History: Artistic Directors - Ian Wooldridge 1984-93
As one of the leading producing houses in Britain, with a particular reputation for the development of new work to complement its interpretation of the classical repertoire, the Royal Lyceum has always put particular emphasis on education in the work of such an important theatre. To succeed Leslie Lawton, the Lyceum Board appointed Ian Wooldridge of the Citizens Theatre, and Artistic Director of TAG (Theatre Around Glasgow) as its new Artistic Director. He brought Hugh Hodgart with him, as Associate Director, and together, for the next nine years, they developed an intellectual, cosmopolitan choice of plays -‘classic theatre with a contemporary edge’- and at the same time encouraging new writing and the development of the Lyceum’s education programme.
The foundation of Wooldridge’s philosophy is evident in his first year of work. With ‘Twelfth Night’ he introduced an annual Shakespeare production, a Lyceum tradition that continues to this day. Amongst other Shakespeare plays performed in succeeding years were Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth,Merchant of Venice, Othello, and Taming of the Shrew. ‘The Shrew’ was particularly memorable because of the imaginative design, with part of the audience on stage, behind and facing the actors, who played on the traverse, the audience becoming at once a part of, and separate from, the play. (Happily remembered too, that Petruchio was played by Kenneth Bryans, Tony Cownie’s current Tartuffe).
The imaginative use of theatre space, and visually ravishing design, together with the imaginative and sensitive direction of highly skilled performers, have become, in the past forty years, the hallmark of an innovative and forward-looking Lyceum.
Who can ever forget Ian Wooldridge’s production of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children?
At the back of the enormous bare and darkly painted stage, open in those days to the dramatic background of Edinburgh Castle itself, some half a mile away in the evening gloom, came Mother Courage on her seemingly endless and agonised entrance, pulling her weighty cart, which, because of the steep rake of the Lyceum stage, she was only just capable of stopping, before it tumbled headlong into the auditorium itself. At the end of the play, Mother Courage, now some thirty years older, trundled with her burden and exited through those massive doors at the back of the theatre, into the stygian darkness of the night. It remains an unforgettable and magical memory of theatre at its brilliant best.
Unforgettable too, was Ian Wooldridge’s brave decision to commission Ella Wildridge and Tom McGrath to adapt Tankred Dorst’s twelve hour script by creating two epic pieces, Merlin and Merlin –The SearchFor The Grail, anticipating Mark Thomson’s equally courageous and innovative production this season, of John Clifford’s adaptation of Goethe’s monumental Faust.
In 1985 Ian Wooldridge approached Liz Lochhead about the possibility of a new translation of Moliere’s Tartuffe. On 24 th January 1986, the world premiere of Liz Lochead’s unique and unforgettable adaptation into a vital and coruscating Scots opened at the Lyceum. Twenty years later, on 14 th January 2006 a gala performance of this classic Tartuffe celebrated 40 years of achievement of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company. There could be no more appropriate choice. It represents all that is excellent about the Royal Lyceum; the cosmopolitan choice of a classic French play, the commission of a new translation into innovative Scots by a leading poet and dramatist of our times; excellent production values of set, design lighting, acting and direction. All these criteria are the legacy of Lyceum directors of the past, such as Ian Wooldridge and Hugh Hodgart.
Together they brought to the Lyceum the works, amongst others, of Shakespeare, Moliere, Buchner, Brecht, Hauptmann, Lorca, Ibsen, Chekhov; Sheridan, Wilde, Shaw, Coward, Orton and Pinter. They celebrated modern American theatre with an emphasis on the work of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams.
They encouraged the talents of aspiring young directors, such as Ben Twist, Hamish Glen, Ian Brown, Caroline Hall, and Richard Baron, all of whom have gone on to become leading figures in the British Theatre after learning many of their skills in the Green Room and on the stage of the Lyceum Theatre.
Perhaps the most important contribution of the directorial team of Ian Wooldridge and Hugh Hodgart, is that they created an ensemble spirit where the talents of the writers and the act were recognised as being dependent on the work of the many people backstage, the whole design and production team.
A lasting illustration of the importance of this collaboration are the twelve productions, many of them Christmas shows, which were hugely successful and the result of the close collaboration between writer Stuart Paterson, designer Gregory Smith, directors Ian Wooldridge or Hugh Hodgart, and a host of the best actors of the Scottish stage.
After 96 productions in 9 years Ian Wooldridge described his time as Artistic Director of The Royal Lyceum as ‘a wonderful roller-coaster to be on, and I enjoyed every minute of it!’
Mike Ridings 2005