"I can fire anyone here. Except the actors." Sam Walters, artistic director of London-based production house the Orange Tree Theatre doesn't mince words. "Everyone in the office could leave. The directors too. But without actors, no performance." The actor is unequivocally central to this theatre. As a director, you only prove yourself here when you manage to draw top performances out of your actors. It is the summer of 2010, and Walters has just appointed me to a one-year position as director-in-residence at the Orange Tree. And one thing becomes immediately clear: conceptual drivel won't get you far in London.
My year is now over; one of the productions I directed for the Orange Tree is coming up in early September - and it's a good one. Winter, to the text of Jon Fosse - to the Galaxy Theatre, with the British cast. But what does such a residency actually entail?
Production houses in Britain are not protected environments for navel-gazing form research, but a - subsidised - foot in the door to help climb the theatre market. Conceptual difficulty and artistic self-examination bring no 'bums on seats.' And no one has ever heard of a dramaturge. The liberating thing about such a theatre climate is the openness, the lack of preconceived notions and set paths with which the theatre sector welcomes newcomers. It is the epitome of, "show what you can do," as opposed to "show who you know.
One of my tests of fire was my hasty appointment as 'associate director' on Lars Noren's Autumn & Winter. Whether I could take over for one day from the famous but very elderly original director, because he was too tired. Or rather, too drunk. The next day again. And the day after that. And on and on. Eventually until the premiere.
Production houses like the Orange Tree have always been rare in Britain, and places for talent development can be counted on one hand. At the same time, British theatre is thriving as never before, withstanding subsidy cuts, and even more new theatres opened in London at the height of the financial crisis than in the decade before. The British subsidy system and its high degree of cultural entrepreneurship are now being sought after even by Dutch policymakers studied. What does the Netherlands have to learn (or fear) from Britain?
First, the speed of production: rehearsal periods are three, four weeks long at most. A new play is premiered every month. Actors work on a freelance basis and are therefore used to going at it full throttle from day one. You're only as good as your last show.
The line between the free and subsidised sectors is almost invisible, and the latter thinks more commercially than in the Netherlands. The Orange Tree Theatre, structurally, but limitedly, subsidised by the UK government is a role model of deft programming: the theatre became famous for its combination of new theatrical repertoire (a.o. Martin Crimp, who began his career there) alongside revivals of 'forgotten' stage texts: costume dramas as really only Britons can. Artistically, the latter may be conventional, but they do bring the full houses that mean the theatre can afford to risk putting on a riskier show the following month. Last season, for instance, a classic door farce was succeeded by a controversial pro-Palestinian play which earned the theatre police surveillance.
Finally, it is a myth that there would be a 'culture of giving' in Britain, of wealthy patrons. What does exist is a culture of asking. One cultural institution, ten cultural institutions, even the entire cultural sector and government combined will not be able to bring about a culture of giving. They can, however, create a culture of asking, of innovative forms of fundraising. The Orange Tree, for instance, actively pursues 'converting' frequent visitors into regular donors.
Firing everyone but the acting crew may not be the best business policy for a theatre. Still, Walters' idea does indicate how his theatre has managed to keep its head above water for 40 years in the cutthroatly competitive British theatre world: focus on what you are good at - in the Orange Tree Theatre's case, repertory acting.
Winter by Jon Fosse by Orange Tree Theatre, directed by Teunkie van der Sluijs, plays 1 to 4 September at the Melkweg Theatre in Amsterdam, played by Stuart Fox and Jennifer Higham and produced by Studio Double Agent. Tickets are available via www.melkweg.nl.
The BBC recently wrote a nice article about the Orange Tree Theatre. Read here.
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