AP reveals the career paths of the sector's senior managers.
Principal, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (September 2007–current)
I took over as Principal last year and am immensely proud to be part of such a successful organisation with a strong international brand. My job is to build on this success and to maintain the School’s practical, vocational, industry-focused approach to training. In some ways the name Theatre School belies the range of work we now do: television and radio drama feature significantly as well as our fundamental belief in training for theatre. The optimism that now surrounds the renaissance of the Bristol Old Vic (BOV) adds great encouragement for the School’s future.
Associate Principal, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (1989–2007)
I concentrated on developing the technical training at the School to give it a national profile and broaden the range of courses on offer. I completed an MBA at the University of the West of England’s (UWE) Bristol Business School in 1992 and (to my shame!) mastered ‘edu-speak’, which considerably eased the School’s transition into higher education as it became both an Associate School of UWE and more recently an Affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama.
Head of Stage Management, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (1985–1989)
I came straight from professional theatre and had no previous experience of drama schools. The course I was running had just become a two-year training in stage management and technical theatre and I was able to bring my recent professional experience to update the curriculum. The great thing about the Bristol course was that the School was always so professionally orientated that I immediately felt at home in its producing theatre environment.
Freelance Stage Manager / DSM / Company Manager / Production Manager (1977–1985)
I got into professional theatre through the Gardner Arts Centre – the professional theatre on the University of Sussex campus, where I was a French Literature student. I spent most of my university life as a casual. My ‘on the job’ training there led me to work for a wide variety of producing companies from theatre in education to repertory, commercial and small- to medium-scale touring and new writing. In retrospect the theme throughout has been the links with BOV: I was offered my first job by a former BOV general manager, worked as a stage manager at BOV, and later was employed by Chris Denys at the Theatre School, himself a former BOV director.