 |
| Samuel West as Hamlet |
|
| Share |
West Takes Over from Grandage as Sheffield ChiefDate: 22 October 2004
Michael Grandage will be succeeded by a fellow actor-turned-director at Sheffield (See News, 25 Jun 2004). Today, the board of Sheffield Theatres – comprising the Sheffield Crucible, its Studio and the Lyceum Theatre next door – announced the appointment of Whatsonstage.com Award winner Samuel West (pictured) as its new artistic director. West - who continues to act as well as direct, and plans to take to the boards himself at Sheffield – takes over in June 2005.
The son of actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales, Samuel West’s many acting credits include: on film, Van Helsing, Cambridge Spies, Iris, Howard's End, Notting Hill, Complicity, Carrington, Stuff Upper Lips, Hornblower and Persuasion; and on stage, A Life in the Theatre, Arcadia, Hidden Laughter, The Sea, Mr Cinders, The Importance of Being Earnest, Henry IV and Richard II.
For his last London stage appearance, the title role in Steven Pimlott’s Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet, West won both the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Shakespearean Performance and the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoer’s Choice Award for Best Actor.
Although he appeared in this summer’s productions of The Master and Margarita and Doctor Faustus, since Hamlet, West has increasingly concentrated his stage efforts on directing. His directorial debut came in 2002 with The Lady’s Not for Burning at Chichester Festival, which was followed by Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Bristol Old Vic), an Olivier-nominated English National Opera production of Cosi Fan Tutte (Barbican) and, also this summer back at Chichester, the world premiere of Three Women and a Piano Tuner. In the current Big Debate poll, Whatsonstage.com theatregoers have voted West as one of their top choices to succeed Mark Rylance as artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe from December 2005.
However, it’s Sheffield and not London’s South Bank where West will be heading to now. He’s already scheduled to direct Insignificance next February at the Crucible, as part of Grandage’s final season, which concludes in April 2005 (See News, 19 May 2004). He begins planning now for the 2005/2006 season’s programming and will be based in Sheffield from June 2005, when Grandage steps down.
In a statement issued today, Grandage said of his successor: “I think this is a wonderful appointment. Sam has the talent, profile, drive and enthusiasm to ensure Sheffield Theatres goes from strength to strength. Having worked with him in our current season, I know he already has Sheffield's best interests at heart, and I have every confidence that he will develop this to an astounding level. I wish him well.”
Sir Norman Adsetts, chair of Sheffield Theatres Trust added: “This crucial appointment for Sheffield Theatres comes at the end of an exhaustive process led by our chief executive, Angela Galvin, and Paul Allen, my vice-chair. In Sam, we have engaged a committed artistic leader who will continue to develop our reputation nationally and internationally. It is, of course, particularly thrilling that Sam’s energy and vision will influence the planned transformation of the Crucible building.”
West himself commented: “At heart, this job is about continuing to make great theatre for the people of Sheffield – a city I’ve known and loved since childhood. The present high standing of Sheffield Theatres has come from a combination of great leadership and the perfect mix of spaces. The Crucible in particular is one of the most exciting stages in the country, and I’m looking forward to exploring it both as an actor and a director. I am delighted to be joining Sheffield Theatres as artistic director, and I anticipate the challenges of the job with relish.”
While West will take over full artistic director status, Grandage was officially only an associate director. Since 1999, he has programmed the theatres and helped to raise the artistic reputation of Sheffield to a national level, growing audiences by 75% and attracting such internationally famous actors as Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Diana Rigg and Joseph Fiennes. In another recent poll on Whatsonstage.com, Sheffield was voted one of the UK’s top two regional theatres (See “The State of Regional Theatre” Big Debate, Apr 2004). Since December 2002, Grandage has also simultaneously acted as artistic director of London’s Donmar Warehouse (See News, 22 Jan 2002).
- by Terri Paddock
Related Content
