Arts diary
Taking sides
John Parry
Iwas hugely entertained, and not at all surprised, to read the rambling petulant attack on theatre critics by the director Michael Bogdanov. Some things never change. His relationship with critics down the years has always been a fractious one. His low regard for their work made it diffi- cult for him to accept anything they said. For him to use such phrases as 'crassly ignorant theories' and 'appalling lack of vision' is bizarre. At a time when theatre reviewing is of an exceptionally high stan- dard in Britain and the critics themselves, for the most part, widely experienced and knowledgeable, it ill-becomes a director whose career appears to have had little momentum in recent times to be lashing out in this fashion.
The responses from critics such as the Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer, the Observer's Michael Coveney and the Stan- dard's Nicholas de Jongh have been won- derfully restrained. Indeed, I am proud to join their ranks as one who has also incurred Mr Bogdanov's disfavour. During the 1980s when he was directing a series of plays at the National Theatre — including Howard Brenton's notorious Romans in Britain which contained a simulated sodomy scene that enraged Mrs Mary Whitehouse — I wrote and presented a Radio Four Profile of him, largely praising the rumbustious and challenging nature of his work. He seemed well pleased and we enjoyed a good relationship.
A little later he moved across to the commercial theatre. He directed a musical at the Piccadilly called Mutiny starring David Essex, Frank Finlay and the bare- breasted Sinitta. The result was a disaster. I had the temerity to say this on air and, unfortunately for my relationship with Mr Bogdanov, he never spoke to me again.
But I bring wonderful news for Mr Bog- danov, known to his friends as Bodger. His name, incidentally, is not Bogdanov. It is Bogdin. As a younger man he decided, with an odd sort of logic, that people found Bogdin tricky to pronounce and Bogdanov would be easier and perhaps more appro- priate for a theatre director. The news I bring him is that four theatre critics have taken the bait and have agreed to direct plays during a theatre festival next year. It will happen at the lively Battersea Arts Centre in South London. It cannot surely be beyond the wit of Mr B. to persuade a newspaper editor to let him review them. What an opportunity for him to give vent to his frustrations.
The Guardian's Michael Billington will direct something by either Sartre or Strind- berg. The Sunday Express's James Christo- pher (another name to drop into the pot as a possible successor to Jack Tinker at the Daily Mail) has chosen a new play by Robert Young, and both Nicholas de Jongh and the Times's Jeremy Kingston have yet to choose. It is an interesting venue for such an experiment. The director of BAC, Tom Morris, who invited them, is something of a poacher turned gamekeep- er. He used to be a theatre critic for Time Out. He clearly has a sense of humour but even he admits to a little nervousness at the thought of reviews by Michael Bogdanov.
Iwas delighted to hear that the Royal Shakespeare Company has been able to hold on to its lucrative sponsorship con- tract with the drinks people Allied Domecq. Over the next two years from March 1997, the RSC will receive another £2.2 million from them. It remains the biggest arts sponsorship in Britain. Given that the news for the Arts Council — and therefore for the RSC — after next week's budget is almost certain to be bad, the sponsorship decision from Allied Domecq is well-timed. Not even Adrian Noble's controversial decision to take the RSC out of the Barbican to go touring for six months of the year has thrown Allied Domecq. They seem to take the pragmatic view that, as people buy their drinks all over the country as well as internationally, they can only benefit. The new money will impor- tantly be part of the funding to cover the first two years of this new touring strategy.
I particularly like two aspects of the spon- sorship which has helped the RSC for three years now. To try to attract younger audi- ences, there are going to be 30,000 tickets for sale at half price in January and Febru- ary of next year to anyone under 30 for per- formances both in London and Stratford.
Second, a healthy chunk of the money will be set aside as a sort of innovation fund. It means that if the RSC comes up with a bright idea — such as last season's decision to transfer some of the Stratford productions to the Young Vic Theatre in London — there will be cash to pay for it. Allied Domecq want value for money. It seems to me that this is a classic example of corporate sponsorship where both the sponsor and the arts company benefit hugely. It is cheering to have some good news for a change.
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