KING'S HEAD PUB THEATRE
Open since 1970 - Closed 2023

LONDON PUB THEATRE OF THE YEAR 2019 

NEWS:  Closure of king's Head PUB Theatre at Upper Street in Islington 13 August 2023



KING’S HEAD THEATRE CONFIRMS MOVE FROM PUB THEATRE TO NEW SPACE IN ISLINGTON SQUARE


The King’s Head Theatre charity has announced the closure of their home of 53 years on 13 August 2023, and moving into a custom-built new theatre immediately behind the existing venue in Islington Square, with an opening date and programme to be announced. The final season in the pub theatre will be Guest Artistic Director David Cumming’s season, following Arts Council England funded Takeover seasons from Isabel Adomakoh Young, Tom Ratcliffe and Tania Azevedo. The new venue features a 200-seat auditorium and a 50-seat cabaret space, with contractors already on site.


The charity has simultaneously launched a dedicated production fund, the Angels of Angel, which will support the theatre in commissioning and producing new work, inviting donors not only to support innovative work to be produced at the King’s Head Theatre, but to join a community of like-minded theatregoers and supporters through ongoing networking events. Inaugural donors will be offered the opportunity to ‘sponsor a stair’ in the new theatre, each dedicated to a standout show from 53 years of the theatre’s history.


The final performance in the pub theatre will be a celebration gala with performers including Mark Gatiss, Ian Hallard, Dame Janet Suzman, Linda Marlowe and Le Gateau Chocolat, each reviving roles they played at the King’s Head Theatre’s original home.


Previous artistic directors Dan Crawford (founder), Stephanie Crawford, Adam Spreadbury-Maher and Mark Ravenhill were integral to the theatre’s reputation as a breeding ground of new talent and helped launch the careers of Maureen Lipman, Hugh Grant, Richard E Grant, Steven Berkoff, Tom Stoppard, Joanna Lumley, Bryony Lavery and Victoria Wood. Many of the pub theatre’s productions transferred to the West End including Mr Cinders, Wonderful Town, Artist Descending a Staircase, Vieux Carre and Coming Clean. In 2010, KHT won an Olivier Award for Best New Opera for La Boheme. The theatre also co-produced the immersive show Trainspotting Live which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.


Acclaimed for its work developing theatre directors, through its Trainee Resident Director Scheme which was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award for contribution to the Arts.

 

James Seabright, Chair of Trustees, said “Next month we will bid a bittersweet farewell to London’s original pub theatre at 115 Upper Street, as work continues at the new King’s Head Theatre next door at Islington Square. The amazing opportunity for the charity to move into a new home that will stand it in good stead for the next five decades has been made possible by a dream team of partners. They have worked closely with the charity over the challenging pandemic years to keep the vision on track, including key funder the Mayor of London through Round Three of his Good Growth Fund, our current landlords Young & Co’s Brewery, our future landlords Cain International, the brilliant burghers of Islington Council, and the visionary designs of architects S&Co and PUP.”


Sofi Berenger, Senior Producer, said “It’s incredibly exciting to be looking towards the future of the new theatre, and the future of being able to produce new work on our stage through our Angels of Angel network. Our aim is to create a theatre space that can truly respond and react to artists and audiences, heralding in a new era post-pandemic. We are also making sure to look back, reflect, honour and celebrate everything and everyone that has made King’s Head Theatre one of the leaders of London’s Fringe and independent theatre for 53 years.”

 

A spokesperson for Young’s Pubs said “We have loved our partnership over the years and wish the King's Head Theatre every success in their new premises. We look forward to continuing to welcome our local community to the King's Head Theatre pub.”


The King's Head Theatre team led by Senior Producer Sofi Berenger, with interim Capital Project director Louise Chantal, will guide the organisation through the transition and opening of the new theatre, with opening dates and programme to be announced. Although no new artistic director will be appointed in the short term following the success of the Takeover the trustees are exploring the extension of this model to programme future seasons.


More details on the new theatre, and the Angels of Angel campaign are all on the website www.kingsheadtheatre.com


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PROFILE

KINGS HEAD THEATRE (@KingsHeadThtr)
at King’s Head pub 
115 Upper Street, London, N1 1QN
http://www.kingsheadtheatre.com/


OVERVIEW
A passion for work that is pushing the boundaries, it surpasses the well-trodden route and has true theatrical purpose.  Eclectic tastes including New Work, Critical Theatrical revivals, Opera, Musical Theatre, and LGBTQ.   High quality and accessible classical music remains a part of the programme with Charles Court Opera joining the venue as an associate company.  Other associate companies and artists can be found on the King's Head website


LOCATION
Bang in the heart of Islington’s trendy and eclectic Upper Street with its numerous cafes, restaurants and fashion boutiques. It is right opposite St Mary’s Church. Ten minutes’ walk from both Highbury & Islington and Angel underground stations with two bus stops over the road/just one-minute walk (lines 4, 19, 30, and 43).  


PRODUCTIONS 
A passion for work that is pushing the boundaries and often radical. Eclectic tastes including New Work, Critical Theatrical revivals, Opera, Musical Theatre, and LGBTQ. The King’s Head Theatre is always on the look-out for exciting, bold, dynamic companies to forge new creative and producing partnerships with. Every year they programme numerous projects that in the main are not produced by the King’s Head but rather by ambitious and exciting visiting companies.


VALUE ADDED
Ticket discounts for previews and a perks based donation scheme
King’s Head has a commitment to Equity LowPay/NoPay and offer many opportunities for theatre professionals. 
The venue has a reputation for nurturing new talent continues, with pioneering Trainee Director scheme (winner of the Royal Anniversary Trust Award in 1992) which is still being run by The King’s Head Theatre. Graduates have gone on to work at the National Theatre, RSC, Lyric Hammersmith and the Globe, plus many other internationally-renowned companies. 


THE PUB
Whilst visiting the historic King’s Head Theatre Pub you can enjoy a pre-theatre menu, great drinks in front of a roaring fire, see the images of the world’s famous stage faces. Post-theatre you can listen to some of the best live music Islington has to offer.


DID YOU KNOW …
  • The King’s Head Theatre stands on a plot of land that has been used as a public house since 1543, The current building dates back to the 1800s.
  • The King’s Head Theatre was established by Dan Crawford in 1970 as the first theatre in a pub since Shakespeare’s day.The pub is packed full of period details, including gas lights, the original bar, old photography, and coal fires that burn continuously throughout the winter.
  • The pub became well-known for ringing up pounds, shillings and pence until 2008, a full thirty-seven years after the rest of the UK had switched to decimal currency. 
  • The King’s Head Theatre have helped launch the careers of many actors including Ben Kingsley and Alan Rickman.
  • In 2010, Olivier Award-winning OperaUpClose Productions became the theatre’s resident company, and Adam Spreadbury-Maher was appointed the venue’s second Artistic Director (after Dan Crawford).
  • With the departure of OperaUpClose at the beginning of 2015, Artistic Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher refocused the venue’s artistic policy towards new work and critical theatrical revivals.
  • Adam Spreadbury-Mahor's tenureship ended in 2020


MARK RAVENHILL & HANNAH PRICE


NEWS June 2022


KING'S HEAD THEATRE CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, HANNAH PRICE, STEPS DOWN AHEAD OF HISTORIC MOVE TO ISLINGTON SQUARE (SCHEDULED FOR 2023)


INTERVIEW

MARK RAVENHILL and HANNAH PRICE incoming Artistic Directors at the KING'S HEAD THEATRE

By Heather Jeffery

I was having a panic attack over King’s Head Theatre moving next door to a 220-seat purpose-built theatre. Of course, it would no longer be a pub theatre, but it would retain the name and I hoped it would be continuing the legacy left by former Artistic Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher. 

Who better to answer these questions than incoming Artistic Directors Mark Ravenhill and Hannah Price? The pair have complementary skills, with Ravenhill’s high profile work as a theatre maker, and Price as the self-confessed techno nerd who has a huge body of work as a director. 

Ravenhill arrives patting his lower abs. He’s just come from a Pilates class and he’s feeling it. He looks pretty fit at 55, not bad for someone who nearly died a few months after the advent of ‘Shopping and Fu**ing’, but we’ll come to that. Hannah is sympathetic but as the pair get themselves comfortable on the benches at King’s Head pub theatre, we pare back the conversation to discuss the last twenty or so years of change in theatre. 

 

Looking back at Ravenhill’s seminal play ‘Shopping and Fu**ing’ premiering in 1996 he recalls that he expected it to go into the Finborough (where it had a first reading in 95) but it went into The Royal Court instead. As the conversation progresses, it seems that everything he touches turns to gold.

 

Ravenhill comments on how the queer scene has moved on from those days. “It’s broader now, in the sense of gender fluidity, trans people are a section of the queer community”. King’s Head has traditionally concentrated on gay men, but the pair are very keen to embrace a broader scope. “To include the whole spectrum that the rainbow umbrella embodies” explains Ravenhill.

 

On the personal front, he comments that he’s “older now” and adds that “at the time of the play, there was no Antiretroviral, I thought I had only two or three years to live, dying was a medical fact.” He’s disarmingly honest and funny too. “I was planning to be the James Dean of theatre but now I’m 55 and really enjoying life.” Like a mantra, he believes “celebrating and enjoying life is one of the biggest things.” 

 

Coronavirus has wrought many other changes. Ravenhill mentions that it’s closed theatre for longer than the world wars and the plague. Price is particularly conscious of the impact on all the people who work in theatre and particularly at King’s Head. As a freelancer herself she feels it’s “desperately sad to see how many people moved out of theatre, had livelihoods decimated” but she is not to be beaten. “We want to work out how we can bring back those people, how we can retain them in the future, creating work and employing people; it’s a big ambition.” 

 

It’s all about mitigating risk and making new working models. Ideas range from producing some shorter plays to making the space work hard with a lot of activity. At the same time Price has much innovation to bring with her experience of digital media. “How do we bring in that digital element?” she questions. 

 

Ravenhill interjects here to explain proudly that “Hannah won a BAFTA for directing video games.” Price modestly corrects him. “The team did!” It seems that Ravenhill is technologically at the “other end of the spectrum”, but both are extremely keen to utilise technology on the stage. “Mark and I are bringing in voices which are unheard across the board which includes people making digital work,” says Price. She wants to encourage smaller companies to be more experimental and will support them in using digital tools. 

 

Again, Ravenhill interjects to explain that they have managed to get “a massive weapon … one of the leaders in the field”. You can almost feel Price squirming as her brilliance is praised. It’s a growing area which is constantly changing, but Price has her ear to the ground and is always picking up on what’s happening now. “I love it because it’s changing all the time, so there are always new developments which we need to understand.” 

 

Price will also direct some of her own work at the theatre, but Ravenhill will be mentoring “to encourage and to be an advocate for a new generation of writers”. He hopes his own plays “will continue being in big theatres, TV and film” so that he will be able to subsidise some of the work at the King´s Head.

 

When asked what theatre is for, Price was emphatic. “It’s not for anything, it’s an art form. People create it. They want it to be part of shaping our world and how we understand it. Naturally theatre is political, but the focus changes according to the artist’s intentions, probing our understanding and sometimes moving the parameters.” Ravenhill agrees and says that “it’s beautiful bringing people together and above all else it’s got to be pleasurable; there are all sorts of different types of enjoyment.”

 

“King’s Head can actually create a sense of a community in our audience” says Ravenhill. “We want to have audiences return and recognise each other and talk to each other. Not as an exclusive club but everyone coming to enjoy everything from the lightest piece of cabaret to a variety of other work.”

 

“We’re finding lots of LGBTQ+ diverse voices and amplifying that as much as possible” he adds. When asked if the work will continue to be a welcoming venue for both queer and heterosexuals his answer is uncompromising. “It’s predoinantly LGBTQ+ but we’ll look at the strange murky world of heterosexuals from time to time but our centre, our core will be LGBTQ+”. An amusing reversal.

 

Price, on the other hand suggests that they will be inclusive. Ravenhill is not to be thwarted. “Audiences will be predominantly queer, but we’ll also want to see stories about mum and dad and straight friends from time to time.” More than this they are keen to see a range of work. “Bold, inclusive, bright, irreverent, everything that comes with the existing space and taking it forward” says Price, “building on the legacy”. 

 

She explains that they will be keeping links with pub theatres. Maybe giving a production premiering in a pub theatre a second outing. “Build up a real head of steam” says Ravenhill “take something really exciting giving it the next step and maybe it goes on beyond that.”

 

Price comments on the importance of pub theatres. “They are a central part of the ecology for writers and directors. They’ve been a huge part of how I’ve learnt to do anything, and I still direct in pub theatres. They give people a chance to do some things that they wouldn’t necessarily be able to do elsewhere. You don’t have that financial risk.”

 

There follows a competition.

 

Ravenhill: “I worked at Finborough, Old Red Lion, and King’s Head.”

 

Price: “I worked at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, White Bear, Pentameters, Finborough, 503, The Other Room, and the Marlborough”.

 

Ravenhill: “I worked at a Bristol pub theatre which became the Tobacco Factory.”

 

(Of course, it did – Ravenhill’s Midas effect.) Clearly, these intimate theatres have been instrumental in both of their careers.

 

When King’s Head moves into the larger theatre their focus will be on developing audiences, but it might take time depending on the direction of the Pandemic. Both are nervous about any possible impact of further closures. These are some of the major concerns, but they are going to fully utilise the space and the space itself will dictate whether it retains the intimate feel of a pub theatre.

 

The intention is to amplify the work whilst retaining much of the work that has gone before such as the Playmill festival and the Director’s Scheme (with Price’s leadership). Ravenhill might also be developing something for writers, but the pair have been in talks with Theatre503 who have a centre for early career playwrights opening in Nine Elms in 2023. The pair are very keen to keep doors open but right now they aren’t certain of what they can deliver.

 

“We don’t have resources of the royal court or even the Bush with their targeted way of mentoring young writers” says Ravenhill. “We don’t want to raise expectation when we cannot offer support to the same degree as the Bush or Theatre503.” It’s about keeping the industry as healthy as possible. 

 

Even if guarantees cannot be made, it seems likely that opera will be safe at King’s Head. Ravenhill wrote the opera The Coronation of Poppea for Opera UpClose and is hugely enthusiastic about the genre. “I didn’t know much about opera” he explains “until I got a job front of house at the coliseum in the early 90s.” He watched an opera every night. “Must have watched about 30 operas. People left expensive programmes on their seats, I’d read them on the tube, line them up in my bedroom. It was like 18 months of night school. I started directing bits and bobs and talking to Adam (at King’s Head) about opera in the broader sense.”

 

“I’m going to convert Hannah to opera and she’s going to teach me about technology” Says Ravenhill.

 

“I like opera!” counters Price.

 

“We’ll bring more opera to King’s” states Ravenhill. “I saw the work of a young composer at the Tête à Tête who I think would write a great new opera for the King’s Head”. Ideas are coming out thick and fast. It’s already been announced that King’s Head will have a Summer Queer School in which young people who identify as LGBTQ+ will be taught a queer curriculum not included in mainstream schooling. 

 

“It will offer 15 to 20 young people a daily programme dependent on raising a lot of money” says Ravenhill. “It might include Mary Beard’s love in antiquity, talks about Alan Turing or say, Lesbian culture in Trinidad. It will include talks and discussions with an international input giving a sense of history of culture. And it’s anti section 28.” 

 

It gets fun when Ravenhill starts to throw out some of his ideas about the format, (being a little tongue in cheek). “Audiences can watch it live as a classroom performance piece available digitally. Teaching materials to be used in real schools. Matching resources for the work. School bell. Head teacher. Board of governors – in my head I’ve already cast Ian McKellen in the role. In the last session everybody graduates from King’s Head School. 

 

“It’s a mini festival in itself” he concludes. Then adds another idea. “We could write a school song with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Maybe a prefect and a school tie …”

 

Ravenhill has done every form of theatre from starting out as an actor pacing the Barbican in a traditional panto to being an Associate Artist of the National Theatre. In the early days his work was often considered hugely controversial and he clearly believes that the fight is not over, there are still important LGBTQ+ stories which need to be told.

 

The last thing he did was a musical at the RSC, The Boy in the Dress in a collaboration with Robbie Williams with an audience of 1200 people a night. “Grandads, Grannies, Mums, Dads and kids … don’t think they were too damaged by it” he says.

 

Price has directed heaps of new writing and is currently working on a huge immersive “project with the Tower of London”. Twenty million people played her latest video game. “I want to keep learning, being challenged, finding new forms, listening and evolving: and bringing those skills back into the Kings Head’.

 

Last word goes to Ravenhill. “I like audiences. I want them to own the space. I don’t really feel a show is a show until it’s sold out.”

 

I can’t help thinking that Price is a fantastic foil to Ravenhill’s apparent love of controversy and fighting spirit. The pair are a great match in personality as well as in innovation to take the theatre forward in its new venture. It’s a great relief to know that the doors are open at King’s Head Theatre.

 Heather Jeffery is Editor of London Pub Theatres Magazine/Interview Published 24 August 2021

 

RETROSPECTIVE  and fund raiser 14 to 18 February 2021


Founded by original Artistic Director Dan Crawford, The King’s Head Theatre opened its doors behind a pub on Upper Street in 1970. Over the last 50 years, playwrights, plays and creatives that have passed through its doors have gone onto great heights: spring-boarding them from the Fringe into the West-End, Broadway and beyond.


The celebration will kick off on Monday 14 February with an event at the V&A in South Kensington, including a reading of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Third. Timberlake Wertenbaker was part of a generation of female playwrights whose early shows, such as “The Third” (1980), were staged as part of the King’s Head Theatre’s lunchtime theatre program. [In the 70s and 80s, lunchtime theatre was not an uncommon proposition, and this programming offered a platform to a group of people – including many women – which allowed them to experiment and grow as writers, and progress to main show success. Ten years after her lunchtime play at the Kings Head, Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good opened on Broadway.



The first of the plays to be read at the Upper Street venue will be Artist Descending a Staircase by Tom Stoppard, directed by Tim Luscombe, on Tuesday 15 February at 7.00pm. In addition to early career first chances, the theatre also maintained several long-term working relationships, such as that with Tom Stoppard. Artist Descending a Staircase (1988) began life as a radio play but Dan Crawford saw an opportunity to bring it to the stage. It also marked the return of Tim Luscombe to the venue, after working with them on a production of Noel Coward’s Easy Virtue, that had transferred to the West End. Stoppard’s play received similar acclaim and duly transferred to the West End as well, followed by a transfer to Broadway.



On Wednesday 16 February at 7.00pm, Stephen Jeffreys’ Like Dolls or Angels will be directed by Annabel Arden. Like Dolls or Angels (1977) transferred to the King’s Head Theatre after a successful run at the National Student Drama Festival. This marked Stephen Jeffrey’s first professional production, another example of the King’s Head Theatre championing early career playwrights. Jeffrey’s 1994 play The Libertine became a film starring John Malkovich and Johnny Depp.



Bryony Lavery’s Grandmother’s Steps will play Thursday 17 February at 7.00pm. Lavery’s second play, Grandmother’s Steps (1977), was also a lunchtime production. Les Oeufs Malades, the company that Bryony co-founded alongside Gerard Bell in 1976 was created to create roles for women. Bryony is also part of an extensive line-up of LGBT theatre makers that the King’s Head Theatre has supported in their early career. Lavery’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust recently opened at the Bridge Theatre.



The celebration climaxes on Friday 18 February at 7.00pm with Victoria Wood’s Good Fun. 


Dan Crawford was an early supporter of Wood, transferring this, her second play, (1980) to the theatre in 1980. She would go on to repay this early support of her career by hosting many fundraising galas that were vital to keeping the theatre afloat in the latter years of Dan’s tenure.




Co-Artistic Director Mark Ravenhill said, “It’s been fascinating to rummage in the Kings Head archives. This week of readings is a fantastic celebration of some of our best work with audiences who have fond memories of the original productions and to others who were too young to enjoy them first time around. It’s a great way to begin the process of saying goodbye to our beloved but knackered pub theatre as we prepare for our move next door to a purpose built 220 seat theatre, a space for the next generation of theatre makers who I’m hoping will have the same cultural impact as the playwrights we’re celebrating in Kings Head 50’.


King's Head Theatre's Artistic Director Steps Down After a Decade

21 July 2020



Adam Spreadbury-Maher, Artistic Director of the King’s Head Theatre, Islington will step down from his post this September after a decade of service. 

In his role as Artistic Director, the Australian-born former opera singer introduced the first agreement with Equity for actors and stage managers to be paid a legal wage on the Fringe in 2011 and has been a vocal spokesperson for ethical employment. During his tenure, he has put on over 1,000 performances and as co-founder of OperaUpClose, introduced new audiences to the art form. Adam is a queer theatre-maker who has also long championed new work and revivals by and about the LGBTQIA+ community, for which the King's Head Theatre serves as an important hub.

Whilst recruitment takes place for a new Artistic Director, programming will be overseen by King's Head Theatre Trustee, Heather Ruck (former Programme Director, Assembly Festival) working alongside the staff team, led by Fiona English (Executive Director).

Adam Spreadbury-Maher says: “It has been an enormous privilege and honour to lead the theatre for 10 years, following in the footsteps of the legendary Dan Crawford. I leave the King’s Head Theatre - now in its 50th anniversary year - on the brink of great change, and while the challenges of COVID-19 cannot be underestimated, the theatre’s move to a custom-built venue is still set to go ahead, bringing exciting new opportunities and the prospect of economic security. The world needs the King’s Head Theatre now more than ever. I will follow the much beloved theatre from a distance, led by its dynamic Executive Director, Fiona English, and the new Artistic Director as I explore new challenges across Europe. I would like to thank the audiences, artists, staff and our wonderful Board of Trustees from the past decade. I’ve had the ride of a lifetime”.

Fiona English, who joined as King's Head Theatre's first Executive Director in 2017, commented: “Working alongside Adam for the last three years has been a real joy and I’m so grateful for everything he has done to secure the future of the King’s Head Theatre during his time. Now, as we look forward to our next chapter, I am excited for the future of our venue in Islington Square, supported thanks to grants from the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's Good Growth FundFoyle Foundation and many individuals. I look forward to working with a new Artistic Director to push the maverick spirit of the King’s Head Theatre further than ever before".

James Seabright, chair of King's Head Theatre Board of Trustees, added: “I have greatly admired Adam’s decade at the helm of the King’s Head Theatre from my vantage point as patron and producer, and since 2016 as chair of the Board of Trustees. Whilst all of us on the charity’s Board and staff are sad to see him go, we all owe him a debt of gratitude for leaving the theatre in a strong artistic and financial position following many years of developing excellent shows and ever-growing audience numbers, including for shows that have taken the King’s Head name all around the world and brought valuable resources back to its Upper Street home. I look forward to working with the Board to recruit the theatre’s third Artistic Director and then to working with them on finalising the charity’s plans to move to Islington Square”.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the King's Head Theatre, like most live venues, has had to fundraise to stay afloat. They have successfully raised £135,000 in a crowdfunding campaign fronted by actor/writers Mark Gatiss and Ian Hallard. This includes a £35,000 grant from Arts Council England, yet the majority of funds have come from over 950 loyal theatregoers: a testament to the relationship between the theatre and its community.

The King's Head Theatre in Islington has provided a stepping-stone for many of Britain’s most influential contemporary artists, feeding talent into the West End and beyond, with alumni including Joanna LumleyKatie MitchellTom StoppardHugh GrantDawn FrenchSteven Berkoff and Alan Rickman.


Adam Spreadbury-Maher’s achievements at the King's Head Theatre


King's Head Theatre productions which transferred to the West End directed or produced by Adam include Puccini’s Tosca (2013 – directed by Adam), Tennessee Williams’ Vieux Carre (2013 - directed by Robert Chevara), Puccini’s La Bohème (2016 -directed by Adam), Kevin Elyot’s Coming Clean (2019 and return season in 2020 – directed by Adam), Tommy Murphy’s Strangers in Between (2018 after two seasons at King's Head Theatre - directed by Adam). Over 1,300 performances have been staged to date of the adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting which Adam directed with Greg Esplin, including a six-month run Off Broadway, across Australia, four London seasons, six Edinburgh seasons and a continuing UK tour.

In 2015, Adam revitalised and extended the award-winning Trainee Resident Director Scheme from a three to a 12-month programme and led the creative team gender policy, committing to gender balance in all production teams in 2018. He founded the new King's Head Theatre charity in 2015 and was the Artistic Director when the theatre founded the nearby Hope Theatre in 2013. He is the co-founder of OperaUpClose and made it the resident company at the King's Head Theatre in 2010. 

In 2011, he produced Robin Norton-Hale’s version of La Bohème which won the Olivier Award for Best New Opera [and then a nomination for directing his own new production in 2016]. In 2019, the King's Head Theatre won Best Pub Theatre at the inaugural London Pub Theatre AwardsAdam also created King's Head Theatre's new opera form Opera Undone with 2020 productions of Puccini’s La Bohème and Tosca at Trafalgar Studios.



ARCHIVE INTERVIEW WITH ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ADAM SPREADBURY MAHER 2019


Sitting in the King’s Head pub with Adam Spreadbury Maher and one of King’s Head Trainee directors, our interview opens with a discussion of the King’s Head programming and the future life of the theatre. Spreadbury-Maher is interested in so many different things. “King’s Head have an unapologetic broad church of work” he explains. The cannon of work has an extremely good reputation and it is one of the reasons, that in 2020 King’s Head Theatre will be leaving its pub theatre home and moving next door to a £9.5 million purpose-built theatre and studio theatre (with a combined seating capacity of 335). They have outgrown the space and need larger premises to meet their ambitions. We’ll miss them but they have left a legacy which has had ripples throughout the pub theatre industry.

Upstairs in the office with the rest of the staff there has been talk of their artistic policy; their particular optics which include their Queer season which has a designated period, but Queer work makes up a third of the theatre's programme year-round. Opera and dynamic shows from incoming companies, which are curated by Spreadbury-Maher and his team along with a new writing festival, completes the programming.  

It should be made clear however, that King’s Head isn’t exclusively a LGBT venue, it’s brief is much broader than that. It deserves credit for changing some of the culture in which pub theatres work. Spreadbury Maher has worked hard to achieve this turnaround and it has had a positive knock on effect throughout the industry. Here LGBT is not a genre of theatre, it’s just a shift in focus that can be enjoyed by all which has been proven to be a refreshing change of perspective for many. Then, there is opera, which Adam Spreadbury-Maher has championed for so many years, starting with founding Opera Undone with his Executive director, Fiona English, and OperaUpClose (with Robin Norton-Hale and Ben Cooper). He grimaces at the term ‘small scale opera’, quite rightly as it has the same emotional power as opera seen on the largest stages. He’s currently making a new Tosca and La Boheme which is going to be on in the West End Trafalgar studios in February 2020. Mimi is played by a gay male. “His real name is Lucas and he’s in a gay relationship with Rodolpho” says Spreadbury Maher. “You know, straight guys have female nick names as well” he adds by way of explanation. “It’s a vehicle for something that makes us all human, the human experience, the dichotomy of being human.”

He’s very hands on at King’s Head. King’s Head Theatre is a charity and Spreadbury-Maher is a salaried employee, the same as everyone in the office, and all of those who work at King’s Head Theatre. It’s one hell of a job, which includes looking after King’s Head trainee Director’s programme, encouraging new writing, in house productions (which often give opportunities to their emerging directors and associate artists) and programming visiting companies. You’ll find him at Edinburgh Fringe every year and around London theatres scouting for talent. He has a team who each have their own area of responsibility, but he’s the charismatic leader of this theatre.

Spreadbury-Maher is a team player and insists on talking about the people he’s working with quite a lot. He himself, agrees that his own beliefs are humanistic, but essentially, he believes in a “higher power” which is “not religious, it’s spirituality”. It helps him to cope with life and any pressures that come along he tends to dismiss, with a disarming phrase. “No one person has the power to change the tides” he says. “Who does? You don’t have to put yourself under so much pressure. Is this going to go well? If it’s already happened just move into acceptance. It’s just giving away our emotional energy to things we can’t change, don’t worry about it.” It’s a great philosophy for putting on theatre, and Spreadbury-Maher has a lot going on.

“If the artists are happy, the audience like it, it’s going to be a hit” he says. “I have to accept I’m not in control of that. It’s accepting where your control starts and end.” It’s a full- time job for Spreadbury-Maher, who personally mentors the Trainee Director program. He’s often at the theatre until late in the evening and has had to put an agreement in place with his partner. Sundays belong exclusively to them and their relationship. Yes, sorry to tell you, Spreadbury- Maher is already taken. We’re all gutted of course.  

Spreadbury-Maher might be a champion of gay theatre, but he’s never experienced any serious or violent homophobia himself, not at his all boys Catholic school back where he grew up in Australia, or anywhere else, which he puts down to having lived in major cosmopolitan cities, Canberra and London. He comes from a rich opera culture and is a trained opera singer himself, which he proved by singing a little of it under his breath (how lovely is that!)  

Nevertheless, there is no magical moment when homophobia has ceased to exist. “The reason why I’m so passionate about telling queer stories on stage, is not because of any personal traumatic experience although I’m aware of my inheritance” he says. “As we learn in Hamlet, we should show ourselves on stage. It’s a mirror held up to the audience. It’s not so at the Royal Opera House, but how many Queer people are in the audience are gay?”

Spreadbury-Maher is fiercely proud that the King’s Head Theatre was the first unfunded pub theatre to have an equity agreement of fair pay, less than a year after he became Artistic Director, in 2011. It’s had resonances throughout the industry and shown that it is possible to sustain the pub theatre scene. It is one of his major contributions to pub theatres which is an industry he knows extremely well. Spreadbury-Maher started out at White Bear theatre where he was associate director, followed by setting up OperaUpClose at the Cock Tavern theatre, which is where he began his journey into making Opera. “We didn’t know our arse from our elbow” he says. “We learnt a lot of amazing lessons and had an extraordinary production of La Boheme. We produced new plays, two unperformed Tennessee Williams’ plays, six decades of Edward Bond (a bit retro) including a new play by Edward Bond which Edward Bond directed.” OperaUpClose, is now a mid-scale touring company and now ten years old. Spreadbury-Maher is no longer involved but it’s still running. He is the Founding Artistic director of The Hope theatre, which he set up in 2013 specifically to show case new writing, before handing the reins over to Matthew Parker after two successful years establishing the Hope Theatre.

“Setting something up and then handing the reins over to somebody else is kind of what I’ve done here”. The King’s Head Theatre has had only had two artistic directors, himself and Dan Crawford. It’s been an extraordinary 50 years. Spreadbury-Maher is at the coal face every day, but he’s also busy with a little thing called Trainspotting which has now passed it’s 1,000th performance, having toured London, Edinburgh, New York and Australia.  

“Let’s get the house in order” says Adam. “We put on great work but also change the industry. It’s a privilege being the guardians of the King’s Head Theatre.” Diversity is right at the heart of the programming and is also a consideration for the Director’s Training programme. With over 100 applying for each round, selection is a rigorous process, and the first part is conducted by Skype, because not everyone lives in London. In the final round the applicants must direct professional actors on their chosen scene which is followed by an interview. Talent is at the core of selection, but also diversity. “True diversity” says Adam. “It’s sometimes hidden, socio economic diversity is not always immediately visible. They leave with a black book full of contacts after working in the business for a year in a supportive nurturing environment.”

Turning to the trainee director sitting with us, Alex Hick (Associate Director for the upcoming revival of Coming Clean at Trafalgar Studios), he says “it made me aware of my strengths and weaknesses”. One of the tricks he’s learnt is to speak less and to encourage the performers to open up. Adam encourages a 20-80 to actors, believing the better directors talk the least. Hick is also impressed that “directors can plant an idea and then make the actor think it was their idea. There’s a dexterity to it and certain director have the skill to do that.” He also mentions, “deformalizing”, a term used, to talk about breaking down barriers, asking how and who and why?

Graduates from the course have gone on to very prestigious placements. Ben Anderson will direct Jerker which opens at the theatre in November. The Donmar's current Artistic Director, Mike Longhurst, is a former trainee. Six the Musical in the West End and soon opening on Broadway, was directed by graduate Jamie Armitage who is now an Associate of King’s Head Theatre.  

In addition to the training programme Adam is proud of several other things: Having made a difference with their culture of paying artists in a small space theatre at an early stage of their careers. The productions themselves which have made a contribution to London’s rich and diverse theatrical landscape and his belief that the King’s Head Theatre has a critical part to play through their Associate Artists scheme which also challenges ageism in the business. The oldest Associate is Thelma Ruby who regularly performs at the theatre at age 94.

So, what is he most proud of achieving? In his personal life, he’ll tell you he’s a marathon runner, with ten runs already under his belt but something else is close to his heart; his miniature Yorkshire Terrier, Tickets. “I’m proud of having a dog” he says. “Dogs don’t resent you; their tenderness and companionship is unconditional. And the fact that I’ve had her for 10 years, it’s my longest relationship and really says something about us, I think.”

As for his professional life? “We are the current guardians of this theatre” he says. “The whole team are looking after the theatre and we hope we can leave it better.” When they move to their new premises, they’ll take that attitude with them. “The spirit of king’s Head is not a leak in the roof or a hole in the floor, it’s about how we make the work and our existence. It’s always reimagining something, pushing forward, challenging something, looking for the next generation of theatrical leaders and bringing the audience with us.” They are constantly looking for that axis between being entertaining and at the same time pushing the boundaries, disrupting the industry.  

Sadly, our interview is over, there’s other work to do, but not before I GET A HUG FROM ADAM SPREADBURY-MAHER. The next interview might not be at the King’s Head, and there’s a sadness to losing such a pivotal pub theatre, but one cannot stop progress.  

Adam Spreadbury Maher was interviewed by Heather Jeffery, Editor of London Pub Theatres Magazine

@October 2019 London Pub Theatres Magazine Ltd
All Rights Reserved

ARCHIVE INTERVIEW WITH ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ADAM SPREADBURY-MAHER 2015  

Adam Spreadbury-Maher greeted me with the words ‘I’ve only got 20 minutes’. Not what a journalist likes to hear but he is in the process of completing an MBA. So after being introduced to his excited little dog, Tickets, I start asking the questions. I’ve been keeping a close watch on King’s Head theatre and its programme of radical work, so is it theatre that aims to change the world?  
“Conduit for conversation I think. Changing the world might be a little bit OTT. There may be occasions when it does. As a full time role, no. That’s not to say that I haven’t directed and produced work that has changed something: SOMEONE TO BLAME, and I produced LA BOHEME which won the Olivier”. 
Not only did their production of La Bohème win a Whatsonstage award for Best Off-West End Production, the company also scooped the Olivier for Best New Opera Production– despite competition from the Royal Opera House and the London Coliseum. 
“It changed the Opera again. Pretty important Tennessee Williams work too. I’m quite intent on planting seeds in terms of trainee director programme, and writing-initiatives such as Without Decor, Festival46. The Adrian Pagan is a big deal, not just a pat on the back, it’s actually giving a full production.”
Spreadbury-Maher scoops up Tickets, who has been scratching his thigh madly hoping for some attention.  
“Fuck, we’re aloud to Fail, right?”
He’s clearly very fond of the terrier and as Tickets settles on his lap he asks me questions about myself. His Australian accent is strong and his appearance dark and hirsute. Adam is a person who likes to make a connection. There is a moment of triumph for him when he finds out that Tickets and myself both have our roots in Yorkshire. Conscious of time I’m eager to find out more about programming at King’s Head.
“Predominantly it must not have been seen anywhere else.”
There’s a moments pause as he considers the question further.  
“Sometimes we’re asked to go and see work. Basically I need a reason to see this. I look for my own personal taste but sometimes I can see audiences will want this. I don’t want to direct this, but it’s important to look for opportunities for trainee directors and anything that creates employment for actors. Sometimes we bring things back for extended seasons. We chose to bring in-house productions back, and so provide further opportunities for audiences to see in-demand work, and its more employment for actors. We can have four shows on at any one time, I like to have a balance, four shows allow us to do that.”
King’s Head has a very healthy following and I wonder whether it’s mainly an Islington audience.
“We have a very faithful local audience but we have technology. People are able to travel across London and even internationally.”  
Rushing on, I observed that the LGBT ‘season’ never seems to stop. This seems to vex him even further.
“Are you homophobic Heather?”
I’m a little taken aback.
“Most theatres stick to their straight season.” 
Then he softens when he remembers that an LGBT ‘season’ was advertised 
on King’s Head website.
“King’s Head has a long history of doing queer work. It has the longest running off west end production ever, that is F*cking Men.”
I need to have the word ‘queer’ clarified.
“Anything that’s not heteronormative. I’m hoping to expand that portfolio wider to actually celebrate that. It has been predominantly gay men, but we’re expanding, doing more work with lesbian theatre. I’d like people to think more about our gay work the same way as our other work. We also have other Artistic interests: opera, musical theatre, revivals, new writing and queer work. I think that’s pretty eclectic, don’t you? If it was all heteronormative there would be nothing for an audience member to engage with whereas if its gay, its more the case ‘I see myself in this’. That’s the audience leaning forward, its asking you to think and be part of that communion.”  
As we’ve been speaking two people have entered and he introduces them to me; they are both on the director’s scheme. So it seems pertinent to ask for Spreadbury-Maher’s best advice to aspiring directors.
“Prepare. Try not to worry. I know that’s hard. Don’t make yourself look like a dick in front of someone important. Fail to plan: Plan to fail”
I ask for further clarification while he asks me more questions about ‘where I come from’. Eventually he concedes that he likes my voice. That’s nice to know. one compliment deserves another so I ask him about that image of himself on Twitter on the beech showing off his hairy chest.  
“I don’t have as much ego as all that! We were on holiday together” (the King’s Head team) and the office murmur their approval. He does however, ask me what I thought of it, so I tell him; “very nice” (I’ve opened it three times)!  
When the laughter dies down, my cheeks still glowing, I ask him if he has further ambitions for King’s Head Theatre? He gives me a long list.
“Co-producing outside of King’s Head (including a venue in London but I can’t tell you about that yet). 
Taking work to Dublin gay festival, and Edinburgh festival. 
Paying artists more than they’ve ever been paid before and producing more.  
Giving trainee directors an opportunity to work. 
Professional actors directing season at Kings Head.”
As an aside, he tells me that he bought a pretty blue Rover with leather seats, in Rickmansworth. He’s triumphant now, because I’ve already told him I live in Ricky. Now here’s another connection. Blue is my favourite colour too. While we are discussing favourites I ask him which is his all- time favourite theatrical productions at King’s Head Theatre 
“Trainspotting”.  
He is the co-director of this immersive show which is currently at King’s Head (to be followed by a national tour). 
“I took a break from directing for a couple of years. I was sick of doing the same thing over again. I hit some artistic walls, so I spent time producing and setting up a new team. It was my first time back and I was literally taking the seats out of the auditorium.” 
We compared ‘shit stains’ on our clothing after being at last night’s fully immersive production of Trainspotting. I ask him as an Australian in London, is there something he brings to his Artistic Direction that he feels comes from his Australian heritage?
“Australian programming, Australian plays. Culture of the building of organisation. “
This needs further explanation but he’s finding it difficult to express himself, so he looks around the office for some support. 
“You know what I mean, what do I mean, how can I say it? You know what I’m trying to say”
“Yes” they say.
 He turns to another one “You know what I’m trying to say”.
“Yes” she says, but he gets no actual help.  
“How can I say this without offending the English? No I’m not going to say it.”
 This is truly vexing, so I force it out of him.  
“Sometimes a lack of middle class and English wanking. High ranking middle class tosh; it involves an unnecessary amount of bullshit. We’re open and call a spade a spade. Equal opportunities are fought for, particularly ageism. I mean young as well as old”.
Tickets has spent most of interview lying upside down on his lap being caressed by Adam. Clearly a great stress buster but then Adam has another stress buster, he likes to run.
He’s been running marathons to raise funds for King’s Head Theatre and I figured that people would want to hear about that.
“Not London or Paris or anything Silly like that.”  
He mentions Clonakilty in Ireland and the fact that he has an Irish passport.
“I ran 4 1/2 for Kings Head 45th birthday. I love them, I find them quite meditative and I have some of my best thinking and emailing while I’m running marathons. When you’re running a marathon you should be able to talk and work. if not you’re running too fast; you’re going to hurt yourself.”
He did 40 laps around the king’s head block and also did the actual Marathon to Athens where he has his home. When he’s in London he lives in a wagon, an RV in a field just inside Hertfordshire, off the grid.  
“I can’t afford to live in London”.
He is standing and I look at my watch, the 20 minutes is up. He walks around his desk picking up what he needs. “I like you” he tells me and he thanks me for including King’s Head in my guide to London Pub Theatres. “Anything else you want to know”. He hands me his card and I’ve got the HOT LINE TO ADAM SPREADBURY-MAHER.

Interview by Heather Jeffery, Editor of London Pub Theatres Magazine


@February 2015 London Pub Theatres Magazine Ltd
All Rights Reserved
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