Significant Events: New Writing At the Stephen Joseph Theatre

This article was published in 2007 in the programme for the world premiere of Nick Wharburton's play, Touch Wood.

New Writing At The Stephen Joseph Theatre

by Simon Murgatroyd

When Stephen Joseph formed a new theatre company in Scarborough in 1955, his main remit was to produce and encourage new writing. His first season was entirely comprised of new plays by new playwrights and during the theatre’s first decade he would be responsible for encouraging such talent as Harold Pinter, Alan Plater, James Saunders and – of course – Alan Ayckbourn. This October, it will be forty years since Stephen Joseph’s death, yet his passion for encouraging new writing remains a vital and important part of the theatre he created.

Nick Warburton’s play Touch Wood is part of that tradition and holds its own special place as the 100th new play to be premiered in the Stephen Joseph Theatre since the company moved here in 1996. In just 11 years, the theatre has produced an astonishing average of nine new plays per year and showcased new work by more than 45 writers. How many other theatres can show that level of commitment in encouraging and developing new talent?

Back in 1996, the Stephen Joseph Theatre opened with a new play – or at least a nearly new one: By Jeeves radically reworked and rethought Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1975 West End flop and began a run of 25 new plays for Sir Alan at the theatre. With a new one planned for 2008, that run doesn’t look like ending anytime soon. It is too obvious to concentrate on Alan Ayckbourn’s work though, particularly as he has been singularly responsible for making sure the theatre stayed true to Stephen’s vision and has encouraged and directed many new plays, often by new writers.

The first totally original play in this building was not by Sir Alan, but Vanessa Brooks with Love Me Slender. Vanessa had been working with the company since 1993 and had two premieres at Westwood, Penny Blue and Let’s Pretend. She was one of several writers to make the transition to the new building alongside Rob Shearman whose Fool To Yourself, directed by Alan Ayckbourn, opened here in 1997. Rob’s first new play for this company was White Lies in 1994, which can currently be seen during lunchtimes in the restaurant.

It did not take long for a number of new writers to emerge and make an indelible impression on the Stephen Joseph Theatre. Foremost among them must be Ben Brown whose first play was the remarkable All Things Considered in 1996 and who would go on to premiere the award-winning and highly acclaimed Larkin With Women here in 1999. Other writers such as Neil Monaghan, Helen Kelly, Torben Betts, Sarah Woods, Christopher William Hill, James Volmar and Nick Warburton have followed in his footsteps producing exciting and innovative new work here. Nick’s journey to tonight’s play is a perfect example of how many of our writers develop; his first two plays For Starters and Purvis premiered as lunchtime shows in the restaurant leading to his first full-length main house show, Touch Wood.

The theatre is not just searching for exciting new talent though and can point to world premieres by established writers too. In 1998, the 10x10 season boasted new plays in The Round by Alan Ayckbourn, John Godber and Tim Firth. John has premiered two plays at this theatre and Tim has premiered three including the extremely popular comedy The Safari Party in 2002. The world famous television writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran chose to make their theatrical debut here in 2005 with Playing God and Torben Betts, acclaimed as one of the UK’s most talented young playwrights, has seen his plays A Listening Heaven, Clockwatching and Her Slightest Touch open at this theatre with another world premiere due this autumn.

The support of all these writers has ensured Stephen’s legacy continues to thrive, but in recent years the theatre has turned its attention to not only encouraging new writing but also attracting new audiences. A substantial amount of writing has been commissioned to encourage children to discover and enjoy the magic of theatre, led by Alan Ayckbourn with four plays targeted specifically at the four to eight year old age range. Often working in conjunction with the theatre’s education department, this audience has been nurtured with plays by the likes of the acclaimed writer and director Vicky Ireland, who produced The Ugly Duckling in 2006, Helen Kelly, whose plays Kite and What’s In The Box? have proved a resounding success with young audiences and Lee Threadgold, who produced the puppet-orientated Christmas shows The Firebird and The Sleeping Beauty. Hopefully, inspired by the chance to visit the theatre at a young age, this young audience will become the adult audience of tomorrow, eager to embrace and experience all that this and other theatres have to offer.

It is this which is perhaps as remarkable as the new writing tradition at the theatre. Stephen Joseph believed in 1955 that he could attract audiences to see new plays and make a financially viable theatre rooted in new work. He believed that providing the plays were of good enough quality and entertaining, there would be an audience. He was not naïve enough to believe everything would be successful, but he did believe there was a demand from people to try something new. His faith in Scarborough has been more than justified over the years with a commitment by theatre-goers to seeing established plays and playwrights as well as new plays by unknown writers. Stephen not only nurtured new writers but also a new audience for new writing, which more than fifty years on is one of the reasons why his legacy plays such an important role in the Stephen Joseph Theatre and why we can celebrate the achievement of the play Touch Wood.

Article by and copyright of Simon Murgatroyd. Please do not reproduce this article without permission of the copyright holder.