Hytner Questions West End Expectations???Date: 8 September 2004Another glowing National Theatre Annual Review (See News, 7 Sep 2004), another opportunity for the press to question NT artistic director Nicholas Hytner about the threat his success on the South Bank poses to the West End. Once again, Hytner expressed sympathy for commercial producers (See The Goss, 25 Sep 2003). However, he also posited his opinion on the changing nature of what they do. “Maybe the West End is being expected to do something that it no longer needs to do”, he said. The fact is that, “It’s been a long time since the West End has attempted to seriously compete with the major subsidised houses as a generator of challenging new work” so perhaps it should no longer be tasked with doing so. He was confident that, with the three blockbuster musicals - The Woman in White, The Producers and Mary Poppins - opening this autumn, things were “going to look a lot more cheerful”. Related Content |
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