Jeremy Lewis Interview: Nottingham Audiences
Title
Jeremy Lewis Interview: Nottingham Audiences
Date
9 August 2017
Description
Oral history interview with local journalist and theatre reviewer, Jeremy Lewis.
What's the story?
Having trained and started his journalistic career in the South East, Jeremy Lewis moved to Nottingham in 1981 to work for the Evening Post.
Following the retirement of eminent local critic Emrys Bryson, Jeremy eventually became the regular theatre reviewer for Nottingham from the mid 1990s, attending many opening nights at the Theatre Royal.
In this interview Jeremy discusses the relationship between the Theatre Royal and Nottingham audiences, highlighting what he describes as "an obligation to try to satisfy a broad cross-section of the Nottingham public".
I wouldn’t like to comment on the last ten years or so because I haven’t been going as often as I used to and I tend to go only for pleasure nowadays, although I occasionally do a review. I think the one thing that always used to irritate me was if somebody had been on telly and they came on stage and they got a special round of applause. It happened with Joan Collins when she came once. I think Nottingham audiences are actually fairly conservative, but they’re not stupid: they know a good turn when they see one.
Have they changed over the years? I don’t think they’re necessarily getting any younger, but that’s purely personal observation. It’s quite a challenge for people in theatre, particularly to get younger people in particular to go and see straight plays, as opposed to musicals or anything. But I think the good thing about the Theatre Royal, as a civic owned theatre, it does have an obligation to try to satisfy a broad cross section of the Nottingham public and I think, as long as I’ve been here, it’s tried very hard to do that. We had a period when I think we had too many musicals, but if you look through a programme for a year now, it’s very hard to say that they don’t try and offer something for everybody.
I think also, what’s good with the Theatre Royal, is being a home for two or three very important touring companies. I’m thinking in particular of Opera North and Northern Ballet Theatre, because they guarantee a level of pretty high artistic achievement in those specific spheres and, of course, as well as commercial touring productions. You know, we have had productions from the subsidised companies: National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and so on.
Following the retirement of eminent local critic Emrys Bryson, Jeremy eventually became the regular theatre reviewer for Nottingham from the mid 1990s, attending many opening nights at the Theatre Royal.
In this interview Jeremy discusses the relationship between the Theatre Royal and Nottingham audiences, highlighting what he describes as "an obligation to try to satisfy a broad cross-section of the Nottingham public".
I wouldn’t like to comment on the last ten years or so because I haven’t been going as often as I used to and I tend to go only for pleasure nowadays, although I occasionally do a review. I think the one thing that always used to irritate me was if somebody had been on telly and they came on stage and they got a special round of applause. It happened with Joan Collins when she came once. I think Nottingham audiences are actually fairly conservative, but they’re not stupid: they know a good turn when they see one.
Have they changed over the years? I don’t think they’re necessarily getting any younger, but that’s purely personal observation. It’s quite a challenge for people in theatre, particularly to get younger people in particular to go and see straight plays, as opposed to musicals or anything. But I think the good thing about the Theatre Royal, as a civic owned theatre, it does have an obligation to try to satisfy a broad cross section of the Nottingham public and I think, as long as I’ve been here, it’s tried very hard to do that. We had a period when I think we had too many musicals, but if you look through a programme for a year now, it’s very hard to say that they don’t try and offer something for everybody.
I think also, what’s good with the Theatre Royal, is being a home for two or three very important touring companies. I’m thinking in particular of Opera North and Northern Ballet Theatre, because they guarantee a level of pretty high artistic achievement in those specific spheres and, of course, as well as commercial touring productions. You know, we have had productions from the subsidised companies: National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and so on.
Type
Oral interview
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Interviewers: Valerie Rogers & Sally Smith
Transcriber: David Chilton
Transcriber: David Chilton
