The First 40 Years: 1986
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.1986: Abandoning Scarborough?
by Simon MurgatroydIn 1986, there seemed - depending on who you listened to - every possibility the theatre was to loose its Artistic Director and last remaining link to Stephen Joseph.
Fourteen years after becoming Artistic Director and almost thirty years since he first joined the company, Alan Ayckbourn announced he was to take a sabbatical from Scarborough to join the National Theatre.
Many assumed he would not return. But was this ever really the case and what motivated Alan to take a break from the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round for two years? Alan’s decision was not taken lightly nor quickly and dates back to 1984.
Having enjoyed several successful collaborations with the National Theatre, the Artistic Director wrote to Alan in 1984 with the suggestion that Alan might consider joining the company for a period.
Hall had recently begun a new policy at the National of having several different companies producing work within the building and, as Alan recalls, Peter wanted him to run his own company.
“Would I like to form a group of my own? After more than twenty-five years, it struck me that a short break from Scarborough, and the Stephen Joseph Theatre-in-the-Round there, might not be a bad idea.
“My terms of reference were generous and wide. Three plays, including a new one of my own for the Olivier; and, preceding that, one in the Lyttelton and another in the Cottesloe. The rest - casting, choice of plays - was left up to me.”
It was obviously a very tempting offer and possibly came at an opportune moment. Alan had taken over as the Artistic Director of the Scarborough company in 1972 and had worked tirelessly for it. He had overseen the move of the company from Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre to the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round in 1976 and had seen the work of the theatre increased exponentially in the subsequent years.
Between 1972 to 1984, Alan wrote 27 plays and revues which he had directed and premiered in Scarborough. During that same period he directed more than 75 productions as well as running the theatre on a daily basis; this was aside from his other commitments such as directing West End transfers of his plays.
It was, undoubtedly, an exhausting and demanding period as Alan admitted in an interview with Paul Allen on BBC Radio’s Kaleidoscope.
“I looked back suddenly last year and thought - I've written a full-length musical, a full- length play, two lunchtime shows of 45 minutes each - all in the space of about three months. And it's too much. And I've actually stopped now for a year.”
The role of Artistic Director was not without other stresses too. At the time, the Arts Council had not only threatened to cut the theatre’s budget but North Yorkshire County Council was refusing to extend the lease of Westwood, where the theatre was based.
There was an outcry against all of this, but Alan had long tired of fighting the local and regional councils as well as national bodies. After all the work the company had done, if - approaching its 30th anniversary in 1985 - it was still fighting for recognition and day-to- day existence, it could well be questioned, what was the point?
Alan’s relationship with the town council had frequently been fractious and, like Stephen Joseph before him, he was not readily convinced it was supportive of his and the theatre’s contribution to the town.
This arguably came to a head in 1985. The threatened Arts Council cuts led to Alan drop- ping one of the plays from the summer season and shortening the season by four weeks. To add insult to in jury, the Town Council produced annual Holiday Guide failed to make any mention of the SJT.
It was all taking a toll and Alan had obviously been discussing taking a break from the theatre - although he hadn’t actually confirmed anything with the National Theatre - when the new leaked out on 3 June 1985 to the local media.
The theatre was forced to confirm Alan was indeed taking a sabbatical despite not being able to confirm the whys and wherefores.
It was a shocking and largely unexpected announcement and it was Alan’s partner, Heath- er Stoney, who made it clear the pressures of work had much to do with the decision.
“Really, What Alan wants to do is have a short break, because he’s very tired. This really came about when he went on holiday at the beginning of the year and realised how ex- hausted he was. But he doesn’t want to lose touch with Scarborough while he takes a short break.”
Although the SJT at this point appears not to have been told any solid details about the future, it was emphasised from Alan’s side that he would still write for Scarborough and premiere his plays during the sabbatical.
For some though, it was not enough. The media was quick to make a connection with Alan’s often tempestuous relationship with the town - particular mention was made of a criticism Alan had made earlier that year of Scarborough people not doing enough to support the theatre.
The decision to join the National Theatre was confirmed in the autumn and quickly had repercussions at the theatre. The theatre manager, Ken Boden, decided to retire having been part of the company since it had been founded in 1955. Robin Herford was appointed Artistic Director responsible for the day-to-day running of the company and other changes followed. Ian Watson became the new theatre manager and a new publicity officer, Russ Allen, was appointed; they would be generating headlines of their own within the year.
Alan himself finally spoke about the move in 1986 offering his perspective of the reasons for leaving which were both for him and the company.
“What I need to do was to get away from the sheer routine of running an organisation of a full-time theatre director’s job. I love the writing. I love the directing, but even though I shall miss the day-to-day contact with the actors there, I am very glad that I am having this working sabbatical.
And from Scarborough’s point of view it’s very good that I am seen to be doing something g else and the theatre is stunning perfectly well without me. I was always afraid that in some circles grants of aid might be tagged to me. And I’d hate to think that when I left the theatre wasn’t intact. We all know inside that it’s a perfectly valid operation without my presence, but perhaps we need to tell out founding masters a little more clearly.”
And that, apparently was that. Alan directed two productions - a revival of Time & Time Again and the premiere of his review Mere Soup Songs - at the SJT in May and then went to direct the West End retransfer of Woman In Mind in September before joining the National Theatre.
At all points, he made it clear he would be returning to Scarborough in two years as well as premiering and directing a new play for the company in 1987.
Come the end of the year though, with Alan now ensconced at the National, some mischief was about to be wrought conflating Alan’s leaving with an entirely provincial and petty local argument.
In September, the Town Council - probably thinking the goose had grabbed the golden egg and left town for good - belatedly decided to make Alan a Freeman Of The Borough. Inevitably, because this is Scarborough, a number of councillors took umbrage that Alan was being rewarded when he was, apparently, just running a business in the town from which he personally profited.
Again - in a repeated pattern since 1955 - the Town Council was appearing to doubt the validity of the theatre to the town and the contribution Alan had made to it. Genuinely upset by the allegation, Alan wrote a letter which was published in the media.
Within it, he revealed publicly - for the first time - he had never drawn a wage from the theatre since 1962, had personally donated more than £70,000 to the company and that 1% of all his West End royalties also went straight to the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round.
In the Financial Times, theatre writer Michael Coveney decided to make the most of the situation and declared Alan was abandoning Scarborough.
“There have been differences of opinion with Alan Ayckbourn’s home town of Scarborough and he is sinking anchor at the National Theatre and running his own company.”
Coveney's article linked two events which were entirely unrelated, but which were then picked up by other publications and led to a wider perception - and the myth - Alan was not returning to Scarborough.
It is hard - with hindsight - to think that this was anything but mischief-making by Coveney. All contemporary reports from the parties actually involved - Alan and the SJT - all emphasised he would only be gone for two years and would return in 1988. His new play, Henceforward..., was scheduled for premiere in 1987 before he left in 1986 and, in 1987, he similarly announced his next play would premiere at the SJT in 1988.
Possibly as a riposte to Coveney's statement, Alan made it clear in the February 1987 issue of Plays International his full intentions: "I have every intention of returning to Scarborough in 1988 and indeed we are already beginning to think of what will be in the repertoire there then."
So despite making national headlines that Alan was to abandon Scarborough, there has never been any substance to the story and it was, essentially, fabricated or as a certain President likes to say today, ‘Fake News!’
Alan returned to Scarborough in 1988, reinvigorated by his sabbatical and plunged into an even busier schedule than before he left. Within two years he would also be eyeing up the greatest challenge the SJT had ever considered - the building of a permanent home in Scarborough’s former Odeon cinema.
Article by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce this article without permission of the copyright holder.