Guest Blog: Executive Producer Martin Derbyshire on Collective Theatre, London's Newest Stage

It feels bleak for theatre at the moment. Not just for theatre. Coming off the back of Covid and a fresh round of funding cuts, in which we [Out of Joint] lost 100% of our Arts Council funding, we were left in a pretty bleak position ourselves. The choices for a production company, even one with 30 years of history and experience are to find more funding or close.

Out of Joint has a long and glorious tradition and in our new identity as Stockroom we feel like we’ve hardly got started. We underwent a big restructure since 2019 which included forming a writers room. This has evolved to include six writers working together under commission on two projects and several more who have worked with us over the last couple of years.

So, it felt like now was not the right time to call it a day. We thought about it and at times it felt inevitable that by this point – a year after our funding decision – we’d be having a farewell party.  But instead, we’re having one to open a new venue.

Is there risk attached? Of course there is. Like all companies we will need funding and donors and we have to build a supportive audience. But great things are rarely created in risk-averse situations. We need income that doesn’t just reply on funding, we need commercial income and we all agreed that we would rather be bold and brave and try to make positive change in the industry than go out quietly.

The cuts have hit new writing the hardest and we felt like we had to at least try to protect our community. Writers and other creatives need time and space and we’re trying to create that at Collective. For writers who have almost limitless resources and support, the hit rate of brilliant plays is still quite low. Nobody gets it right 100% of the time. So we shouldn’t put the pressure on new writing that when you get a commission or some funding and your play reaches the stage, this is your one big chance and you can’t blow it.

We hope that Collective will help bridge the gap - that feels huge at the moment – between the fringe and midscale. The venue is relatively small but has been wonderfully resourced and gives a valuable learning opportunity to all the people who come to work on the productions.

Our first production, Influence has been in development for over two years now and it’s set to bring together a healthy mix of creatives and crew from different levels of experience in the industry. This is something we want to continue both with our own work and the work of companies who use the theatre.

We’re also extremely lucky to share the building with a drama school with a degree course. The chance to work with people at the start of their career to develop new work is an exciting one.

One of the main reasons I personally wanted to do this was that, from the safety of middle age and a seat at the table, I know that the young me growing up in a lower-middle class Yorkshire home and going to a comprehensive school would have absolutely zero chance of making it in the industry now. I was lucky to grow up when I did, come up through the industry in what now feels like a funding boom in the late 90s and early 2000s and being able to move to London.

We can only all do our little bit. We can’t change the world with theatre, but we can change one person’s world. If Collective Theatre can do that, I’ll be very happy and it’ll have all been worth it.

Influence runs at Collective Theatre from 19 October - 2 December

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