Who dares wins: Hamish Glen, artistic director of the Belgrade.
Good news from Coventry where it was announced yesterday that the Belgrade will re-open in September following a £14m refurbishment. After 18 months of closure, The Belgrade returns to production in a far colder climate and at a time when cuts in Grants for the Arts, the uncertainty that hangs over all theatres and companies until the results of the comprehensive spending review are known, and the sudden closure of Bristol Old Vic mean that British theatre is suffering a bit of a psychological wobble. In such times of crisis, British theatre tends to go into retreat and play it safe.
But the Belgrade's artistic director Hamish Glen - the man whose bold move of creating an ensemble transformed Dundee Rep from an also-ran producing theatre into a real powerhouse - is going for broke with a dynamic programme of work picking up on the thread of internationalism that was very much part of the Belgrade's remit when it became the first civic theatre to be built in postwar Britain and a symbol of devasted Coventry's renewal. The opening shows include Peter Arnott's version of Brecht's Mr Puntila and His Man Matti, Bruckner's The Pains of Youth, Horvath's Don Juan Comes Back from the War and Schiller's The Robbers. Trevor Nunn will also be returning to the theatre where he first made his name to direct a stage version of Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage. In the summer, the Belgrade will be moving into the ruins of Coventry Cathedral to stage Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire - likely to be a very hot ticket.
Situated close to Stratford which caters for Shakespeare, a stone's throw from Birmingham - home of the well-made play - and hard by Warwick, with its programmes of radical touring work, Glen is right to go for a programme that puts the European repertoire at its heart. (Incidentally, it was postwar Coventry's desire to reach out to Europe that created the twin-town movement.) Glen is right to take a risk because history shows that theatres thrive in such a culture and audiences respond to it.
It won't be easy. When it comes back into production the Belgrade will have two auditoriums to support - a new flexible 300-seat studio as well as the main house. A number of theatres have been knocked for six by higher running following the completion of capital projects. But I like Glen's belief that "quality is the best audience development tool you've got" and I like the vision which owes a great deal to the founding mantra of Glasgow's Citizens theatre, situated in the Gorbals, whose founders didn't patronise audiences but believed that the local community would respond to a big, bold programme of work and were rewarded by seeing it being held in huge affection. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating and Glen will have to deliver right from the off, but I reckon that his approach is a reminder to all regional theatres that you have to dare to win.
