Worst kept secret is out – Godber is back on his home turf

In the dress circle of Wakefield Theatre Royal, John Godber looks down at the stage and is clearly moved by the gathering he sees.

Actors including Mark Addy, Jack Brady, Gaynor Faye and Kay Mellor are standing below, along with directors Chris Monks, the man who runs Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre and Northern Broadsides’ Barrie Rutter.

It’s a feast of Yorkshire theatre talent and they have all turned out to support Godber in launching his own company.

“It’s fantastic, it really is. When you have people like Mark (Addy, still best known in Yorkshire for his role in The Full Monty) coming up to support you, it really means something – the guy’s a Hollywood star and he’s here in Wakey to support me,” says Godber.

What he doesn’t realise is that 10 minutes earlier Addy said being in “Wakey” to support Godber meant lots to him.

Addy said: “I first met John in 1984 when I had just left drama school and was doing my first job at York Theatre Royal, appearing in The Rivals. John was in town with Up N Under and I remember he said to me, ‘What’s it like doing a play that’s 400 years old?’

“I auditioned for him a year later and ended up doing about eight of his plays. He’s taught us all a lot about comedy and drama and I think what he does next with his writing might surprise people.”

What isn’t a surprise – mainly because it’s been the worst kept secret in Yorkshire theatre circles in recent months – is the launch of the John Godber Company.

Run by Godber and his wife Jane, the company will officially launch in September with a tour of a new play, The Debt Collectors. It is coincidentally the 60th play by the writer-director.

The new company has come about through an interesting set of circumstances. Hull Truck Theatre Company, which Godber joined as artistic director in 1984, last year underwent a dramatic restructure, when new chief executive Andrew Smaje was appointed.

He set about shaking up the organisation and the then artistic director Gareth Tudor Price was made redundant at the end of February.

In launching his company Godber said: “I’m not here to dish the dirt. I still live in Hull and the audiences there are fantastic. I couldn’t work with a theatre company that had made the artistic director redundant. I didn’t feel comfortable about that. It didn’t feel right.”

A spokesman for Hull Truck Theatre said: “We plan to have two weeks of John’s production of The Debt Collectors in the autumn season. That’s something that we are very much looking forward to.

“We will continue to present plays from John’s back catalogue, along with his new work. Our audiences have enjoyed John’s plays for more than a quarter of a century and so it is only right that Hull Truck should continue to be a home to John Godber’s work.”

Yesterday’s launch at Wakefield, however, wasn’t about looking back at Godber’s considerable achievements in his 26 years at Hull Truck, but at looking forward to the new company.

“The best thing is that we don’t have to take it to anyone. We can just make the work. It gives us a chance to look at what it is we really want to make, to start again after 26 years,” says Godber.

Wakefield, he said, felt like it was poetically the right place to be with his new company.

“I was born down the road in 1956. My dad still lives here, I was trained at Bretton Hall, there’s something that feels very right about coming here and working with the theatre on this new project.”

Wakefield Theatre Royal’s executive director Murray Edwards and Godber have come to a deal where the JG Company and the theatre will share the production costs of Godber’s future work – and the profits. In typical no nonsense style, Godber says: “It’s a pretty clear, 50-50 arrangement. It’s a partnership between a private company – us – and a public company – Wakefield Theatre Royal. Everything will be split down the middle, from costs to any cream – and any money we make will go back into making the company grow.”

Godber revealed that he had talked to people with management experience and they assured him that the best thing about running your own company is that “no-one can fire you”. Although with typical Godber timing, he added: “As I run the company with Jane, that might not necessarily be true.

“It also means I won’t have to listen to numpties talk rubbish about theatre.” New company. same Godber.

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