Daniel Evans: My Sheffield highlights

This month Daniel Evans' seven year tenure at the helm of Sheffield Theatres comes to an end. His successes at the venue include critically acclaimed productions of My Fair Lady, Hamlet starring John Simm and Show Boat, which transferred to the West End earlier this year.

As he passes the baton to new artistic director Robert Hastie, we speak to him about his fondest memories and initial plans for taking over at Chichester Festival Theatre.

What are you most proud of from your time at Sheffield Theatres?

One of the main things that stands out for me is the establishment of our community company, Sheffield People's Theatre. I directed the Sheffield Mysteries with them a couple of years ago and that was probably one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. I got to work with 100 people who live and work in this area; their energy, passion, enthusiasm and hard work was really inspiring and transformative.

Was reaching out to the community something that was top of your agenda from the start?

When I arrived as a rookie artistic director, they asked me what success would look like – I always hate that question because it asks you to predict the future, which is impossible – but one of the things I said was that I’d love the people of Sheffield to feel a sense of ownership and emotional investment in the building and the theatre. So I started from that point and I leave feeling that we’ve gone a long way on a journey to achieving that goal, and that makes me feel very proud.

There was a real sense of a united team when I visited recently…

Yes. We’re very lucky that we have a brilliant team. I’m very conscious that it’s not only my doing as figurehead, it’s been a real team effort and we couldn’t have achieved half of it without the dedication of a brilliant group of people.

Will you miss Sheffield?

I’ve definitely grown to love the city, I’ll miss it very much. It’s a place where there’s a real independent spirit, they’re so proud that they’re not Leeds or Manchester. There’s a down-to-earthness and generosity here that reminds me of home.

Can you pick a favourite production?

My favourite of my own productions was Lucy Prebble's The Effect, which I directed in the studio last summer. The whole process; the cast, the play, that was a particular highlight for me.

Any particular performances that stand out?

There’s so many memories. I’ve loved having John Simm here, his Hamlet and his performance in Betrayal will always stay with me, he’s such an incredible actor. We’ve been lucky with so many great performances; Carly Bawden as Eliza Doolittle is another that stands out. But I’ve produced over 70 productions whilst I’ve been here so it’s really hard to pick out highlights without offending people.

Your final production in the Crucible was the new British musical, Flowers for Mrs Harris…

It turned out to be quite fitting because it’s about an ordinary woman who has an artistic experience and makes a huge change in her life – in making that change to herself she also changes other people's lives. So what the piece is saying is quite pertinent to something I really believe in – that art can and does change people’s lives – it changed mine.

How did the job at Chichester Festival Theatre come about?

I’d been here for seven years and saw it advertised. Theatre constantly needs new energy and I felt it was probably time to give someone else a go here and felt that Chichester was a development for me personally too.

Do you have an idea of what you're going to be doing there yet?

I haven’t had much time to think about it yet. Rachel Tackley [the new Executive Director at Chichester] and I are stealing moments when we can to discuss how we take things forward, but I’m also very keen that I don’t want to muscle in on what is really their [Jonathan Church and Alan Finch, outgoing artistic director and executive director] moment in the sun as they say goodbye to Chichester.

They're leaving it in really good shape, does that make you nervous?

Yes I’m daunted, Jonathan and Alan have had such amazing success particularly in the latter half of their reign there, and they’ve really built up a loyal audience which I’m really looking forward to engaging with. My first season starts in Spring 2017 and there will probably be an announcement at the beginning of next year, so I’ve got a bit of time.

Can we expect to see you performing again any time soon?

I hope at some point I’ll be able to do something at Chichester but that’s not the reason I’m going there. I’m not going there to cast myself in parts, I’m going to run the organisation and direct plays. But if the right part comes along and the director wants me to do it then there’s no reason why I couldn’t do it. I’ve not done a Michael Grandage, I have not stopped acting. I find that acting feeds the directing and visa versa, it’s good to keep a hand in and to understand what the actor's process is. So watch this space!

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