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Kevin Spacey speaks of pride at turning round the Old Vic
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent24.11.08
KEVIN SPACEY spoke with pride today about his success in transforming the Old Vic as the Evening Standard celebrated the best of London theatre.
The Hollywood star, now in his fifth season as artistic director of one of the capital's most historic theatres, said: "I can't quite believe what has happened to the Old Vic."
Spacey said he remembered when some critics were "asking me to pack my bags and get the hell out of town".
But he said he had always told his staff that "if we kept our heads down, kept focused on the vision, we would eventually emerge and establish ourselves".
The Old Vic was today in the running for an honour at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for best design for its current production of The Norman Conquests by Alan Ayckbourn. The venue has been turned into a theatre in the round for the run.
A host of underperforming plays plagued Spacey's first seasons at the Old Vic, most memorably Robert Altman's revival of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues which closed early after a critical panning. But in the past two years, recent productions including Speed-The-Plow, in which Spacey appeared, The Entertainer with Robert Lindsay and a stage version of Pedro Almodovar's film All About My Mother have proved far more popular with critics and audiences.
Sir Peter Hall said it was "wonderful" that Spacey had come to Britain to take on the task. "[He's a] great actor, great director and I think, now, great theatre-runner."
Speaking about today's awards, Nicholas de Jongh, the Evening Standard's theatre critic who made his own debut as a playwright this year, praised the "quality of our theatrical times".
It had been 12 months of "absolutely superlative, exceptional variety in the London theatre," he said. "In my 17 years on the judges' panel, I cannot recall many occasions when there was a more exciting and diverse collection of candidates in most of the categories ... London theatre now offers tremendous choice for theatre-goers."
The awards take place in front of 250 invited guests at the Royal Opera House hosted by Richard Wilson with stars including Kenneth Branagh, David Tennant, Jude Law and Josh Hartnett attending.
Some were in the running for honours while others were announcing the success of colleagues. The guest list also included Ruthie Henshall, Samuel West, Jessica Hynes, Donald Sinden and Tim Pigott-Smith.
Behind-the-scenes stalwarts including artistic directors - Nicolas Kent of the Tricycle, Josie Rourke of the Bush, Nicholas Hytner of the National -and theatre owners and producers - Sonia Friedman, Nica Burns and Cameron Mackintosh - were all also due to attend.
The ceremony comes in a year when serious drama continued to fight for space against musicals in the West End - though often proved triumphant with many considering the productions among the best in recent memory.
The ongoing vigour of the British stage was reflected overseas where shows from Equus and Boeing-Boeing to the Royal Court's production of The Seagull are proving major successes on Broadway.
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