How long should an artistic director stay in post? The answer is: it depends. It depends on the company or building, its size, its place in the wider ecology and on the individual concerned. In June, Christopher Haydon announced his intention to leave the Gate theatre in London after five years of leading the company. In typical fashion (this was an AD who was as often found tearing tickets as formulating artistic policy), he said: “I’ve always believed that the Gate derives its unique energy from the process of those who work here discovering everything anew. After five years at the helm, I believe it’s now time to pass the baton to someone new – to take the remarkable, tiny yet epic room, and make it their own.”
An artistic director may lead a company but they never own it – not even if they founded it. In a recent interview about the Royal Court’s 60th anniversary, Vicky Featherstone pointed out that the Court belongs to its writers, not its artistic director, saying: “You must never feel it’s yours, or personality driven. You can only be here if you believe the building is more important than you are.”
She’s right – an AD is only ever a custodian, and a publicly funded theatre should never be a personal fiefdom. Every theatre that is genuinely interested in serving artists and audiences must undergo constant reinvention, and sometimes that will include the need for new blood. Sometimes, of course, stability is paramount, as the indefatigable Neil McPherson has proved at the tiny, unfunded Finborough theatre.
Haydon was the Gate’s 11th artistic director in its 36-year history, and he joined an impressive lineage including Carrie Cracknell, Natalie Abrahami, Thea Sharrock, Erica Whyman, Mick Gordon and Laurence Boswell. In contrast, in its 45-year history, the Orange Tree in Richmond has had only had two artistic directors, and the Tricycle in north London has had just three in 36 years.
While a new artistic director can bring fresh creative energy, there are also the inevitable disruptions that come with a change. Incomers need time to get the measure of an organisation and a space: Cracknell and Abrahami were not immediately successful at the Gate. Similarly, neither Michael Grandage (following Sam Mendes) nor Josie Rourke’s tenures at London’s Donmar Warehouse were overnight successes, but instead slowly built ones.
Bigger buildings and organisations also tend to need stability. Boards certainly aren’t going to want to lose an AD who is doing a good job artistically and has made good relationships with sponsors, donors and even critics. Hence their artistic directors stay in place for longer, and their departures need careful planning: that’s why the recent sudden exit of Laurie Sansom from the National Theatre of Scotland after just three years was so startling.
London’s National Theatre has had six artistic directors since it was founded in 1963, most of them staying around 10 years. Running any theatre is gruelling; running a big one can be totally exhausting. Sometimes it starts to show. If things are going very well at flagship buildings or organisations, everyone – including boards, critics and audiences – tend to want more of the same, preferably for ever, which is why the initial seasons for a new AD can be tricky if their predecessor was a big success. Both Featherstone, following Dominic Cooke at the Royal Court, and Rufus Norris following Nicholas Hytner at the NT have experienced intense levels of scrutiny. But people need to be given time to make their mark. Sometimes taking over a theatre is like trying to turn an oil tanker around – hard, slow work that requires a steady hand and enormous patience.
But part of the job of being a really good AD is also to know that you have brought what you can to an organisation and it’s time to go. Haydon says that the Gate is best run by someone who is close in age to the new talent it champions and who doesn’t know exactly what they are doing.
“As soon as you’ve solved the creative energy of that tiny room, there probably needs to be a new creativity energy from someone who can look at it afresh,” he says. Haydon may “always be a little bit jealous of whoever it is who gets to run this theatre and continue driving it into the future,” but it is a wise and generous artistic director who knows when their time is done that they – and the organisation – are ready to move on.
