit to the stage, `nd at the moment that cage is lissing.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25If we look at the floor where we are, there is a kick strip,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29which you can see is loose, and it should be running a lot higher up.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31There are things like the lines that need re-tightening,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34in some cases its hemp lines that need replacing, and there's a lot
0:11:34 > 0:11:35of slack in the system.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38So that's one area that a decent amount of investment would
0:11:38 > 0:11:41make a big of difference to the health and safety of thd things
0:11:41 > 0:11:43and the users in this buildhng.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47To get more money for its btilding, the Theatre needs to make friends
0:11:47 > 0:11:51with its landlord - Exeter University.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Arguments about the Northcott's role and recriminations over fin`nces
0:11:54 > 0:11:57have strained the relationship.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00At times, they weren't speaking at all.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Just a few days into his new job, Paul sets out to win over ddcision
0:12:04 > 0:12:07makers on campus.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Well, Paul's one of those larger than life characters.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11He makes things happen.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14He keeps knocking on the door until you let him in.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17And so he's been successful in understanding how the unhversity
0:12:17 > 0:12:21works, who the key decision makers are, and making sure that hd pesters
0:12:21 > 0:12:23them to a least have an audhence.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27It's quite a complicated organisation.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31It's not a straightforward regional theatre in a high street run
0:12:32 > 0:12:34by a local city council.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39The building is owned by the university, the business
0:12:39 > 0:12:44of the theatre is a registered charity, so it's quite a colplicated
0:12:45 > 0:12:50package of relationships.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Paul's determined the Northcott should return to production,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57devising and creating its own projects, rather th`n just
0:12:57 > 0:13:01receiving shows that are on tour.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03He wants his first in-house production on stage by Christmas,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07and he's brought in former ballet dancer turned director Amanda Knott
0:13:07 > 0:13:10to make it happen.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12The Scrooge that he is.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16We all need to know where there s a bit of stillness.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Otherwise we don't know who he is before the show starts.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24Mid scale theatre has an important role to play in this broad dconomy.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Now, we all want to keep Sh`kespeare alive,
0:13:26 > 0:13:28this classical tradition alhve.
0:13:28 > 0:13:33It informs everything else that we make and we do, and these places
0:13:33 > 0:13:39have a very important part to play in developing and nurturing that
0:13:39 > 0:13:44skill set, so they must continue.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51But as summer arrives, the Theatre faces another challenge.
0:13:51 > 0:14:01Ambitious plans for a new chty centre venue have been annotnced -
0:14:01 > 0:14:05it's a few years and more than 0 million pounds away, but thd local
0:14:05 > 0:14:07campaign, led by a former Northcott employee, is gathering momentum
0:14:07 > 0:14:10There's a sort of magic number in theatre of an auditorium of 00.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Over 500 attracts slightly bigger shows.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17The Northcott, being 464, struggles to make enough box office
0:14:17 > 0:14:24return to attract some of the bigger touring shows.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27So this theatre, we're lookhng at probably a 900 to 1,000-seater.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30We're hoping it would pitch somewhere between the Northcott
0:14:30 > 0:14:33and Plymouth Theatre Royal.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Exeter probably wouldn't be able to support a theatre of 1,200 to 1 500
0:14:36 > 0:14:40seats, that would compete whth the Theatre Royal for shows and for
0:14:40 > 0:14:43audiences, but at the moment there's quite a lot of touring prodtct
0:14:43 > 0:14:47available that would fill a theatre of about 1,000 se`ts.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49I would say the best chance of building
0:14:49 > 0:14:52a city centre theatre is for this theatre to be an enormous stccess.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55That would be the first thing, in the course of the next few xears.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00The next thing is that if you want to build a city centre theatre,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04there needs to be a real rationale - a reason for having it - `s I
0:15:04 > 0:15:07hope we are starting to arthculate a clear reason for this the`tre
0:15:07 > 0:15:10So you'll need to articulatd a very clear reason for the theatre
0:15:10 > 0:15:13you wish to build, otherwisd you are not going to get anywhere.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16And I also think it should be a theatre that produces stuff.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19The business of theatre now gets as many column inches
0:15:19 > 0:15:20as the productions.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Across the country, theatres are struggling, and need to
0:15:22 > 0:15:26do everything they can to strvive.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28One of those challenges in the case of the Northcott is
0:15:29 > 0:15:30simply about its situation.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32It's on the campus of the university,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35it's not in the middle of the town.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39People have to make a decision to go to that thdatre,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43therefore it's probably verx important for that theatre to reach
0:15:43 > 0:15:46out to people, and not expect them to make the journey up the hill just
0:15:46 > 0:15:49as a matter of course.
0:15:49 > 0:15:55I think they really need to look at community work, participatory work.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00I think in the future, we whll probably judge a theatre not just
0:16:00 > 0:16:05on what it is that goes on on its stages, but all the other activity
0:16:05 > 0:16:09that its doing - a bit like an iceberg, where what goes on on its
0:16:09 > 0:16:14stages is perhaps the tip of that iceberg but what makes that
0:16:14 > 0:16:18theatre valuable and import`nt and loved and cherished by `
0:16:18 > 0:16:22community is all that activhty that is going on beneath the watdr line.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25I think for theatre to survhve, it has to reach out to absolutely
0:16:25 > 0:16:28everybody, and be inclusive of everybody.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31There is something about thdatre, verbal language, where you can go
0:16:31 > 0:16:38and see something, be so catght up in it, it goes into your gut.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43I will pass the clap to you and you pass it on to someone else.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Right - go!
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Paul has already begun that process of reaching out.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50He's gone to a school in Dawlish to work with the next generation
0:16:50 > 0:16:55of actors and theatre-goers.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Oh for goodness sake, that was a terrible start!
0:16:59 > 0:17:00Right, ready?
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Concentrate, begin!
0:17:03 > 0:17:05The Northcott is re-engaging with education at the same time `s
0:17:05 > 0:17:09returning to producing, so H am here because I think that the artistic
0:17:09 > 0:17:11director of the theatre shotld be.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13I'm making a direct connection with our young
0:17:13 > 0:17:21audience, whilst my colleagte Amanda is directing the Christmas show
0:17:21 > 0:17:22So I went, "You
0:17:22 > 0:17:24do the Christmas show, I'll do the education work.'
0:17:24 > 0:17:24That's it, concentrate...
0:17:24 > 0:17:25Move!
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Back at the Northcott, Amanda has cast Derek Frood
0:17:29 > 0:17:31as the lead in A Christmas Carol.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34He's still got the beard he grew for his role as Captain Brax in
0:17:34 > 0:17:37BBC TV's Poldark.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40It'll need a trim for the transformation to Scrooge.
0:17:40 > 0:17:47That has to have the narrator played by Scrooge.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50I felt that until the time when you go into your house, up until that
0:17:50 > 0:17:54time, you could be the narr`tor as well as being Scrooge, so it s
0:17:54 > 0:17:56a kind of double edged sword.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00But Scrooge as the narrator?
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Yeah, Scrooge the narrator, but the narrator is Scrooge.
0:18:02 > 0:18:08It's kind of, as I say, double-edged...
0:18:08 > 0:18:11It's been a long time since there were creative discussions
0:18:11 > 0:18:13like this at the Northcott.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16As the first in-house production in many years, there's
0:18:16 > 0:18:19a lot riding on its success.
0:18:19 > 0:18:26It is a hub of culture really, and it's the one place that you can
0:18:26 > 0:18:30get a broad spectrum of audience to, from your opera and
0:18:30 > 0:18:35ballet loving audiences, to your children's theatre, and encouraging
0:18:35 > 0:18:39schools into places like thhs.
0:18:39 > 0:18:45I think for a lot of childrdn, especially in rural counties
0:18:45 > 0:18:47like Devon, this is the one opportunity that thdy'll get
0:18:47 > 0:18:52to see theatre, live theatrd.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Backstage, the big clearout is underwax.
0:18:55 > 0:19:01The first visible sign that things there are starting to changd.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05More than a ton of out-dated and broken equipment
0:19:05 > 0:19:08from a building where the space is worth more than the scrap v`lue
0:19:08 > 0:19:12But the clearout uncovers some treasures too.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17What's that - a sewing-machhne?
0:19:17 > 0:19:20I'm just working out why we have a sewing machine here.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Presumably that was from wardrobe?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25It's a little piece of antipuity that our wardrobe mistress would
0:19:25 > 0:19:31like to think about how it hs used.
0:19:31 > 0:19:39I think it's rather nice.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41I think we should keep it, if we can.
0:19:41 > 0:19:42So we are clearer.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45We still have the ice cream in the "D", but we'll work
0:19:45 > 0:19:46on where to put that.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50It's much better, yeah.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Publicity for A Christmas C`rol has begun earlier than usual.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58Paul hopes it'll boost the takings - the first real financial test
0:19:58 > 0:20:04of his time in charge.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06As the theatre prepares to take a short summer break for decoration
0:20:06 > 0:20:10and refurbishment, there's a sense that things are changing...
0:20:10 > 0:20:18but the proof will be in thd Autumn financial report.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26Freshers week at Exeter University.
0:20:26 > 0:20:32New faces, new energy, and new optimism on campus.
0:20:32 > 0:20:33Good afternoon, Exeter Northcott.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37The theatre reopens with a new box office, and it sedms to be
0:20:37 > 0:20:39doing good business.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Well, there's odd ones dottdd about.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Can I just take your first name or initial?
0:20:46 > 0:20:51It will then go to Expose, and could indeed become the basis
0:20:51 > 0:20:53of a press release.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55With a landline that now works, Paul is composing
0:20:55 > 0:20:56an important press release.
0:20:56 > 0:21:02He's got some great news, btt someone else has stolen his thunder.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05We were going to do a press release to announce the fact that this
0:21:05 > 0:21:12investment in the theatre, that was going to happen, but of course what
0:21:12 > 0:21:17has happened is that the sttdent newspaper, Expose, have got hold of
0:21:17 > 0:21:23it, and they are scooping it - which is rather admirable rdally.
0:21:23 > 0:21:31So we must put something out, to make sure there's a quotd.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34The University has agreed to spend more than a million pounds on the
0:21:34 > 0:21:40building for improvements, hncluding new audio-visual equipment.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43In return, the Northcott becomes a university
0:21:43 > 0:21:45lecture theatre two days a week
0:21:45 > 0:21:48I'm sure he won't get his way with all the things that he
0:21:48 > 0:21:51wants, because the university's mission is necessarily the same
0:21:51 > 0:21:53as the theatre's mission - but there are lots of crossovers
0:21:53 > 0:21:56so creating a vibrant campus is clearly very important for ts.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58So can the theatre contribute to that?
0:21:58 > 0:21:59Yes.
0:21:59 > 0:22:00Has it been?
0:22:00 > 0:22:05Yes, and of course that vibrancy is really starting to take off now
0:22:05 > 0:22:08We are seeing more students coming here, and that changes
0:22:08 > 0:22:11the audience dynamic.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Ten years ago, the average `ge of the audience would have been
0:22:14 > 0:22:17much higher than the averagd age now, which of course makes theatre
0:22:17 > 0:22:18much more vibrant anyway.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21University funding secured, Paul's next challenge is to
0:22:21 > 0:22:26understand Amanda's novel sdt design for a Christmas Carol.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31These two very tall chairs stay there the whole time,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35and they are the office - Scrooge and Cratchett's offhce.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37When we are in the Scrooge and Marley office,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41this is flown in like that...
0:22:41 > 0:22:45and out again, and then this can open...
0:22:45 > 0:22:49like that.
0:22:49 > 0:22:55This is the double bed.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Why are you flying it around?
0:22:59 > 0:23:02It's a little larger than it will be - I got over excited.
0:23:02 > 0:23:03Larger than that?
0:23:03 > 0:23:05No!
0:23:05 > 0:23:08It comes from off stage.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Yes, it comes on and it will come through the back here.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15And it will come down the centre like that.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18And he's going to be able to trampoline on the bed as well?
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Yeah.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24It makes sense for a theatre built on
0:23:24 > 0:23:29a university campus to do more for young people, as cast and atdience.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Lots of touring productions are harnessing the energy and ideas of
0:23:33 > 0:23:38young actors, in the same w`y that the Northcott used to in thd 19 0's.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Now, the Theatre wants its own youth company.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46Like many of Paul's ideas, ht's a creative and financial galble
0:23:46 > 0:23:49If you said there's a hospital that's struggling for funds,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52and a theatre that's struggling for funds, you would say well obviously
0:23:52 > 0:23:55a hospital should maybe havd first call, but of course there is so much
0:23:55 > 0:23:59now that if you make people feel good, their health will be better,
0:23:59 > 0:24:06their lives will be enriched.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10You know, you can't just put everything down to a work b`sis
0:24:10 > 0:24:14and making people better medically.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17There's a lot to say for giving people an experience where they are
0:24:17 > 0:24:31going to something, and thex will feel enriched when they comd out.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35SINGING And as part of its future, the Northcott is reaching b`ck
0:24:35 > 0:24:37into the past.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40John Nettles returns to the theatre to launch
0:24:40 > 0:24:44its new graduate drama school.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48What Paul wants to do is to bring back an in-house company
0:24:48 > 0:24:53of young actors fresh out of drama school, and give them a couple of
0:24:53 > 0:25:03plays to do, which myself and Paul will direct over a period of maybe
0:25:03 > 0:25:048-12 weeks, something like that
0:25:04 > 0:25:07With good scripts, to have them all here and doing
0:25:07 > 0:25:09their damndest and their best.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12And we hope that will be a massive success,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16because what it will do is give those young actors an opportunity of
0:25:16 > 0:25:21the same kind that myself and Suchet and Lindsay had all those ydars ago,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25and this cannot but be good.
0:25:25 > 0:25:31The idea goes down well with Northcott regulars, who are already
0:25:31 > 0:25:33sensing that things are changing.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36I'm really delighted to hear that they're going to offer some
0:25:36 > 0:25:43students, graduates, some work in theatre locallx.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47We've had a pretty difficult time financially, but now
0:25:47 > 0:25:49people are coming out of th`t.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51So people should be encouraged because this is our only thdatre,
0:25:52 > 0:25:53so we need to expand.
0:25:53 > 0:25:59I don't want see the mega productions here, H want to
0:25:59 > 0:26:01see local talent, rep theatre.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04I mean that would be fantastic.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07What they are able to put on here is often unusual, and it's
0:26:07 > 0:26:11broadened my horizons for theatre so it's very exciting having it here.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14But all that's for next year - more pressing now are the Attumn
0:26:14 > 0:26:15financial figures.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20The first real test of Paul's first six months in charge.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23How will they compare with the same period last year?
0:26:23 > 0:26:26This is last year?
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Yeah, 29th...
0:26:28 > 0:26:30So 158?
0:26:30 > 0:26:31And that's this year.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34So we went on sale a month darlier.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36And we've go another ?100,000?
0:26:36 > 0:26:38That's absolutely fantastic.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Brilliant.
0:26:40 > 0:26:41That's made my day.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Fantastic.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47It shows that we've sold about 40% more this year
0:26:47 > 0:26:52at this point than we did l`st year, which means that the markethng
0:26:52 > 0:27:00department is working well.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Our ticket sales are improvhng, which is obviously very good news.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06So, ticket sales are up, the Arts Council is happy and has
0:27:06 > 0:27:11guaranteed three years fundhng how does Paul now rate his success?
0:27:11 > 0:27:15The thing I'm most pleased `bout is the fact that we are rettrning
0:27:15 > 0:27:18to producing our own work.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20I am very pleased about that.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23I'm very pleased that we've managed to organise that transition back to
0:27:23 > 0:27:26having our own shows in the theatre, and we're taking
0:27:26 > 0:27:28our audience with us.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33So I'm very pleased that advance sales of A Christmas Carol `re
0:27:33 > 0:27:36very strong - significantly better than our Christmas show last year.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41That's a big plus.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43I also think we have got a much improved relationship with
0:27:44 > 0:27:45the university.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48In fact I think it's a transformed relationship, and it's a proper
0:27:48 > 0:27:54partnership now where we can and do negotiate and disagree about stuff.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57But is one promising production enough to secure the the Northcott's
0:27:58 > 0:28:00future?
0:28:00 > 0:28:05However well you do, you're never going to know the shows
0:28:05 > 0:28:08that are going to sell best.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11It can never only be a mattdr of which certain shows sell best
0:28:11 > 0:28:15because the best show may not sell best, so you can never sit back
0:28:15 > 0:28:21doing this kind of job.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23Paul doesn't look like he'll be sitting back any time soon.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26He's got a theatre company to recruit, and another five in-house
0:28:26 > 0:28:29productions in the pipeline.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31And he's hoping that, in future the only dramas at the Northcott
0:28:31 > 0:28:37will be onstage.