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NEWS
David Greig to step down from Edinburgh Lyceum
FERGUS MORGAN
David Greig is to leave the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh in 2025 after eight years as artistic director.
The playwright and director, who has led the Scottish venue since 2016, said it had been “a very hard decision” but that it was “the right time” for him to depart.
He said: “After eight years of leading the Lyceum through change and challenge I feel it is time to return to my first calling, as a writer.”
Greig first rose to prominence as a co-founder of theatre company Suspect Culture in 1990, before establishing himself as one of Scotland’s leading playwrights.
His work includes the plays Stalinland, Europe and Outlying Islands; and the musicals Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart and Local Hero.
ALY WIGHT
Greig succeeded Mark Thompson as artistic director in 2016, programming acclaimed productions of Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros in 2017, Pedro Calderon’s Life Is a Dream in 2021 and Muriel Spark’s The Girls of Slender Means this year.
Greig said: “I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved at the Lyceum over the past eight years. Together we’ve overcome enormous challenges such as Covid, inflation and the financial crisis.”
Tari Lang, chair of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh board, said the venue “has been privileged to have David Greig at its artistic helm”.
She added: “We have an ambitious fiveto-10 year journey that involves expansion, a new commercial model, a significant capital project and a change in the way theatremaking is financed, which will be enriched by David’s continuing support.”
Greig’s successor is expected to be appointed in the autumn.
EdFringe producers call for curb on comps to shows amid mounting costs
MATTHEW HEMLEY
Producers Francesca Moody and Paul Taylor-Mills have urged industry colleagues not to ask for complimentary tickets to Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows, warning that the costs of staging productions at the event are becoming “increasingly hard to manage”.
Taylor-Mills, who is bringing Rob Madge’s My Son’s A Queer, (But What Can You Do?) to the festival, told The Stage that he was concerned that escalating costs meant the event could become “reserved for a level of producer who is able to bankroll” productions.
He said that if promoters, agents, fellow producers and venue operators did not ask for comps, it would make a “huge difference”.
The two producers initially put out a joint statement on social media, in which they said that the “economics of making a show for the festival are becoming increasingly hard to manage”.
“So if you’re a producer, a programmer, a venue, an agent and you do have the capacity to buy a ticket, we respectfully ask that you do. We will be doing the same,” they said.
They added: “We say this not just for our shows but for all productions at the festival. Often, the people most willing to give complimentary tickets are the ones who have the most to lose. In a model that already asks artists and producers to take financial risks and to almost always make work that doesn’t break even, we owe it to the future of the festival to try to pay if we can.”
Taylor-Mills told The Stage that 90% of the time, “industry folk – producers, agents and venues – will ask for a comp”.
“And in a world where the margins are so... against the producer or people making the work, if they didn’t [receive a free ticket] it would make a huge difference,” he said.
In their joint statement, Moody – the producer of hit shows such as Fleabag and Baby Reindeer – and Taylor-Mills said they recognised “there is a nuance to this” and said they would try to help people who did not have the budget to see their shows.
Summerhall secures future with new deal amid ongoing sale
FERGUS MORGAN
A deal is close to being completed that would secure the future of Edinburgh arts centre Summerhall for the next three years.
Summerhall, one of Edinburgh Festival Fringe’s main venues, was put up for sale by owners Oesselmann Estates Ltd in May, prompting widespread concern.
Now, Summerhall Arts, the charity that operates the venue, is expected to sign a new three-year lease with OEL that would remain intact when the venue is sold.
A statement announcing the deal said it would facilitate a “transition period” that would allow Summerhall Arts to “negotiate a longer-term future with any new owner” for “the consistent delivery of the arts and events for many years to come”.
Stephen Kay, an agent acting on behalf of OEL, said: “We have always understood the importance of Summerhall for the culture sector and the city.”
He continued: “This arrangement will allow Summerhall Arts the opportunity to keep the legacy alive and give it the time needed to secure a much longer future with any prospective new owners.”
The deal will see Summerhall Arts take on full responsibility for the events programme, which it currently co-runs with Summerhall Management Ltd.
Summerhall Arts has launched a fundraising campaign to help it “cover the core costs” of running the venue’s entire events programme for the next three years.
Sam Gough, chief executive of Summerhall Arts, said: “Negotiating a lease for the ability to be able to continue was the first huge challenge. This is the next.”
He continued: “We believe that the fringe at Summerhall in 2024 will not be the last. Please help us ensure it isn’t.”
AUGUST 1 2024
ALSO ONLINE
Performing arts leaders are spending less and less time in their posts, with more than 200 leaving their roles over the past six years. An investigation by Arts Professional claims that the average length of service in artistic and executive roles in the performing arts sector has seen a “downward trend” since 2018.
Hamilton star Giles Terera has been honoured with the Freedom of the City of London for his “outstanding achievements in the performing arts”. The West End actor, whose varied career has involved documentary-making and stage and screen appearances, received the honour at a ceremony at Guildhall on July 24.
Judi Dench will share anecdotes about her life and career in a new Channel 4 documentary. Dench will appear alongside friend and TV presenter Jay Blades in the programme, called Dame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple, in which both will explore “the places and people that have shaped their vastly different lives”, the broadcaster said.
West End venue @sohoplace has been nominated for the first Sky Arts Awards in recognition of its “flexible and fully accessible” building, in a theatre category that also commends writer and actor Ryan Calais Cameron and the Sherman Theatre Cardiff. Winners will be announced at the Sky Arts Awards’ inaugural ceremony on September 17 at London’s Roundhouse.
APPOINTMENTS
Willie White is to step down as artistic director of Dublin Theatre Festival after 13 years leading the organisation. White, who is set to leave following the 2024 festival this autumn to take up an as-yet-unnamed new role elsewhere, said he was glad to be leaving the festival in a “good position”.
Human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy has been appointed chair of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority. It will tackle harassment and bullying in the creative industries (see p7).
