Proud of the peacock

Ali Curren just may be the best thing to happen to the Peacock Theatre since its inception. Fresh from her pivotal and relatively radical role as Director of Dublin’s Fringe Festival for years she now seems set to turn the Peacock on its ass, maybe even in a literal sense! And not just in terms of the programme of plays she launched last week, but the actual structure and ambience of the theatre itself.

“As for the physical and aesthetic responsibility of the space, at the moment it’s not really serving its remit,” she says. “It’s not the most comfortable space for people to access theatre through. It’s hard to find, at street level; when you come down into the foyer area, it’s quite cold and clinical and all of this effects how people experience theatre before they even get into the auditorium space! I want people to have a really good feeling about coming to the Peacock, from the moment they decide to come to the theatre.”

So what about the aesthetic responsibility of the Peacock in terms of the plays that will be staged? Ben Barnes, Artistic Director of the Abbey, has already initiated the Peacock Partnership project, whereby the National Theatre co-produces plays with independent theatre companies and that concept “will be continued this year and expanded next year” though Ali plans to work with an “even more diverse group of artists” than ever.

“That means playwrights, actors, directors, across the whole gamut of theatre,” she explains. “Along with sustaining the relationships this theatre has already developed. It’s not going to be throwing-out-the-old-to-make-way-for-the-new. And the point about projects such as the Peacock Partnership is that it’s bringing fresh ways of doing things into the building. And as for the plays themselves, the programme I launched last week really does give a sample of the direction we will be going in. As part of the Peacock Partnership we’ll be working with Corn Exchange, doing Lolita, directed by Annie Ryan. And we’ll be matching Jimmy Fay and Mark O’ Rowe to work on the Henry IV parts 1 & 2. And we’ll have a new play by Ken Harmon, Done Up Like A Kipper. And then we’ll be working with the Galway Arts Festival, which is the first time we’ve ever opened a play outside of this building. That, to me, is pretty significant in itself.”

It certainly extends the concept of the ‘National’ Theatre!

“It does and it’s amazing that it has taken so long for something like this to happen,” Curren responds. “We’ll also be looking at the idea of doing a co-production with the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. All of which makes a lot of sense to me. Because what I’m really looking at is the question of how we can become a much more open organisation. Whereby it’s not just about the work we have within these four walls, or on the two stages that we currently have; it’s much more about the notion of the National Theatre as a resource where we’re reaching out to build the capacity of independent artists.”

One such “international event” that will be marked by the Peacock is last September 11th when the theatre stages The Guys, a play written by Anne Nelson last autumn which draws on her experience of meeting with a fire captain “who was having trouble figuring out what to say in the eulogies he was expected to deliver, following the loss of members of his crew in the terrorist attack.” The play will star Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to have both actors,” Ali explains. “Ben and I had been discussing ‘if it would be appropriate and what are the requirements of a national institution to respond to the anniversary of a world event like September 11th’ and this play has been staged in Manhattan since late last year so we feel it’s the best way to mark that anniversary. And all the proceeds from the Dublin run will be donated to charity.”