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5 minutes with Michael Slavin

www.northernstage.co.uk
Instagram: northern_stage
Photography: Christopher Owens

As his first year at the helm draws to a close, Michael Slavin, chief executive at Newcastle-based Northern Stage, tells Steven Hugill about his first 12 months in post, the responsibilities that come with leading a flagship arts venue and why, in a world of increasing division, theatre’s power to entertain, challenge and unite audiences has never been more important.

You’re approaching your maiden anniversary as chief executive of Northern Stage. How would you assess your first year at the helm?

It’s been a journey and, like all journeys, there have been some moments of jeopardy, but the overall sense is one of joy.

We have had some great successes – Beauty and the Beast; I, Daniel Blake; Little Shop of Horrors – to which audiences have really responded.

And I’m so excited for Christmas, when we have all three stages in operation, with the highlight being The Snow Queen, directed by our brilliant artistic director Natalie Ibu.

Looking ahead, we have a genuinely exciting slate of shows through 2027, 2028 and beyond, which will continue to entertain, provoke curiosity and explore new ways of seeing the world.

Although your career began in retail, your CV includes time at York Theatre Royal and a spell as chief operating officer at 11Arches, the charity behind Bishop Auckland’s spectacular Kynren live-action show. How have those experiences shaped your leadership style, and how are they influencing your approach at Northern Stage?

I’ve been fortunate to experience a breadth of different types of organisations and cultures.

The commercial drive of my time in retail still remains with me, as having secure finances allows us to take risks and continue to deliver an artistic programme of excellence, quality and integrity.

The best commercial minds I have worked with have been in arts charities because when money is tight, you must manage every penny well.

This was a lesson well learnt at York Theatre Royal, where I also first saw the importance of community in action through its specialism in large-scale community projects.

This further developed at 11Arches, where 1000 volunteers deliver the Kynren night show – a profound reminder to me that there is talent and skill everywhere if you can create an environment in which people can show it.

Northern Stage has long been recognised as one of the North East’s flagship cultural organisations. What responsibility comes with leading an institution that plays such a central role in the region’s creative landscape?

My role is a pleasure and a privilege.

We are the leading producing theatre in the North East and, given our distance from other theatres of our type, we have to ensure we serve the whole region, both now and in the future.

The years since 2020 have been tough for arts organisations, but Northern Stage is bucking the trend and seeing year-on-year growth.

We have ambitious plans for the future, and will continue to make as many new shows as we can.

Recently, that has been two or three productions per year, but going forward we will deliver six or seven.

We must also remember the changing demographics of our region.

In Newcastle, more than 25 per cent of school-age children come from the global majority, and we must be an organisation in which those young people see themselves represented and which tells stories from the full gamut of lived experience.

We must also entertain, be a welcoming space and ensure we are financially secure.

We will do all of this and more as a beacon for creativity in the North East.

The North East has earned a reputation for punching above its weight culturally, with Newcastle’s hosting of the MOBO Awards and Mercury Prize ceremonies complemented by Middlesbrough’s staging of this year’s Turner Prize. What makes the region such a fertile place for creativity?

The people; they are entrepreneurial, friendly, committed and believe in the North East.

The wider North has long been the engine room of this country, through the mines and the mills, the creativity and the culture, and through the willingness to change and be changed.

Despite the myriad challenges of post-industrial decline, the identity of the North East remains.

That openness, pride and the embodiment of ‘shy bairns get nowt’ all manifest as a willingness to take risks, which means creativity blossoms.

Theatre has the power to entertain, challenge and bring people together. At a time of increasing division and fragmentation, what role can venues such as Northern Stage play in creating shared experiences and stronger communities?

Our region is changing, and change often creates fear.

That fear is being stoked and amplified by various media, and we must be watchful that minority opinions don’t cause us to lose sight of our truths and what matters.

The North East has always had its arms open, and the Geordie welcome is famous.

To lose that is to begin to lose our identity.

The role theatre can play in this is significant, as we are an engine for empathy.

To watch a theatre production is to be transported, to exist in new worlds, hear new voices or understand new experiences.

In this time of division, that has two roles to play: the first is for everyone to see themselves on our stages, to hear their own stories and to know we are a place that is theirs.

The second is for audiences to see others’ experiences on stage, to engage with what the people in their communities – who they may not know – have experienced and felt, and create a place in which we all know each other a bit better, in which we all care for each other a bit better and in which we think twice before believing the worst.

As you head into your second year as chief executive, what would success at Northern Stage look like for you, the organisation and the people it serves?

Success is to continue to be the leading theatre maker in the region, creating productions which speak to the North East and which audiences respond to.

For the people we serve, it is to create opportunities – to see great work on our stages, to engage with us through our brilliant outreach programmes and to work alongside us to make art that is timely, powerful and rooted in the North East.

Northern Stage is – and will remain – a beacon for art, creativity and inclusion.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by N Magazine .