Interview: Russell Lucas On His New Book, 300 THOUGHTS FOR THEATREMAKERS: A MANIFESTO FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY THEATREMAKER

Based in the UK, Russell Lucas' multi-faceted career has involved writing, devising, producing, acting and directing.

One recent show - The Bobby Kennedy Experience - premiered in Cambridge in Spring 2022. An Evening Without Kate Bush, co-created with and starring Sarah-Louise Young, returns to the Edinburgh Fringe this year.

His work has been seen in London, Edinburgh, the West End, on tour and Off-Broadway and he is also a qualified lecturer. His experience of sourcing funds and creating theatre outside more 'mainstream' routes has led him to write 300 Thoughts for Theatremakers: A Manifesto for the Twenty-First-Century Theatremaker, published by Nick Hern Books. Each of the 300 provocations offers practical or motivational tips and tricks for current and future theatremakers who are trying to sustain their arts practice (i.e., pay bills and make ends meet).

Russell chats to BroadwayWorld about his unique perspective on theatre in the UK, his drive to write the book, and the future of the "theatremaker".

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In the introduction, you self-describe as 'not famous or prolific'. How would you explain your position in British theatre?

The clearest term for me is "independent theatremaker". I have never been funded by an outside source, and I don't come from any money at all: nobody in my family is in involved in the arts. But for some reason, this annoying child - me, the youngest of all of them - was like 'I want to go into theatre'.

If I was to put the job titles in order it would be director and performer on the same sort of [level], because they go hand in hand and I self-direct. Producer comes above that because I must produce the work to get it on [stage]. In the past couple of years, I've become a writer. The book being one example.

You have your own take on what a "theatremaker" is: how are you using this term?

I have an article out in The Stage next week about this terminology. A while ago David Hare questioned 'what is this European term, theatremaker?'. I felt the need to push back on this and explain what it is: that we have to acknowledge that the [theatre] trade has changed. I run a YouTube channel where I interview people who are [performers] just trudging the streets doing their jobs and they aren't known or famous. A young student last year tweeted that the last term of her degree was about self-producing, so I got her on the channel, and we spoke about being able to claim the term "theatremaker".

It's free to somebody like her. It's fluid and it is freedom. If you are passionate about creating your own work and you do everything you can to get it on.... you're a theatre maker!

So much of the book feels like it is aimed at giving people permission to make theatre. It's quite sad that aspect of the arts, where some just feel like they are taking up space.

Alan from [the theatre company] Slung Low, at the beginning of the book, does say that spaces are being 'reduced'. When he said that I realised that was where my instinct [to write the book] was coming from. The industry is categorised into various boxes. You're either commercial or you're funded, for example. But most people live in neither of those spaces. You might flirt with them on occasion. I've started to be a bit more political about it all: talking about how the pool that I swim in is doing very well, but it's not studied.

Who is the book for?

The book is made of provocations which are definitely aimed at students, lecturers and people that are in the trade. It's kind of for everyone, but I've always had this mantra in my head that I want it in the hands of young people, and I am going to try and make that happen. I realise that it's a slow burner because I am not prolific or famous. But the book will speak for itself.

[Some drama schools] are starting to think about how to move with the changing nature of the trade - how students might devise theatre. I know there isn't another book out there like this. That is so direct and based on facts: it's not saying how to do theatre, but rather asking people to think about what works and what doesn't instead of a didactic approach which explains what to do.

The sector is split, and its walls are so strong. Ultimately, you want the artist or the creator of the theatre to shun all of that aside. Go: I live here. I don't need validation; all I need is my applause. I just need to make good theatre to get that applause and sell tickets. It's a different game. I just felt like there was a need to say this game is here, and this is how I have played it. And if you are staying, how do you play it?

When people leave the theatre, it is often because they have burned out because of the conditions under which theatre practitioners work. How do you avoid this?

I was interviewed by Lyn Gardner a couple of years ago - we both worked for Digital Theatre. She said, 'Russell you've got where you are because of bloody-mindedness'. Which I thought was the best thing ever. The world is still in incredible flux with everything we have been through, and especially in our trade. I still have those moments of imposter syndrome and thinking about how to navigate money etc. So, I know that keeping something creative in mind is paramount. We can still dream - we don't need finances to validate that dream. You must keep the space open and that is down to entrepreneurship.

You can get lost by trying to pay rent and bills. But I remind myself that I am a business. If I have to invest in my business, then investing is whatever that means to me. It might mean borrowing money to keep myself afloat for a period of three weeks whilst I'm waiting for an invoice [to be paid]. If I need to have three days off with nothing going on - I will invest in that time. I will tell everyone I'm switching my phone off for three days and going around London and experience the city which is so lovely.

[Speaking as a woman in theatre], do you think there's an element of privilege involved in succeeding in 'alternative' ways of working? I'm just thinking about how 'bloody-mindedness' can be wielded against certain people.

I mean, you're the one to answer that question! I wouldn't be surprised. It's like that in every trade - there's an element of (and I can't speak for all men) masculine energy going on for sure. It happens in so many trades.

I think I thought about that question because you're reframing how we might re-orientate the pressures and labels we experience in the industry: how to channel them into work.

I speak in the book about 'labels'. I'm classically working-class (but wouldn't be now if you put me on paper) and labels change so much. I don't come from money; I come from Clacton-on-Sea which is still one of the poorest towns in the UK. I never think of myself like this. I'm also gay - and I don't label myself like that. I am just me. But I see systems at play, and I just ignore them and stick my finger up because I know how to make theatre. That doesn't come from going to Oxbridge.

What do you feel about the nature of contemporary theatre? The urge to use these labels to create it.

There is an element [in theatre] where artists can use the stage as therapy for themselves. I do get that, but I think that is going to be a short [game]. The funding model is dictated by the funding body. The artist, whoever they are, wants money and often goes to them and has to behave in relation to tick boxes. The work can be a product of that.

I wonder where people go if they're not going to see tribute acts, don't like musicals, don't want to see another Noël Coward? What does the theatre do for that group of people? I am passionate about the idea that there is another way, that the book investigates.

What's next? Another book?

I am writing another book looking at directors and acting. I've come across many directors who don't really understand what actors are - so it's my pushback against that.

I'm also going to try and put my money where my mouth is and create some kind of theatre network or school. It will be part virtual and/or move around the UK. The idea is that the school would travel around the UK to various cities, and we would use artists and performers from each city to deliver the workshops. Keeping costs down so people can either just do a day, or a week, or a six-week course. It's early days, but it's about how the term theatremaker is here and we need to respond. So, I am responding!

300 Thoughts for Theatremakers: A Manifesto for the Twenty-First-Century Theatremaker is out now.

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