Marion Potts - 2010 Rex Cramphorn Memorial Lecture Merlyn Theatre, The Cub Malthouse, 26 September 2010
By the time we arrived at day one of rehearsals proper, we had explored and nailed some really strong ideas, we felt we were working from with the right foundation. You could say in fact that we also had over two months rehearsals all up. Sappho, that I was involved in recently at Malthouse had had a previous production. Small-scale and very different - but a production nonetheless. Jane Griffiths came to rehearsals with many a discovery made, many re-writes later. I didn’t feel I could take full directorial credit for the show partly for this reason, but in the end - does it matter? The show was better for this process. These are two of the most satisfying works I’ve been involved in, in the last little while. Secondly (and by extension): we can share development costs a little more with other companies. We are great at co-producing. We can do a hell of a lot more cocommissioning and co-developing. This (apart from the development opportunity) can open avenues for much greater cross-fertilisation- collaborations between artists, art-forms, companies, cultures. Thirdly: tailor-make process better. We can ask better questions of what’s needed and throw out standard templates - a much more laborious demand on our producing and administrative colleagues, but one that I’ve seen talented people throw up instinctively in response to artistic needs. We need flexibility and an open mind more than we need resources. Fourthly, if needs be, we can achieve it by doing less. Finally we have to come out and say that that’s what we need to do, so that’s what we’re going to do. Saying it is well on the way to doing it. Simply putting aside the time in the calendar is making a commitment to it. We can do it by formalising our basic requirements, by saying that if our work is to gain in depth and rigour, we have to do this – and if we fail, we fail, but we just have to screw our courage to the sticking plate and we won’t. It’s difficult to talk about rigour and depth of interrogation without sounding like I want to send everyone off to boot camp. In all of this emphasis on development, we can’t forget for a moment that instinct rather than intellect is our greatest friend, that spontaneity and whimsy, and imaginative flashes and serendipity are as vital as ever… that endless questioning can be deathly. As one of my colleagues said (quoting another) “if you dissect a frog all you end up with is a dead frog” If anything, I’m talking about the need to extend this time of playfulness and freedom, to open it up to all sorts of other influences and possibilities. I can’t speak for my AD colleagues, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t support these ideas, at least in theory. In a sense this is an invitation and an offering to them. I think we can all win here. MALTHOUSE: So in Malthouse’s ideal future, all of these ideas will find some concrete form of expression. Some of the things you might expect are:
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