The First 40 Years: 1985
This is part of a series of articles looking at the first 40 years of the Stephen Joseph Theatre (1955 to 1995) from the perspective of the theatre's Archive. The articles were first published in the SJT Circular newsletter.1985: Ken Boden
by Simon Murgatroyd1985 witnessed a significant moment in the history of the Stephen Joseph Theatre when Ken Boden retired as the Theatre Manager of the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round. Ken has been involved in the SJT since its founding in 1955 and it cannot be overstated how important his contribution was.
Arguably, alongside Stephen Joseph and Alan Ayckbourn, Ken can be counted as one of the three key figures in the early history of the SJT and was, ultimately, responsible for the theatre’s survival during a difficult period during the 1960s.
Ken’s involvement with the SJT - then Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre - goes back to Stephen Joseph’s earliest visits to Scarborough with Ken recalling he met Stephen in 1954; there is some debate about this as Stephen’s own correspondence indicates his first visit to Scar- borough was in 1955.
“I first met Stephen when he came to Scarborough on a drama course, and he had an offer from the local librarian, Mr Smettem, to use the concert room in the public library to set up a theatre. He had been to university in Iowa, seen this ‘in-the-round’ theatre there, and tried to introduce it in London, where it was criticised as being absolutely dreadful. So when he decided to try it here, and asked for my help, I thought he was mad!”
At this time, Ken was a leading figure in Scarborough Theatre Guild, alongside his wife Margaret, and although he believed Stephen’s project was “rather strange” he was taken by his enthusiasm and passion.
“When I found out that he'd spent most of 1954 delivering coal in London to earn enough to pay the actors' fares and their first fortnight's wages, I thought: ‘This is a bloke worth following.’”
Ken offered the services of Scarborough Theatre Guild to the nascent company as well as his own not insignificant services. Ken’s full-time job was as an insurance agent and his ability to secure props and helps from his clients quickly became legendary within the company - Alan Ayckbourn recalls one of the first pieces of advice he was given as an ASM was to speak to Ken about obtaining props for the season.
Voluntary help from the amateur community - largely front-of-house - was essential during this early years of the Library Theatre and is, arguably, what made the theatre financially viable. Stephen Joseph himself highlighted on a number of occasions how Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre’s success was a result of the coming together of both professionals and amateurs.
“From the start the venture had the support of local amateur groups. This extended beyond helping to set up and dismantle the theatre. Front of house help was recruited from volunteers, and prop-hunting, costume-finding and the distribution of publicity material were all aided by voluntary help, under the supervision of Kenneth Boden.”
When Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre opened on 14 July 1955, the entire front-of-house team was voluntary and had been organised by Ken and Margaret, who would run the box office from 1958. Ken brought in members of Scarborough Theatre Guild and other theatre supporters to man front-of-house and he essentially acted as Front-Of-House Manager from 1955 onwards. For many years, the theatre would depend on the voluntary help of the local amateur community.
Ken became passionate about Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre and, inspired by Stephen Joseph, he also began encouraging year-round theatre in the town at the venue; initially Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre only had a professional summer season, later joined by a winter season but even then this accounted for less than half the year. Ken’s solution was to encourage Scarborough’s amateur companies to consider trying their hand at theatre-in-the-round and he was successful in encouraging many companies to present their work at The Library Theatre out of season.
When Stephen set up the UK’s first in-the-round theatre festival in 1960, Ken was also closely involved and would help make it a successful annual event which drew in amateur companies not only from around the UK but also from Europe and the USA.
Ken and Margaret were also in on the action and as part of Scarborough Theatre Guild were both involved with in-the-round. This included plays by Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre’s first resident playwright, David Campton, as well as work by an up-and-coming writer known as Alan Ayckbourn....
Indeed Ken appeared in the world premiere of at least two Ayckbourn pieces with the one act plays Double Hitch (1960) and Follow The Lover (1962); in the latter Alan and Ken appeared together leading Alan to say that the old theatre rule should be amended to “Never act with children, animals... or Ken Boden.”
Both of these plays were directed by Margaret who also, rather astonishingly, can be held up as possibly the only person to have refused a new Ayckbourn play. Alan wrote a play called The Party Game circa 1958 and had offered it to Margaret for Scarborough Theatre Guild who he recalls turned it down flat!
In 1962, the first signs of a troubled future for Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre started to become clear when Stephen founded the Victoria Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent and his company, Studio Theatre Ltd, moved to Stoke. The Arts Council’s annual grant to the company was cut and Stephen realising there was not enough money for both companies, allocated it specifically to the new theatre cutting Scarborough adrift.
In 1964 Scarborough Theatre Trust was incorporated as a new company to run Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre and Ken was a founding board member; rather fortuitously given what was to come. The 1965 season was a joint collaboration between Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre and the University of Manchester in a bid to save money. It also apparently marked the end of the Scarborough company.
At the climax of the summer season, Stephen Joseph announced Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre was to close and theatre-in-the-round in the town would come to an end; within his seminal work Theatre In The Round (published in 1965), it makes clear that the Scarborough project was over as far as Stephen was concerned.
But Ken had other ideas. He persuaded Stephen to let him run an amateur summer season at the Library Theatre during 1966 under the auspices of Scarborough Theatre Guild. The eight-week summer season featured a repertory of four plays performed by The Cresta Players, Filey Drama Club, Phoenix Drama Club and the Outsiders Drama Club with the season climaxing with the Seventh Theatre In The Round Festival. [3]
With the season in place, Ken began working on plans to restore professional theatre the following year speaking to both the Arts Council and people who had previously worked with Stephen and had connections to the Library Theatre such as Alan Ayckbourn, Alfred Bradley and Rodney Wood. With funding and support in place, he approached Stephen - who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer by this point - with his plans. Stephen agreed to them and the theatre was relaunched in 1967 with Ken and his army of volunteers helping to keep costs down and the season financially viable.
The fact there is a Stephen Joseph Theatre today is inarguably due to the efforts of Ken Boden during this period ensuring all the hard work that had gone into establishing Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre did not go to waste.
In 1969, Ken was made redundant from his insurance job and was - finally - given a salaried position as Theatre Manager, taking in everything from publicity, press officer, handy- man and numerous other roles. It was in this role he was instrumental in helping the move of the company from Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre to its new home at the former Westwood County Modern School, as Theatre In The Round At Westwood - renamed two years later as the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round.
It was only in 1985 that Ken’s 30 year association with the company came to a close; no-one other than Alan Ayckbourn had worked continuously for so long at the SJT.
During that year, Alan Ayckbourn made the announcement he was to take a sabbatical from Scarborough to run his own company at the National Theatre for two years.
Perhaps sensing this was a time of change for the company, Ken stepped down from the theatre as General Manager, although he stayed a member of the board. He died in February 1991 and Alan Ayckbourn noted in The Stage’s obituary: “He’ll be sorely missed.”
Indeed when the company moved to its first permanent home at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, the significant contribution of Ken and Margaret to the company was marked by Alan with the naming of the Boden Room.
Article by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce this article without permission of the copyright holder.