The Northcott Theatre is a theatre

Theater (structure)

A theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance , a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces...

 situated on the Streatham Campus

Streatham Campus

The Streatham Campus is the largest campus of the University of Exeter. The campus is renowned for its beautiful landscaping and excellent views. The centre of the campus is occupied by teaching, administrative and service buildings...

 of the University of Exeter

University of Exeter

The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....

, Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

History

The Northcott is the seventh building in Exeter to be used as a theatre.

In 1962, the Theatre Royal, Exeter

Theatre Royal, Exeter

The Theatre Royal, Exeter was the name of several theatres situated in the city centre of Exeter, Devon, England in the United Kingdom.-Early theatres and fires:...

 was demolished

Demolition

Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....

 to be replaced by an office block; however there were many people in Exeter who were determined that the city should not be without a theatre for very long. Early in 1962 Mr G V Northcott had started negotiations with the Board of Directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 of the Theatre Royal with the view to "saving" the theatre, and its re-creation as a theatre and arts centre. A small group from the University of Exeter

University of Exeter

The University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....

 prepared a memorandum

Memorandum

A memorandum is from the Latin verbal phrase memorandum est, the gerundive form of the verb memoro, "to mention, call to mind, recount, relate", which means "It must be remembered ..."...

 explaining how they saw the Theatre Royal functioning in the kind of way that Mr Northcott visualised and outlining some ideas. They submitted this memorandum to the Board of Directors of the Theatre Royal and to Mr Northcott. After some time, however, negotiations failed to develop and the Theatre Royal was sold.

For a time, informal discussions continued between Mr Northcott and the University, and later in 1962 more formal contacts were made. The then Vice-Chancellor pointed out that the University had for some time earmarked a site for a theatre on its Development Plan and it was possible that, in collaboration with the University, Mr Northcott's ideas for a theatre and arts centre could be realised.

Ultimately, the University offered a site: Mr Northcott established a trust with a benefaction of £100,000 (later supplemented by a generous gift of £50,000 from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private foundation of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education, and science...

 and by other bodies), to establish the "Northcott Devon Theatre and Arts Centre", which would serve the needs of the community in the region. The Northcott Theatre opened with a production of The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...

, starring Tony Church, its first Artistic Director, on 2 November 1967. Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth

Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE was an English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism, and with such contemporaries as Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo she helped to develop modern art in Britain.-Life and work:Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield,...

 unveiled one of her sculptures in the foyer on opening night. The architects were Sir William Holford and Partners and the theatre consultant Michael Warre.

Actors who spent time in the Northcott company in their earlier careers include Polly James

Polly James

Polly James is an award winning British actresswith a varied career in theatre, film, television and radio spanning nearly 40 years...

, Lesley Joseph

Lesley Joseph

Lesley D Joseph is an English actress and broadcaster.-Life and career:Joseph was born in Northampton. She is best known for starring in the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather from 1989–1998, in which she played Dorien Green, the Jewish next-door neighbour of the main characters Sharon and Tracy...

, John Nettles

John Nettles

John Vivian Drummond Nettles, OBE is an English actor, historian and writer who is best known for playing the lead roles in Bergerac and Midsomer Murders.-Early life:...

, Robert Lindsay

Robert Lindsay (actor)

Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.-Early life:Lindsay was...

, Brian Protheroe

Brian Protheroe

Brian Protheroe , of a Welsh father and English mother, is a musician and actor.-Career:Protheroe joined a local church choir when he was twelve years old, and started piano lessons at about the same time. The music of Cliff Richard and The Shadows inspired him to start learning the guitar...

, Bob Peck

Bob Peck

Bob Peck was an English stage, television and film actor.-Early life:He went to Leeds Modern School in Lawnswood...

, Geraldine James

Geraldine James

Geraldine James, OBE is an English actress.-Early life and family:James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father...

, Celia Imrie

Celia Imrie

Celia Diana Savile Imrie is an English actress. In a career starting in the early 1970s, Imrie has played Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac, Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies, Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques, Diana Neal in After You've Gone and Gloria Millington in Kingdom...

, Nick Brimble

Nick Brimble

Nick Brimble , is an English actor known for his performance as Little John in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and his appearances on various television shows....

 and Imelda Staunton

Imelda Staunton

Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...

. In its first years, the company originated a number of plays of West Country

West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...

 interest, including new historical drama by Jack Emery

Jack Emery

Jack Emery is a British director, writer and producer for stage, TV and radio. He was educated at Keele University. He began his career producing and acting at Keele, most notably in his first one-man show taken from the novels and plays of Samuel Beckett, called "A Remnant", which played in the...

 and an adaptation of the Cornish Passion Play. It also toured productions throughout the area.

The Theatre in recent years

The Northcott continued to serve the needs of the local community. The Board of Management is representative of both the University and of the community, and the University provides for the Director's salary and assists in the maintenance of the building. Financial assistance towards the running costs also comes from South West Arts, Devon County Council

Devon County Council

Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. Based in the city of Exeter, the council covers the non-metropolitan county area of Devon...

, the City of Exeter, East Devon District Council

East Devon

East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Sidmouth, and the largest town is Exmouth.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Honiton with the urban districts of Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Ottery St. Mary, Seaton, Sidmouth...

, Teignbridge District Council

Teignbridge

Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Newton Abbot.Other towns in the district include Ashburton, Dawlish and Teignmouth...

, and Mid-Devon District Council

Mid Devon

Mid Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Tiverton.The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Tiverton and Crediton urban district together with Tiverton Rural District, and Crediton Rural...

.

The Northcott has always been a producing repertory

Repertory

Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...

 theatre, that is to say the bulk of the productions are staged by the company itself, rather than being brought in from elsewhere.

The Northcott has customarily been open for approximately 44 weeks of the year, during which time some 10 or 11 in-house or co-produced shows are mounted for runs of between 10 days to 3½ weeks (the Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 show being the only one that runs for approximately 6 weeks). It has developed links with other theatre companies, leading to several joint ventures. This development is one which the company hopes to build on, including perhaps links with other repertory companies across the country. Northcott Theatre company productions vary from comedies

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 to tragedies

Tragedy

Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...

, new writing to classics. To a lesser degree, the Northcott also presents visiting companies (e.g. English Touring Opera

English Touring Opera

English Touring Opera is an opera company in the United Kingdom. From 1979 to 1992 it was known as Opera 80.- About the company :Opera 80 was founded in 1979 by the Arts Council of Great Britain as the successor to Opera For All; in 1992 the company changed its name to English Touring Opera...

), amateur productions and some one-night events. Its annual open air Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 performance in the grounds of Rougemont Castle

Rougemont Castle

Rougemont Castle is the historic castle of Exeter.The castle was first built in 1068 to help William the Conqueror maintain control over the city. It is perched on an ancient volcanic plug, overlaying remains of the Roman city of Isca Dumnoniorum...

 is well regarded nationally. It also promotes a Drama in Education group now called "Northcott Young Company".

The Northcott employs 20 full-time staff to mount shows, administer and market the theatre. There is also a large team of part-time workers including box office

Box office

A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....

 staff, usherettes, bar staff and backstage casuals.

As built the theatre was given a semicircular main house auditorium

Auditorium

An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...

 seating 433 people with an orchestra pit

Orchestra pit

An orchestra pit is the area in a theater in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music or in cases when incidental music is required...

 on a mechanical lift; being also configurable as theatre in the round

Theatre in the round

Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...

 or cinema

Movie theater

A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....

. The capacity of the venue was increased in the 2007 refurbishment and it can now seat 464.

Expansion and threatened closure

In March 2005, the directors of the Northcott announced that planning permission and funding would be sought for a £3.1 million building project to expand front of house facilities and increase the capacity of the auditorium to 538 seats.

Having raised £2.1 million, the theatre was closed for refurbishment in January 2007 and reopened on 12 December 2007, near the fortieth anniversary of its first opening.

The refurbishment provided the following;

• New auditorium seating
• Additional wheelchair spaces
• A lift to all public levels, providing full disabled access
• Improved disabled facilities
• Redecorated and upgraded public areas
• Additional space for eating and drinking in the foyer
• An enhanced entrance area
• Refurbished and improved technical areas

The day before the rebranded Exeter Northcott reopened in December 2007, Arts Council England

Arts Council England

Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...

 threatened withdrawal of its entire £547,000 annual grant. The loss of a third of the theatre's operating costs would result in a drastic cutback in production and job losses, if the theatre even managed to stay open. However on 1 February 2008 the Arts Council England announced a reprieve for the Exeter Northcott and its continued funding.

Following the discovery of a legacy of accounting problems inherited from the previous management, the trustees placed the theatre into administration on 25th February 2010. This decision was opposed by Arts Council England which had earlier sent in a forensic accountant to investigate the extent of the problem. These investigations had not yet been completed. Geoff Myers, chairman of the theatre's trustees, said: "We took this decision with a heavy heart but when presented with the latest financial information we had no choice but to place the theatre into administration. It is to be hoped that a way can be found to effect a rescue of the theatre." Exeter City Council

Exeter City Council

Exeter City Council is the council and local government of the city of Exeter, Devon.The City Council provides a range of services within the city including housing, refuse collections and recycling, planning, economic development, tourism, leisure and arts facilities and activities...

 and the university have agreed to help find a way to save the theatre. On 5 June 2010 it was confirmed by administrators Begbies Traynor

Begbies Traynor

Begbies Traynor is a firm specialising in corporate restructuring. They were formed in 1989, expanded through mergers and organic growth and were floated in 2004. The company employs over 500 people and has 45 offices around the United Kingdom.-History:The company was formed as Traynor & Partners...

 that a new company set up by the university had purchased the theatre, the Exeter Northcot Theatre Company, and the immediate future of the theatre is now thought to be secure.

Artistic Directors

List formerly published on the Northcott Theatre website

• 1967 - 1971: Tony Church
  Tony Church
  James Anthony "Tony" Church was a British Shakespearean actor, who has appeared on stage and screen. In 1989 he became the Dean of the National Theatre Conservatory, which is the teaching arm of the Denver Center Theatre Company in Denver, Colorado.-Stage:Church was educated at Hurstpierpoint...
  
   (Artistic Director), Robin Phillips
  Robin Phillips
  Robin Phillips is an English actor and director.Phillips was born in Haslemere, Surrey, the son of EllenAnne and James William Phillips. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic and worked as an actor and director for many years in the United Kingdom, finishing as Artistic Director at the Greenwich...
  
  (Associate Director), Bernard Goss (Writer in Residence)
• 1971 - 1974: Jane Howell (Artistic Director), Jack Emery & Kevin Robinson (Associate Directors)
• 1974 - 1977: Geoffrey Reeves (Artistic Director)
• 1978 - 1980: Richard Digby Day (Artistic Director), Michael Winter & Crispin Thomas (Associate Directors)
• 1981 - 1985: Stewart Trotter (Artistic Director)
• 1986 - 1990: George Roman (Artistic Director), Martin Harvey (Associate Director)
• 1991 - 1998: John Durnin (Artistic Director), Tim Carroll (Associate Director), Charlotte Conquest & Gillian King (Assistant Directors), Robert Shearman (Writer in Residence)
• 1998 - 2008: Ben Crocker (Artistic Director)
• 2008 - 2010: Rebecca Manson Jones (position retitled to 'Creative Director')

External links

• Video report about the refurbishment of the theatre in 2007 by BizView.tv