In the car on the way home to Fife after his first visit to Dundee Rep, a 10-year-old Andrew Panton told his mum: “I’d really like to run that theatre one day.” Fast forward to 2016 and the schoolboy fan has got his wish with his appointment as the venue’s new artistic director.
“It seems that dreams really can come true,” he told The Courier, evidently delighted following yesterday’s announcement.
Andrew, from Burntisland, has an impeccable pedigree in the world of theatre and is already well known to Dundee audiences, having recently directed the theatre’s ensemble in John Kolvenbach’s Love Song, to huge critical acclaim.
He was previously director for The Mill Lavvies and movement director for Sweeney Todd at the Rep.
He has also directed work for Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, Perth Theatre, Citizens Theatre and worked with the National Theatre of Scotland as assistant director on the multi-award winning Black Watch.
And as well as being artistic director of musical theatre at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS), Andrew is also Susan Boyle’s creative director and staged her UK and US live concert tours.
Andrew’s first season for Dundee Rep will open in autumn 2017 and last night he admitted he can’t wait.
“I’m so thrilled and I think it’s slowly sinking in and becoming reality,” he says.
“This is such a fantastic time for Dundee and the Rep and with the cultural explosion that the opening of the V&A in 2018 will bring, I want to help make Dundee the most exciting city in Scotland.”
The interview panel was hugely impressed by Andrew’s vision for the theatre.
“I want to build on the current success of the ensemble and develop the Rep’s reputation nationally and internationally in the next few years,” he says. “I’m lucky to have worked in regional theatre and made connections all over the world and I intend to use that to full advantage.”
No stranger to the stage himself, he starred as a child actor in The Master of Ballantrae, based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson and starring theatre greats Sir John Gielgud, Michael York, Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed.
“I got performing out of my system in my 20s and did an MA in directing when I was 28,” Andrew explains.
Announcing his appointment, Nick Parr, chief executive of the Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, says: “Securing a director of Andrew’s international standing is a huge coup for the Rep and the city of Dundee.
“Our ensemble members are excited at the prospect of working with him again.
“As a relative newcomer to the city myself, I know Andrew will receive a very warm welcome when he takes up his post.”
Between now and next autumn Andrew will work with the theatre’s team on planning his first season and recruiting an associate director.
“There’s a real family feeling in the Rep – it’s like coming home,”says Andrew.
“But it’s a family that really knows what its job is and is totally embedded in the community.
“And the audiences there are quite vocal – they’ll tell you if they don’t like something or you’re not cutting the mustard. They want to be told a fantastic story brilliantly and that’s my job.”
Andrew will be a regular fixture from October and will be based in Dundee from next spring.
He will also continue his role with the RCS and is looking forward to the two institutions pooling their knowledge and talent.
“The RCS is a learning institution – there are so many things we can share and I’m looking forward to a real cycle of learning and development.
“It’s quite an American model to be attached to a conservatoire and be running a theatre at the same time.
“I’m itching to get started,” he says. “I have such a high regard for the team at the Rep – knowing I have their support means so much to me and makes me want to do the job to the best of my ability.
“I want to hear their ideas and then put forward my ideas – that’s when I’ll have to put my money where my mouth is.”
clindsay@thecourier.co.uk
www.dundeerep.co.uk
