Some thoughts from Kevin Spacey

IVCA Fellow Kevin Spacey explains his mission as Artistic Director at The Old Vic and the opportunities available for partnership action

Kevin Spacey

It seems like yesterday that we opened our doors at The Old Vic to a new audience for a new theatre company, yet here we are halfway through the first production of our third season.

The theatre, and particularly a great actors’ theatre like The Old Vic, has always seemed like the perfect home for me, and since I made the decision to come here I’ve felt hugely invigorated, along with a truly dedicated and talented team, by the challenge of restoring this incredible theatre to its full potential.

We’re still at the beginning of our journey at The Old Vic but we take enormous encouragement from the fact that over 475,000 people have bought tickets for our productions since we began in September 2004. This is many more people than had visited the Old Vic in the previous two years before our new company started and we’re already seeing a loyal following for our work.

The Old Vic is a magical place, one of the oldest theatres in London and where many leading actors from John Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft to Judi Dench and Ian McKellen have done incredible work. It’s also where Laurence Olivier started the National Theatre and where it spent its first 13 years.

The tradition of great performances is at the heart of our vision. We have 1,000 seats to fill every night and our shows tend to have a broad appeal beyond the regular theatregoer. Powerful acting, great stories and big plays create a sense of event, and importantly we have placed social enterprise at the heart of our operations by supporting the acting, writing and directing talent of the future through our dynamic not-for-profit arm, Old Vic New Voices.

We generally stage four productions each year, recent productions have included Richard II, directed by Trevor Nunn, The Philadelphia Story and our smash hit pantomime, Aladdin, starring Ian McKellen as Widow Twankey. Right now we’re enjoying great success with Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten, which has captured the imagination of audiences. Next we are delighted to welcome Ed Hall and his all-male company, Propeller, with two Shakespeare comedies, The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night. We’ll then play host to the 50th anniversary production of John Osborne’s classic work, The Entertainer, starring the wonderful Robert Lindsay and Pam Ferris.

There are many ways for companies to work with us. This could be sponsoring a production, bringing clients to an evening at the theatre, supporting our work to develop new talent or working with young people and the community through our innovative programmes. We can produce bespoke occasions for companies to entertain clients or staff, offering a ‘money can’t buy’ experience for unique backstage access. We’ve found that corporate clients find this an intriguing and hugely enjoyable experience. We can also create tailor-made events or training programmes, using theatre skills to entertain, challenge and inspire clients, customers and staff.

Crucial to our commitment to throwing open the doors of the theatre to younger people is our policy to offer under 25’s 100 discounted tickets, at £12, for every performance. While this programme has yet to find a sponsor we felt it was important to implement it anyway - reaching out to a younger audience is of critical importance. In this past year thousands of young people have attended our productions and this is a major commitment on our part given that we are not a subsidised theatre.

The broad misconception is that The Old Vic receives money from the government but the reality is we do not receive any state subsidy. We are standing on our own two feet and believe that these kinds of programmes are our responsibility. In a way, we are operating as if we were a subsidised theatre, but without the subsidy. But we come at this with a belief that it is vital for us to begin to build a loyal audience and to do so we must start early in a person’s life and make them feel welcome and also make it affordable.

We have a track record of successful corporate relationships which include Classic FM, The Daily Telegraph, McCann Erickson, Morgan Stanley, Mouton Cadet, Starbucks, Tattinger and 3i. We have a beautiful building full of theatrical magic and memories. And crucially, we have a creative and dedicated staff who, like me, believe passionately that the best thing about the Old Vic is its future. Our doors are open. We’d love to talk.