1990

Murray Bramwell

I first met John Gaden just over four years ago when his appointment as Artistic Director of the State Theatre had just been announced and he had flown in to meet the Adelaide theatre faithful.He confided to me that he was being forced to consume tea and scones in life-threatening quantities but with characteristic courteousy and pragmatism,he circulated without demur. Gaden has continued to conduct this tea and scones diplomacy throughout his tenure with State because, to a large extent, Adelaide holds determinedly to a very tea and scones expectation of theatre.

When John Gaden took over State the company was in low spirits. Much blame had been unfairly shunted to his predecessor Keith Gallasch who had presided over an uneven, but by no means critically insignificant, couple of seasons.The company at that time had just begun to strike difficulties which all theatre administrators are still finding hard to shake. The cost of production was soaring and choices of repertoire were becoming problematic. There was a growing interest in Australian plays but,it was becoming clear, commissioning new works was not a sure-fire way of ensuring that they would arrive. After Gallasch’s bitter experience John Gaden was able to see that it was preferable to withdraw productions that were not ready for high-profile performance by a State company.

Another major preoccupation was with winning subscribers. It was made clear to Gaden that unless subscriptions and sponsorship increased, the company would be in trouble financially.

Such pressures have inevitably influenced his decisions as Artistic Director and, for someone with John Gaden’s breadth of theatrical interest, they must have made his task quite frequently unappetising. Nevertheless, his company has produced 33 productions including new or recent works from Patrick White, David Wiliamson, Michael Gow, Hannie Rayson and Stephen Sewell, as well as classic works from Chekhov, Ibsen, Strindberg and four productions of Shakespeare.

Not only has John Gaden presided over a company renewed in confidence but in State’s own productions just under half the actors have been from,or resident in, South Australia and in recent productions a number of recent graduates from Flinders Drama Centre and at least one from the Centre for the Performing Arts have had a crack at mainstage theatre.

As a performer Gaden has enjoyed an enthusiastic response from the Adelaide audience. He led from the front whether in the highly successful Stoppard work The Real Thing or in less certain ventures such as Shepherd on the Rocks and 1841. While I was not an admirer of his Lear, many were and attendances were high for the production. My favourite Gaden performances would have to include his Leontes in the company’s splendid version of The Winter’s Tale, his Lawyer in Dream Play and perhaps, more recently his Judge Brack in Hedda Gabler.

I have noted before that there is something of the old-style actor manager about John Gaden. He is a courageous and committed performer and he has had more than his share of flak to deal with at times. As a director, though, he has been less assured – Rough Crossing, for instance, seemed to indicate a weariness of spirit and this year’s Tempest many found unduly diffident. But the task of directing is arduous and many of State’s guests -including luminaries such as Aubrey Mellor, John Bell and Rodney Fisher- have also been occasionally disappointing. Gale Edwards continues to please and surprise and the invitation to Goran Jarvefelt and his collaborator Carl Friedrich Oberle to stage Strindberg’s Dream Play was a Gaden inspiration. Jarvefelt’s recent tragic death, alas,has cut short further Australian projects planned for him.

A Dream Play was one of the most original ventures in the last year but a quick glance at the attendance figures will show what John Gaden has been up against. A Dream Play drew just over 58,000 punters to its Adelaide season- whereas A Month of Sundays, a likeable but totally unremarkable piece of stage television attracted 154,000 paying customers. An outright win to the tea and scones brigade one would have to say. And this is a problem. Apart from curriculum-linked productions like the Shakespeare, young people are not in evidence in State audiences and there is no sign that the pattern will change. Subscriber numbers have doubled in three years – a creditable achievement- but the likelihood is that their influence will continue to be a conservative one.

That this is the pattern Australia-wide is even more worrying. Small companies have gone out of business and others have diminished resources and morale. Increasingly major subsidised companies face the task of providing their own alternative and could end up with Jekyll and Hyde repertoire that satisfies no-one.

What all this means is that the pressures on Artistic Directors are considerable and their achievements are often vexed. John Gaden has been no exception. Under his stewardship, State has continued to be creative, diligent and committed to what is a relentless and often thankless business. Through these columns I have, even in this issue, had my say about individual productions and what the company is and isn’t achieving. I have also spoken freely and, at times,in uncomplimentary terms about John Gaden’s own work . He has always greeted this with gracious wit, holding to his convictions but also indicating a remarkable openness to opinion.He makes it clear that he doesn’t like criticism -who does ?-but he is generous and good-natured in the face of it. This makes a candid exchange of views possible and I am grateful for it.

John Gaden has kept the show together for four years. For a time it will be hard to imagine the Playhouse without him. But his successor, Simon Phillips, with much encouragement from Gaden, will soon be on hand to make his mark. He is taking over a company with much to offer and for that our thanks are due to John Gaden.

“Mr Gaden has left the Building” The Adelaide Review, No.71, January, 1990, p.31.