Artistic Directors of the Northcott Theatre

Tony Church 1967-1970

Tony received special leave from the Royal Shakespeare Company (where he was a much-respected and experienced actor) to take over the new Directorship of the Northcott Theatre, and he subsequently invited several of his colleagues there to guest-star in his productions in Exeter.

The Northcott opened on 2nd November, 1967 with a production of Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, with Tony as Shylock.
He subsequently acted in and directed many productions. Robin Phillips started his acting and directing career with the company (later giving a Northcott premiere to his first major London production of ABELARD AND HELOISE), and Jack Emery wrote several scripts for the productions of semi-documentary plays about historical events in the West Country.

Jane Howell 1971-1973

With her strong academic background and instinct for "theatre with a social purpose" Jane brought a very special type of production to the Northcott. Her Shakespeare plays were highly accessible to the modern generation, and she started a tradition of musicals at Christmas time, while gathering about her a dedicated essentially young company of "comparative unknowns" - many of whom are household names in theatre and TV today (David Roper, Robert Lindsay, Roy Marsden, Bob Peck, Janet Dale, Brian Protheroe, to name but a few).

She resurrected the Cornish Mystery Cycle and directed several Edward Bond plays, two of which (BINGO and THE POPE'S WEDDING) received their first public showings in Exeter. Since leaving the Northcott, Jane has found her genius lies in producing TV drama to a very high standard.

Geoffrey Reeves 1974-1977

Geoffrey had worked extensively with Peter Brook, had been a University Drama lecturer, and a freelance director of classical opera.
When he arrived, the Northcott was facing a difficult time: grants were being cut and audiences had fallen away. With great ingenuity, he steered a "sensible" course artistically, whilst at the same time producing some memorable drama. He continued the Christmas tradition of a musical for the adults and a matinee play for children.

Geraldine James made her debut at the Northcott during this time, and Basil Lord, Clifford Mollison and Brian Murphy were regular guest actors. Geoffrey was also the man responsible for the first Exeter Festival - it was his brain child. He was appointed Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse in 1978, and after three years there he has returned to academic life and freelance directing.

Richard Digby Day 1978-1980

The first RADA student to take a Director's course, Richard came to the Northcott with a wealth of experience in directing at theatres all over England and abroad. He brought pantomime back to the professional stage in Exeter and took several productions to the Cathedral - most notably a promenade presentation of Hardy's epic poem THE DYNASTS which was directed by his associate director Crispin Thomas.

He directed a brilliant version of CABARET and found that Exeter audiences enjoyed his productions of Sondheim musicals and brought in actresses like Evelyn Laye, Honor Blackman, Miriam Karlin, Dulcie Gray and Phyllis Calvert to play in his shows. Frank Barrie premiered his one-man show MACREADY! - one of many solo performances in which Richard directed his actors.

He left Exeter to take over from Geoffrey Reeves in Nottingham, where he stayed for three years, and is now a freelance director.

Stewart Trotter 1981-1985

Stewart had recently co-founded the popular Opera 80 Company, and had previously worked with Peter Hall at the National and at Glyndebourne, and had done several productions for Welsh National Opera and Wexford Festival.

In his second year at the Northcott he embarked on a most ambitious season of Repertoire when 17 actors rehearsed and performed in four plays in informal rotation. That same year he produced his first English musical, BITTER SWEET, with a style and flair that was to become his hallmark in the successful musicals that followed.

He introduced the "subscription season" - whereby patrons pay for a series of plays in advance at reduced prices - and has attracted lively audiences with a vastly varied programme, bringing to each production an equally high technical and artistic quality.

George Roman 1986-1990

George Roman took up his post as the sixth Artistic Director of the Northcott Theatre in January 1986.
He was born in Budapest, and graduated at the Hungarian Academy of Film and Drama, Budapest. He became Artistic Director of a leading provincial theatre but, in 1956, following the collapse of the Hungarian uprising, he was forced to leave the country.

He joined the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he trained with Jane Howell, a former Northcott Director. Later, he joined the staff of the School.
George did an ITV Repertory Trainee Directorship at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry and trained and qualified as a TV director at ABC TV Studios in Teddington. While there he directed such programmes as Tempo and The Avengers. He moved on to film work with the National Coal Board Film Section making industrial and educational documentaries. He was appointed first Artistic Director of the Billingham Forum Theatre, and later was invited to become the first lecturer in European Literature at University College, Swansea. While at Swansea, he directed Fry's A Phoenix Too Frequent which was shown on BBC2 and won a "Best Acting" prize at the San Antonio Festival in 1972.

In 1976 he took up his appointment as first Artistic Director at Theatr Clwyd, Mold, North Wales where he remained for nine and a half years. His productions there included As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Physicists, Death of a Salesman, Galileo, Rookery Nook, Cabaret and Whose Life is it Anyway?
He was awarded a fellowship to Corpus Christi, Cambridge in 1980, for his innovative approach to classical productions at Mold.

George made numerous documentaries for S4C and was Artistic Director of the Northcott Theatre for 5 years.

John Durnin 1991 - 1998

John graduated from Oxford in 1982. His theatre career began in Manchester, where he spent two seasons as Stage Manger at the Forum Theatre, Wythenshawe. During this time he directed for fringe companies and after leaving the Forum, he worked with the Library Theatre Company, the North West Playwright's Workshop, Manchester Youth Theatre, Pan Theatre Company and East 15.

John was awarded an Arts Council Bursary to work with the Library Theatre Company as Assistant Director, where he remained until 1987. The same year, he worked as a freelance for the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, joining the company as Associate Director and subsequently he led the company's involvement in the SOUTH WEST ARTS REGIONAL DRAMATURG project, a new writing initiative in which the Northcott Theatre played a part.

On leaving the Everyman, John turned freelance once again, working at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, the Albany Empire, London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

John was the Artistic Director at the Northcott from 1990 to 1998.

Ben Crocker 1998 - present

Ben is a graduate of the University of Exeter's Drama Department, and has already directed the Northcott Theatre Company productions of Much Ado About Nothing, Dead Funny, She Stoops to Conquer, Dick Whittington, Bouncers, A Passionate Woman, The Taming of the Shrew, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lam, Aladdin, Sense and Sensibility, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Glass Menagerie, The Sleeping Beauty, Treehouses, Hamlet, The Things We Do For Love, Cinderella and most recently The Night Garden. He appeared in the Northcott Theatre Company production of The Rivals as Bob Acres.

In 1989 he founded Magnificent Theatre Company, and as Artistic Director developed it over the course of eight years to become one of the most popular and successful Arts Council-funded middle-scale touring companies. Productions as both actor and director include The Garrick Fever, A Pantomime Rehearsal, Sir Courtly Nice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tender Husband, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Grubbe Street Opera, Jeppe of the Hill, Sir Martin Mar-All, The Dramatist, Loot and The Rivals.

(Biog last updated May 2002)

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