In a recent article for the Guardian, the theatre director Nicholas Hytner argued that Arts Council England funding should be directed towards professional performances, while a new body should be set up to encourage and support community, education and outreach programmes. This would, he proposed, complement the Arts Council in the same way Sport England complements UK Sport. The response? Instant Twitter uproar, with the proposition being interpreted as setting “one type of art against another”, in the words of Nicholas Serota, replying to Hytner a few days later. The reality for regional companies, and their audiences, is not so divisive – as demonstrated by this entertaining new production from the New Vic, with Claybody Theatre.
The Card is a 1911 comic novel by local Staffordshire lad made good Arnold Bennett. Deborah McAndrew’s sharp, funny and faithful adaptation follows the picaresque progress of Denry Machin, the eponymous “card”, from lowly solicitor’s clerk to youngest-ever mayor of a fictional Potteries town. Fast-flowing action, under Conrad Nelson’s assured direction, races us through time and space: town square; solicitor’s office; grand ballroom with swirling dancers; widow’s hovel; bustling seaside promenade; storm, shipwreck, rescue; newspaper office; football stadium. These sites of Denry’s adventures are vividly evoked through skilful movement and clever manipulation of minimal props (Beverley Norris-Edmunds’s choreography; Dawn Allsopp’s design).
As Denry, Gareth Cassidy blends the physical adroitness of silent movie comics with the sly lightness of Alec Guinness in the 1952 film version. His lovable rogue wins our hearts (alongside those of Jessica Dyas’s spendthrift Ruth and Jenny Murphy’s loyal Nellie), even when he plays low, squeezing high interest from desperate tenants. Yet Cassidy’s Card does not trump the pack. All suits (and gowns) are equal, here, among the eight actor-musicians and dozen-strong community ensemble, accompanied by members of the Acceler8 brass band. Professionals? Amateurs? Indistinguishable! Roles are cleverly distributed, performances well-crafted, and everyone looks their part(s) in Allsopp’s splendid period costumes.
The New Vic, Claybody and other regional companies deal their audiences top-quality theatre by shuffling complex commitments – professional, community, education and outreach. They are finding inventive ways forward; now, funding bodies need to follow suit.
