Vice-Chancellor's Vision for Derby Theatre
19 October 2011
Vice-Chancellor Professor John Coyne.
Reproducing Vice-Chancellor Professor John Coyne's column in the Derby Telegraph, responding to Derby City Council's proposed withdrawal of its annual funding towards live theatre provision in the city:
Professor John Coyne writes:
"Of course, I'm very disappointed to hear the news of the withdrawal of this important funding strand for Derby Theatre by the council.
As the driving force behind keeping live theatre in Derby, it was the University who brought the old Playhouse back to life two years ago.
We've been key in its transformation from a rundown operation to a place where the people of Derby can visit with pride. Importantly for us, it is now a place where our Theatre students take their curriculum.
Packed houses for some exciting productions are testament to success - but we would like more. Our student theatre company also saw its rendition of Alice in Wonderland featuring at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We want to invest in homegrown excellence. 'Made in Derby' will mean something!
This year we welcomed the largest cohort of theatre students we have ever had on campus, recognition of the benefits working in a live theatre can bring to their studies. They are and will always remain at the heart of why the University saved the theatre in the first place.
Funding Confidence
We now face life without council funding. But we are confident that we will continue to fund the theatre. This year the University enjoyed an operating surplus for the third year running. We are in robust financial health
I can reveal that, from April 2012, the new structure at Derby Theatre will see it take responsibility for producing theatre in Derby. Derby Theatre will transfer some existing staff from Derby Live, develop a programme including new creative collaborations and maintain an ongoing relationship with Derby City Council.
While not being able to provide national programme funding to Derby for produced theatre, Arts Council England has indicated its ongoing commitment to support theatre here by identifying strategic funding in the region of £300,000 per year, between 2012-13 and 2014-15.
We have also recognised that the theatre's knowledge and experience needs strengthening and the artistic vision requires development.
To help address these issues, Arts Council England has offered to provide project funding of £50,000 to Derby Theatre, to engage a nationally renowned team of theatre consultants to advise the board and management team from now until April 2012.
The University will be investing an additional £350,000 in theatre building improvements, equipment and other infrastructure over the next three years. The University's Governing Council has been extremely supportive of the ambition to have a centre of excellence.
Future Programme
We will now have to take time to explore in detail what the City Council's cut will mean for our 2012-13 theatre programme. We shall be doing this in consultation with Arts Council England.
What is certain is that we do not want to lose the momentum we already have and we shall continue to work with local producers. Our vision for the theatre, and the future of produced original dramatic works in the city, will continue and we shall be taking up the Arts Council offer to work closely with us in refining that vision.
The contract with Derby Live will continue up to April 2012. We will now be exploring the Arts Council England's offer and other avenues of funding. Let us not lose sight of the exciting programme already scheduled for the next 12 months. There will be some outstanding theatre in Derby.
We live in times of unexpected alliances and challenges. Experience has taught me that, however difficult the future may appear, it nearly always leads to some other opportunity. If we deliver what the public of Derby and beyond want in theatre, and I believe we are about to, then we keep the tradition of audiences enjoying the magic of live performance here in the city. Doesn't Derby deserve that?
My answer would be "yes" because I believe that an educational institution like the University of Derby should remain at the heart of its community - and enhance what it does for its students in every possible way.
University Contribution
It's a fact, covered in the Derby Telegraph itself, that we contribute year-on-year over £150 million to the local economy. We are a major player in the lifeblood of this city. The glass half-empty merchants - and there a few - haven't taken account of how the fabric of what the University does is interwoven with its prosperity, now and in the testing years to come.
The transformation of this institution - in its looks, the investment in buildings, and infrastructure - goes on. The refurbished iconic towers at our Kedleston Road site are visible witness to our resolve to give the best we can within budget and with the resources we have. But we would be without soul if we didn't engage with our local population.
So, when the theatre needed help two years ago, I saw the opportunity then to bring something to Derby's citizens and help our students at the same time.
I'll admit it hasn't been easy. From day one, the refurbishment and running of Derby Theatre presented many challenges. It has been a steep learning curve, littered with headaches and hard decisions. The theatre premises were in a badly rundown state; empty, unloved, dark, down at heel. It's now on the verge of something really good. The news of the funding cuts, while not being the best, is not terminal.
Our Commitment
We remain committed to Derby Theatre and hope that you share our passion for it. Does Derby really want to be the only place in the East Midlands where a trip to the theatre means a night out in another city? Our civic pride, I hope, would give a resounding "no" to that question.
I'm not pretending the next 12 months will be easy for the theatre.
I do believe, though, that we have in place the right structure and the right people to take things forward.
It was Martin Luther King who said: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
We are in those times right now, I feel. It remains our duty to be the custodians of live theatre in Derby for the foreseeable future. To abandon it now would be a betrayal of what the University of Derby stands for and its role in the city, the county and beyond."
