Village Squire, 1977-01, Page 32THEATRE
4 ,
While the public sees the action on the stage, the Board of Governors of an operation like the
Stratford Festival is important says John Killer, President of the Stratford Board.
Stratford
Festival
President
explains
importance of
business side
of the arts.
30, Village Squire/January 1977
Often overlooked in the process of the
arts is the power behind the scenes, the
board of governors of the organization.
Overlooking or downplaying the import-
ance of the board is a mistake, according to
John V. Killer, president of the board of
directors of the Stratford Festival. Contrary
to the opinion of some members of the
artistic community, he said, business -
oriented boards of directors are no
hindrance to artistic freedom within the
performing arts, Killer said.
In his report to the annual meeting of the
Stratford Festival held at the Festival
Theatre November 27, Killer said it is not
true that total government funding and
boards of governors comprised entirely of
people involved in the arts automatically
ensure artistic freedom or achievement. He
said: "It is not just coincidence that the
Festival has become a leading classical
theatre of world status at the same time as
it has had a strongly business -oriented
board of governors, who have maintained a
policy of minimum dependence on
government funding and maximum free-
dom of artistic direction."
He cited the Festival's appointment of
Robin Phillips as Artistic Director as an
example of the value of a board of
governors which can take "strong,
independent action" to seek new artistic
leadership, "not on the basis of nationality
or background but solely on the basis of
talent needed" to lift an organization to
new artistic heights.
Mr. Killer said that this past Season's
attendance increase of 18.5 per cent over
the previous year represents "a form of
communication from the public to the
Festival. The message communicated is,
that - in a year when tourism in most major
centres was falling way below expectation,
in a year when competition for audiences
included such events as the Olympics in
Montreal, in a year when inflation had
forced huge numbers of people to
re-evaluate their spending habits and
re -apportion funds accordingly - in this
particular year, more than half a million
people saw fit to attend the Stratford
Festival."
He said that he sees this as a message of
approval for Mr. Phillips' artistic policies
although: "It does not necessarily mean
that half a million people agreed with
everything they saw on stage. On the
contrary, many people found that
attending the Festival this year was a
reasonably demanding exercise. Some
long -held ideas were challenged and these
challenges demanded mental response.
But I think the figures tell us that our
audiences were willing to have their ideas
challenged by productions that were
stimulating and thought-provoking." He
said that the enthusiastic response of
young people and student audiences
particularly showed the theatre was in a
healthy state of growth.
The president believes that international
critical acceptance of the Festival as one of
the leading English-speaking theatres of
the world indicates a coming of age
artistically for the theatre but he
emphasized that maturity carries with it
added responsibility in new areas: "One
such commitment began in September
when the third year of the National Theatre
School was represented in Stratford by a
group of young actors who enjoyed a
unique learning experience. They spent
almost a month here, rehearsing scenes
from two plays under Robin Phillips'
direction. The rehearsals were organized in
the same way as regular company
rehearsals and the same demands were
made on the students as are made on
professional actors. The only different was
that they did not have to perform before
the public. This was practical training of
the kind that can't be duplicated in a
classroom situation. And it is hoped that it
will be just the first of many similar
projects. It is part of Mr. Phillips' aim to
establish Stratford as a teaching as well as
a performing theatre. And I consider it a
measure of the Festival's own maturity
that we can accept responsibility for what
amounts to a major subsidy to the
performing arts world at a time when the
share of our costs paid by the Federal and
Provincial governments is decreasing."
STRATFORD ANNIVERSARY SEASON
TO HAVE NINE PRODUCTIONS
The Stratford Festival's 25th anniversary
Season will include the two Shakespeare
plays that opened the Festival in 1953.
Richard III and All's Well That Ends Well
will be 1977's opening productions on the
Festival stage in June, Artistic Director
Robin Phillips announced recently.
Joining them in the repertory will be four