Listening to the People
 

RICHARD FINDLAY is the chairman of the new National Theatre of Scotland, and he is on a mission to hear your views on where the infant organisation needs to go. On the eve of the first of his open sessions in the Highlands and Islands, he tells KENNY MATHIESON why he is coming here
 

KENNY MATHIESON: Richard, on a personal level was the decision to set up the National Theatre without either a building or a repertory company your own preferred way ahead?

RICHARD FINDLAY: Some years ago when I was chairman of the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh we discussed the possibility of a National Theatre and what shape it might take. In those discussions we concluded that the problem in Scotland was not so much available space as how to fill it, and how to maintain the buildings that we had, which were often a major drain on company resources. We concluded then that one of the things we should look at as a possible model was a non-building based National Theatre drawing on the talents, the expertise and the resources of the existing theatre companies. Now that didn’t go any further at the time, but when the Scottish Executive decided this time they would support that idea it didn’t surprise me, and rather attracted me.
 

KM: You are conducting a number of open public discussion sessions in the Highlands and elsewhere in Scotland in the next few weeks – what do you see as the purpose of these?

RF: One of the things I have been very conscious of is that many of these national initiatives tend to take root there if they are based in central Scotland. I am very keen that the National Theatre be seen as a truly national organisation operating throughout the whole of Scotland, and drawing on the talent that exists throughout the whole of Scotland. As a result one of the first things I decided to do was to take my ideas out beyond the central belt, and at the same time discover what people across Scotland were thinking – how might they contribute, and what kind of things did they think the National Theatre should be involved in.
 

RF: I think it is absolutely key to the whole thing that we have a dialogue not only with the people currently actively involved in the arts, but that we try to reach that whole swathe of the population which does not get involved in the arts as yet. I’m very keen that we broaden the debate to try to encourage non-theatre goers to come to performances. If the National Theatre can help to encourage that, and help locally-based companies continue that momentum, I feel that would very worthwhile.
 

KM: Why do we need a National Theatre?

RF: I think we need a national focus in all kinds of areas of life and culture. We also need to draw together the talent and expertise that we have in all levels of theatre in Scotland, and make use of that expertise, and share it around. A nation such as Scotland needs a National Theatre to show the rest of the world that we are developing culturally as a nation, that we have a centre of excellence for drama, and can represent Scotland abroad, and let people see that there are lively and interesting artistic things going on here at a high level.
 

KM: How will an area like the Highlands and Islands benefit?

RF: That is one of the things I am going to have to try to find out in these sessions, and in my discussions with the existing theatre companies and so on. One of the things I am already conscious of is that there is feeling that smaller venues might not be getting full value from this, with scaled down productions or whatever. There is an element of practicality in that which we have to think about. I also want to find out at first hand what is already happening in the Highlands and Islands. I am constantly intrigued by the amount of activity that is going on, and not only in the higher profile companies. I want the National Theatre to look at whether we could take work that is going on locally and give it a bigger stage.
 

KM: So it would be a matter of productions coming out of the Highlands as well as going in?

RF: Absolutely – I’d be very disappointed if that wasn’t the case.
 

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