Next Artistic Director of the Donmar

I have no suggestions for who should be at the helm but I really hope it’s someone who would resurrect the Donmar musical. Some of the classiest musicals have been staged in this little jewel of a venue- Nine with its flooded stage, The Fix with an all star cast, Grand Hotel which was incredibly different from the large scale one we’d seen at the Dominion, Elena Roger being tossed in the air as Piaf, a couple of Merrilys, a Company, an Into the Woods, and a rather spectacular City of Angels to mention a few... I really miss them.

Who is in the frame?

Fantasy programming with a completely free hand - such fun

I would want a balance of the old and the new but also perhaps look to build a year-long ensemble who would work together on all 4 projects.

The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman and Tectonic Theater Project - still one of the most powerful plays I know
Separate Tables by Terence Rattigan - it was omitted from the Rattigan revival for some reason and is due a major revival.
The Feign'd Curtizans by Aphra Behn - no modern revival as far as I am aware - but it sounds, on paper, like an interesting piece

And then for a musical - that is where I would bring in the new with a commission for a new musical

I have been following the work of a pair of songwriters called Barlow and Smith for a few years now - and to me, they demonstrate the ability to write a wide range of songs that capture emotion very well - and also have a keen comedic flair.

So I would commission them to compose something new - possibly an adaptation of an existing play or novel (not a film!)

Some of their work:





(Yes, they have done a lot of songs for Christmas - but in range of styles, so I think they can be trusted to tackle non-festive stuff!)

And if I can add in a 5th project - it would have to be The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer. I would do this outside of the ensemble as the casting is so not balanced!

If I were AD at the Donmar, I'd schedule something like:

A new musical stage adaptation of either 'Cold Comfort Farm' or 'Diary of a Nobody.' (We need more comedy and musicals.)
A revival (with big name actors) of 'Burn This' by Lanford Wilson (Saw this on Broadway with John Malkovich and Joan Allen - it was extradordinary)
Commission a new play about the current state of higher education (Because...)
A production of Jean Genet's 'The Balcony' (Haven't seen a production of this in years - lots of opportunities for reimagining/movement, etc.)
A revival of Coward's 'Calvacade' (I've never seen this - but deals with Britishness/history/place in the world - could be interesting)
Something by a current playwright I find interesting like Lucy Prebble or Penelope Skinner (New writing by good playwrights)
Either a play by Langston Hughes - or a new work incorporating his poetry (LOVE his poetry and the libretto for Street Scene)
Probably something on a schools' syllabus (So school groups could justify a trip.)

So - there.

Yes, Oxfordsimon - I think it would only work with a radical reworking a la Daldry and 'An Inspector Calls.' :-)

Cavalcade would be even more of a squeeze than The Most Happy Fella, it’s massive, including over a hundred in the cast!

I think it would be interesting to get someone - Prebble? Graham? - to do a twenty first century version, following a family coping with the momentous events of the first decades of our century.