Setting the stage: catching up with the Nottingham Playhouse's artistic director Adam Penford

Earlier this year The Playhouse won the coveted title of Theatre of the Year at The Stage awards. How did that recognition feel?

It’s a real honour! Everyone at the Playhouse is thrilled. It was an acknowledgement, not just of our work on stage, but of how we've adapted our business model to a post-Covid world and the decline in public art subsidies. We also feel its recognition of the inclusivity and welcome we give our audiences and artists. 

What does your day-to-day job entail?

As artistic director, I’m appointed to conceive and implement the theatre’s artistic vision - choosing which plays we do and directing some of them. When I don't direct, I choose the directors and work with them to get the production on stage, thinking about things like casting decisions or who the set designer will be. I also work with marketing on who we're targeting for each play and how to reach those audiences. As part of the Playhouse executive, I have financial, health and safety, organizational and HR responsibilities as well.

For you, what makes a play ‘Playhouse worthy’?

I always look for three good reasons to choose one particular play over another. It might be about the issues it's exploring. Is the playwright saying something relevant about the world? Secondly, I try to identify who the audience will be, to make sure we are confident that we will sell enough tickets to cover each production? Sometimes that's about finding new audiences.

Lastly, I want to make sure there's a wide selection on offer. Sometimes it’s a brand-new play, then a musical, then Shakespeare and then pantomime. It can’t just be tragedy, tragedy, tragedy! We want to offer an entertaining and funny night out next to something hard hitting and challenging.

There’s also practicality. We can't just do big cast shows with massive sets. We can’t afford to. But if we only did one person shows with a chair and microphone on an empty stage, then the audience would tire of those quickly too. 

What's interesting, with hindsight, is that everything we do is political in some way. Not political with a big P; but they’re always exploring sociopolitical issues relevant to Nottingham, even if that's dressed up as a comedy or musical.

Why did you first realise you wanted a career in theatre?

I'm from Nottingham and as a kid my parents used to bring me to the Playhouse to see the pantomime. The truth is that it’s here that I fell in love with theatre. I've come full circle, as I now direct those pantos myself. Also live theatre is exciting! I've never got over that adrenalin rush of when the ushers shut the doors, the auditorium dims and the curtain goes up. 

You were working in London before you got the job here. What made you want to come back?

I always thought one day I’d like to be an artistic director and run a theatre, and the Nottingham Playhouse is where I fell in love with theatre. The job came up, and I never thought i’d get it. It was the first artistic director job I'd ever applied for. However, I slowly got through each interview round and then I was finally appointed. This job is a real privilege!

What advice would you give youngsters aspiring to careers in theatre?

See as much theatre as you can. Sometimes people think tickets are expensive but theatres have deals for you, even if you have to book early. Here, we have a free youth pass that gets you special deals. Go and see a wide variety of theatre, from pub theatres to big theatres, to musicals and new plays. The other thing is doing it yourself. I trained as an actor and realised I preferred directing, but I’d never change my training. I apply it all the time in this job. Join your local youth theatre or am-dram group and immerse yourself in it. You'll learn so much, even if it's not necessarily how to direct. You might end up realising you’d prefer to be a stage manager and paint scenery. 

You were closely involved with the play Punch and must be proud of its success.

Yeah, I’m really proud of it. It was a long time in the making. In 2020, I listened to a Radio Four podcast with Jacob Dunne and I got in touch with him to ask if he'd be willing to make his life story into a play. It took two years to get Notts’ own James Graham (Dear England, Sherwood) to be the playwright, because he's so busy. So, it took four years from that original idea to it hitting the stage. Now, it's transferring to the West End and Broadway. 

Punch would never have happened if you hadn't reached out to Jacob…

His story is about learning to communicate and how Jacob and the parents of James (the man Jacob tragically killed) learned to talk to one another, in the most unlikely circumstances. For me, theatre’s all about that; about dialogue and listening and putting yourself in others’ shoes. Everyone working on that play feels grateful to Jacob and Joan and David, the parents, for entrusting us and being so open about the collaboration. They've been brilliant.

Looking into your crystal ball, what do you see in the Playhouse’s future?

It’s really tough making theatre. We’ve lost our City Council funding. The money we get from the Arts Council, our biggest funder, has also dropped by 30%. Our costs are going up, so imagine what it's like running a big building and making shows? But we're selling more tickets than ever and we're so grateful to the people of Nottingham for supporting us. We don't want to put ticket prices up, but it means we're in this horrible quandary. If I'm being honest, the future is getting tougher. That's reality, but we'll keep doing it because we're passionate. We'll be announcing the autumn season soon and we've got some really exciting projects coming up. 

nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk