KULLY THIARAI
After the contentious end to 2018 in the Welsh theatre scene, Fedor Tot chats to National Theatre Wales’ Artistic Director Kully Thiarai about the year ahead.
What were the primary considerations behind the programme for National Theatre Wales this year?
Our ambition is to think of the whole of Wales as a nation, so we’re always mindful of the nature of our stories and where we tell them. What I’m really excited about, in terms of 2019, is that we are doing some really diverse work across Wales. Some brand new works like Ed Thomas’ On Bear Ridge – a co-production with the Royal Court – right through to restaging some of our monologues from last year’s NHS70 Festival, in order for them to be seen by a wider audience across Wales, and hopefully beyond.
We are also collaborating on an amazing new international project with Sean Edwards as part of Wales in Venice. The notion of the world in Wales, and Wales in the world, is really important and it’s particularly timely given our political dialogue in terms of our relationship with Europe.
The debate that happened last year [when a group of playwrights and actors published an open letter criticising the NTW] – did that play on the decisions that were made?
It’s always good to respond to feedback and hear any criticisms and look at what you can do about those things. But we work on an 18-month programming cycle – so some years we do more, some years we do less, depending both on the scale of the work and the development phases of the work that are necessary. In that sense, this is a busy year. But not any more busy than last year.
We had a major festival for the whole of July last year, as well as one of our biggest productions with Tide Whisperer. So in some respects, it’s hard to say “oh, this is responsive” because every programmed season has lots of variables at play about how those things come into the mix.
It’s there in the title – the NTW is a national theatre. How do you define a Welsh national theatre, or even a Welsh national culture?
That’s a very good question, and I think you have to respond to and explore that in all its diversity through the various works you create. Remember that we are the English language Welsh national theatre, and there is the Theatr Genedlaethol, the Welsh language national theatre. We play a role in exploring all those ideas in different ways, collaboratively with that company as well as separately.
I think the notion of nationhood is also really interesting in the context of ‘what do we mean by culture?’ Culture is an organic thing, and it changes and grows and shifts, and you need to feed it for it to be nurtured. Our role as a national company is to make sure that we do that for everyone in Wales, as opposed to just in one location with one principal approach in terms of theatre-making.
Outside of NTW, what do you think about the current state of Welsh theatre as a whole?
These are very interesting times for the arts. We’re going through a long period of austerity. There’s less money around and more need. In that sense, it’s not surprising that people are feeling frustrated and finding it difficult to think about how you can continue to make a sustainable living in the arts when there is so much pressure.
On a broader level, I think that since NTW has been in existence, there has been a real growth in artists working within companies and delivering projects. It feels very lively and healthy. But I think we have to be mindful about what models we can put in place to make sure that we can make that more sustainable in the long term.
Looking ahead of this year in Welsh theatre, is there anything that you’re particularly excited for?
A brand new work by Ed Thomas, who is returning to the stage after many years, is a significant moment for us all in terms of him making an original piece of work after a significant absence. It will be exciting to see who takes on the Sherman job [as creative director], and there are lots of exciting plans by various companies.