Playhouse’s leading man prepares to exit, slightly subdued

I’ve been in Ian Brown’s office a number of times since he became artistic director of West Yorkshire Playhouse almost a decade ago, but this is the first time I’ve noticed that there are no posters of his shows on the walls.

“There’s one of Twelfth Night,” says Brown. He’s right, there is one of Hattie Morahan who took the role of Viola in his production in 2005 – but the poster is mostly obscured behind other frames and it is the only one of one of his productions.

“I don’t have many family photographs at home. I don’t have posters of my productions. I’m not a big believer in looking back. I’m much more interested in looking forward,” Brown offers by way of explanation.

“Theatre is such an ephemeral thing, it happens there, in the moment, and then it’s gone. You can never recreate it and there’s nothing you can do to change it. Rather than looking back I am always looking forward to the next thing.”

The next thing for Brown, we now know, is preparing to leave behind the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Having announced the decision that he will leave in 2012, when the second of his five year contracts to run the theatre is up, Brown, who celebrated his 60th birthday the same day the Playhouse celebrated its 21st last week, now has a year and a half to plan his departure. Given his subdued nature yesterday evening when we met, he’s going to need that length of time to come to terms with the decision.

While quiet, Brown has always seemed quietly determined. In 2002, I interviewed him when it was announced that he was spending the summer directing in London. Asking if it was a sign that he was going to up and leave Leeds he was clear that he was at the Playhouse to stay. Having announced that he’s leaving, he seems less clear about the future.

“The last time I left a theatre was when I left the Traverse in Edinburgh (where he was artistic director from 1988 to 1999) and I was bereft. It took me about a year to get over the loss,” he says.

He has grown even more attached to the Playhouse. The director took charge of the Leeds theatre in 2002 from Jude Kelly.

While he inherited a theatre with a sterling reputation, he also inherited a sizeable debt, which is the reason for the first ambition he had when he first took over the venue: “I wanted us to be here, to be making work. That was a very real ambition because we had quite a large deficit that needed to be paid back, which I managed to do. Ten years on we are still here and making work, so I suppose that’s one ambition fulfilled,” says Brown. Surely, though, “still being here” is a small ambition for a man running one of the most prestigious UK theatres outside of London?

“Artistically I wanted to mould the audience. I wanted them to see some of the challenging work that I thought they might like, but I have found that harder than I expected. There is so much choice that it has been harder to reach people and get them into the Playhouse,” admits Brown.

“That said I do think we’ve found new audiences, different audiences. I think there are younger people coming to the Playhouse these days and the audience is a bit more diverse than it was.”

Talking about his personal highlights and without posters around the office to offer visual reminders, Brown appears to struggle to remember the shows he has directed while in charge of the Playhouse.

He doesn’t really, of course, he remembers them all, it’s just that in this slightly subdued mood, the artistic director is more reflective than triumphant. Pushed to remember the productions of which he is proud, he mentions the play that began his tenure in 2002, Hamlet starring Christopher Eccleston.

“That was something I am proud of,” says Brown. “I still haven’t found a play that I feel as strongly attached to as Hamlet – and I felt I did a halfway decent production of that.”

He also mentions the opportunities he has given to directors, the five Shakespeare plays he has directed, the new writers he has helped discover and the opening of First Floor, a dedicated space for young people as personal achievements.

When he leaves he is considering working as a freelance director and as a drama teacher, saying he has found in rehearsal that many young actors lack skills he would expect them to have after training.

He motions towards a printout above his computer and to a note about treating people with dignity, respect, telling the truth.

“I think that says it all. You just hope you’ve been a good bloke.”

If that was his ambition, he can consider it job done.