Leading by BOAT

I saw some great examples of pro-active ‘doing’ today; not waiting around for the right ducks to line up, but daring to march ahead.

It was my first visit to the Brighton Open Air Theatre (known locally as BOAT) - a purpose-built amphitheatre tucked away at the back of Dyke Road Park on the Brighton/Hove border. The concept, design, funding and management is a true story of community, and even richer because of the legacy of its instigator - the late Adrian Bunting. The full story is here. Creating a space like this, and keeping it important, is a difficult and undoubtedly tiring thing to do, but it is a beautiful and authentic performance arena. Actors will see the whites of 420 pairs of eyes with every show, and the space commands respect for simple story-telling without hiding behind spectacle. And if it rains, everyone gets wet.

I went along today, with always possible associate James Turnbull, to discuss the idea of an outdoor theatre festival for children and young people from 2016. The concept is that of Naomi Alexander, community theatre specialist at Battersea Arts Centre and the Old Vic, who has a simple ambition to produce theatre that is accessible and vital to the 92% of the UK who never go to the theatre. 

It is early days, but around 40 people turned up to contribute ideas. Some ideas are brilliant, some rubbish, some will ferment over time. The conversations anchored around inclusion, quality, funding, community, scale, age, audience, ethos. There is expertise available and a will to action - but what Naomi is demonstrating is that good leadership does not need to wait for an opportunity; good leadership makes opportunities and invites the right people in to give it critical mass.