Leaving London: the hunt for theatre directors outside the capital
It was the morning after the day before, and I woke up with a smile; to read that the government is considering giving tax breaks to benefit regional theatre was heartening. As a director born and bred in Lancashire who works all over the country, I know how vital it is to support the dynamic theatre scene outside London.
Since September I've been working for the JMK Trust, developing a network of groups for emerging theatre directors, with the aim of opening up nationwide access to theatre-making and helping talented people make the critical step up to professional directing work. The last three months have been eye-opening.
From Bristol to Edinburgh, Manchester to Salisbury, Newcastle to Birmingham, we've set up links and run workshops with dozens of talented emerging directors: young and old, experienced and inexperienced, devisers and classicists. I've found these directors to be passionate, enthusiastic and dedicated. They are champions of the regions in which they create their art and the audiences for whom they make it. But they also recognise the harsh realities of their chosen profession and rightly question why, all too often, all roads lead to London.
London is where the JMK Award is based, which each year enables one director aged 30 or under to put on a classic play at The Young Vic. Recognising that, historically, applications for this award have come overwhelmingly from the capital, we are now committed to finding and training directors from across the country and encouraging them to apply.
Tom Bailey, one of seven finalists for the 2013 award, lives and makes theatre in Bristol. The show he developed during the application process, Death and the Ploughman, is being staged there next March, in association with the Tobacco Factory. A member of the Bristol directors group, he says: "It's good that the regional directors programme is growing and offering practice-based workshops. It's a forum for directors to meet other directors and share practice, as well as comprehending the industry in which we work – a step towards sustaining stronger, localised theatre ecologies in different areas of Britain."
Through the groups we've identified some key challenges facing emerging directors working across the country. Sometimes the challenge is simply getting the chance and space to make high-quality, small-scale work – work that can offer progression, be judged against an industry standard and used as a calling card. Often, it's one of visibility: getting the critics, agents and potential employers along to see what you can do. And sometimes it's just the lack of a support network and the opportunity to connect with, and learn from, your peers.
One of the major issues venues talk about is the difficulty they have in employing local directors because lack of funding means they cannot afford to offer paid assisting work, a vital part of any director's development and so often the route to bigger and better things. This is one area the promised tax relief could immediately benefit.
But how do we improve things right now? A vital step is to create the networks and employment opportunities that can kickstart a career and pay emerging practitioners. For the next three years, we've created a paid opportunity for a member of each regional group to assistant-direct a main house show. They'll work alongside exciting directors such as Ed Dick, Sally Cookson and Sarah Frankcom, to create large scale productions – important opportunities for them to learn the ropes, develop as professionals, grow as artists and build relationships.
The first recipient, Stephanie Kempson, is working at Bristol Old Vic. "It's allowed me to join the Jane Eyre company for three months; something I couldn't afford to do without this assistance," she says. "And what a show to be working on. There are very few theatres in the country where I could've had the opportunity to see how a director such as Sally makes devised theatre on such a scale. I'm going to learn an incredible amount."
These emerging directors are not one homogeneous mass; they are independent voices varying widely in age, social and economic background and experience. Each has a unique perspective to offer, important if we want the cultural and political landscape of the arts to be defined by more than just the capital.
By shining a light on their work, championing it, supporting it and challenging them to go further, we have a real opportunity to invigorate our theatrical landscape and build a legacy of essential regional theatre-making. Without that investment of time, exploration and resources, we will never hear so many of those voices.
Lisa Spirling is a director and artistic director of the JMK regional programme – follow Lisa on Twitter @Spirlingo and the JMK trust @JMKTrust1
This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more articles like this direct to your inbox, sign up free to become a member of the Culture Professionals Network.