The swirling rumours were finally quashed: British theatre-maker Jonathan Church has been announced as the incoming artistic director of Sydney Theatre Company (STC), to take over from Andrew Upton in 2016.
Reaction to the news was quick and mixed. While some were thrilled by what the current artistic director of Chichester festival theatre could bring to the Australian arts community, others questioned the import of a Brit at a time when many arts organisations are increasingly led by homegrown talent.
We asked some of the arts community for their thoughts on the appointment. Tell us yours in the comments below.
Robyn Nevin, actor and former STC artistic director
I feel very positive about the news of Jonathan Church’s appointment; it’s both exciting and sound. He has deep theatre experience, he is obviously a real theatre creature, and that’s where his great love lies. His experience is also interesting because it combines artistic direction with management of the Chichester festival theatre. That’s a very good combination for the artistic director, because the STC has many venues and needs to find funding and sponsors.
It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the way things are done in Australia, it’s not quite as hierarchical here as it is in Britain. Funding will be the biggest challenge, and his particular challenge will be to get to know the local community: the actors, the directors and the designers. He will be excited to do that. There will be so much of interest to him and he has visited and seen a lot of work done here. I have great confidence that he’ll overcome both challenges.
Brett Sheehy, artistic director, Melbourne Theatre Company
I was very happy to hear of the appointment of Jonathan Church to lead Sydney Theatre Company into the next phase of its life. While not a household name here, Jonathan is an eminent figure in theatre internationally and he will make a terrific contribution to the theatre landscape in Australia. As recently as 18 months ago, I was in discussions to try to bring his wonderful production of ARTURO UI to Melbourne. While that didn’t happen, I’m delighted that Jonathan is making the move to Australia.
Kate Cherry, artistic director, Black Swan State Theatre company, Perth
Coming from three generations of Australian theatre artisans and directors myself, I am intrigued to read of Jonathan Church’s background. I look forward to hearing what Church’s plans for STC will be, and how STC plans to collaborate with other Australian companies. The international possibilities sound very exciting. However, the Australian cultural sector is at a critical juncture. We need strong leaders who are committed to Australian artists. I am heartened to read Church is committed to engaging with Australian artists, and I wish him well in his new role.
Eamon Flack, incoming artistic director, Belvoir, Sydney
Jonathan has a great track record and there’s a wonderful element of surprise about his appointment. I’m quite delighted by it.
Jane Howard, arts writer
The most interesting thing about Jonathan Church being imported from Britain is how much it feels that is going against the tide of the arts in Australia right now. I feel we’re in a time of really valuing and amplifying Australian voices on stage, and bringing in an outsider feels odd. You only need to look at recent festival appointments to see the shift: in 2014, Melbourne was our only major international arts festival with an Australian artistic director; by 2017 they will all be headed by Australians, except for Melbourne.
Church will be supported in the position by a knowledgable and rigorous team who will be able to introduce him to Australian performance, and he will undoubtedly lean on the rich ecosystem of artists STC works with. What could be lost in the transition, though, is how long it takes him to identify the artists who are most exciting who don’t exist in STC’s sphere, and who could most use a company like STC for the next steps in their career.
Lieven Bertels, outgoing artistic directory, Sydney festival
This is a wonderful appointment. I admire Jonathan’s work both on and off stage, and had the great pleasure of seeing the Macbeth he produced for Chichester [festival theatre] when it came to BAM [Brooklyn Academy of Music] in New York. We share the view that you can take your audiences on a journey from the known to the unknown. And he is another performing arts person with a practical, production-savvy brain – he started as a backstage tech and stage electrician, so he understands theatres inside and out. It’s a pity I won’t get to work with him, but I’m confident Wesley Enoch and Jonathan will get on well, and who knows, coproduce a major new work together? That would be exciting!
Lee Lewis, artistic director, Griffin Theatre Company, Sydney
The news is very exciting for Sydney, and I hope he will take us on an adventure. It’s been really interesting to contemplate what having a completely new voice in the city will do. He has an enormous amount of experience taking works from production through to the West End. That’s obviously one thing that has been very important to STC over the past few years – and how do you do that without Cate [Blanchett]? So it bodes well for STC being an international company. I really hope I can make a show at Griffin [Theatre Company] that he picks up at STC and we can take to the West End. And the balance of trade will be absolutely restored when I take over the National Theatre.
I’m glad that it’s someone with real experience with running a theatre company of scale and that they’ve have gone with an artistic director who also makes theatre. His biggest challenge will be moving countries. It takes a long time to get to know a place, and when you make theatre, you make it for a very specific audience. As an artistic director, I spend a lot of time thinking about the people in Sydney and what they need and want. But he’s got a well established team at STC who have been leading that company really well. The best thing we can do is all invite him out to dinner to welcome him. He can sit in my backyard, we’ll get seafood and have a BBQ.
