Daniel Evans: our friend in the North

Evans: "People in the Rhondda and Sheffield have no problem telling you what they think."

IT WAS two years ago that Daniel Evans experienced a particularly low point. The award-winning actor had made it to New York. It should have been the culmination of remarkable career that had taken him from Cwmparc to Broadway.

“I had quite a tough time. I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I should have been. I returned home and experienced a real funk. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.

“Then I saw the advert online for the post and thought I had nothing to lose.”

The post was quite a step change – artistic director at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Since graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and beginning work at the RSC in 1993, Evans had effortlessly switched between theatre and television, combining appearances with Sir Ian McKellen and the title role in Candide (directed by Trevor Nunn) onstage, and seasons at the Royal Court and Donmar, with parts in series such as Doctor Who, Spooks and Tomorrow La Scala.

He won his first Olivier award for his performance in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily we Roll Along and got his second in another Sondheim musical, Sunday in the Park with George, a role he later reprised on Broadway. So why such a different role?

“Running a venue was something I had dreamed of doing since I was a teenager. I love the notion of being able to imprint a tone on a whole season of work,” explains Evans. “I’ve worked as an actor for 16 years and have been questing for a change for some time now. I love doing things I initially feel I can’t do.”

Evans had previously played at the Crucible and has fond memories of the theatre and of Sheffield. “I worked here twice as an actor. Once, playing Ariel in Michael Grandage’s production of The Tempest and then in Anna Mackmin’s production of (Caryl) Churchill’s Cloud Nine. Both were terrifically happy experiences for me. Any actor who works on the Crucible’s deep thrust stage will tell you that it’s one the most exciting spaces in the world. Epic and yet intimate. I also had a good time in the city itself. I had wonderful landladies in my digs and found the people very welcoming – and excited about their theatre.”

As Artistic Director, Evans will be involved in both directing plays and programming productions. But there are many new challenges for the 36-year-old.

“There’s a huge part of my job that has nothing to do with directing plays. It also involves choosing which plays we produce and present, choosing the creative teams for those productions, and thinking strategically about the kind of building and organisation I would like Sheffield Crucible Theatre to be.”

His will be a hands-on approach. He enthusiastically runs through a to-do list that includes holding fundraising events, leading workshops for young people and adult learners, designing brochures, deciding on a new logo, welcoming touring companies to Sheffield, liaising with the city council and the Arts Council – the list goes on. “It’s a lot,” admits Evans. “But I’m loving it.”

His passion for the job is fed by his belief in the power of theatre, which is palpable and infectious but rooted in a need to reflect society.

“I believe in the transformative power of theatre. In fact, I have first hand experience of it. Theatre changed my life – and continues to do so. I love the experience of watching a group of people act out a situation or story in the hope that they might deepen or enrich my understanding of what it is to be human. This often means watching characters do very bad things. But if we are to awaken our consciousness and become more evolved as a species, we must be prepared to look at our very worst.”

Evans is about to begin technical rehearsals for his first play, Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, with Anthony Sher in the lead role. One of its central themes involved corruption among local politicians. A timely choice?

“I re-read it last year and found it to be extremely modern,” says Evans. “It feels unbelievably current. The power of the press, the value of democracy, fanaticism and self-interest versus altruism and virtue theory, how public money is spent – it’s all in Ibsen’s play.”

Does he think then that politics in general has suffered as a result of the expenses scandal, and does he believe that, ultimately, power corrupts?

“Politically, we’re in a very confusing place at the moment. In 1997, we thought the new – and new Labour – government would bring social reform and, for a while, things were getting better,” he reflects. “Unemployment fell, gays were given partnership rights, agreement was achieved in Northern Ireland, money was spent on social services. However, as we finally and slowly emerge from the recession and financial crisis, it’s depressing to see that unemployment is rising again, the gap between rich and poor is widening. It will be an interesting few months.”

Choosing a play by Ibsen suggest has a strong statement of intent. The playwright is regarded as the father of modern drama, influencing the play and the playwright alike. Does this give an insight into how Evans will programme his season? Can audiences at the Crucible expect to see big classical plays?

“One of the things we can and must achieve at Sheffield Theatres is the perfect balance between a whole variety of genres,” Evans stresses. “We have three spaces, so we’re lucky that we can offer our audiences a rich, mixed diet of work. You can see from the opening season at the Crucible that there’s a classic, a world premiere, a new adaptation of a classic 19th century novella, an English Regional Premiere, an American modern classic and a play for teenagers. So, of course, it’s important that we produce classics. The Crucible Stage was made for it. However, we must also produce new plays and plays that are seen and lauded in London but are rarely seen again.”

Evans believes high quality theatre and interacting with audiences shouldn’t remain the preserve of the Crucible. “I’d say it’s important to ensure that quality theatre exists inside the West End. It’s not always the case…” He trails off. “For us, in Sheffield, we feel passionately about having a meaningful dialogue with our audiences in our region – and through the medium of theatre.” He quotes Shakespeare’s Coriolanus: “There is a world elsewhere.”

He is delighted that Wales now has two national theatres. He has already directed Saunders Lewis’ play Esther to great acclaim for Theatr Genedlaethol. Both the Rhondda and Sheffield are two great industrial societies – how do they compare? “The people are blunt. They have no problem telling you what they think,” says Evans. “There’s a frankness, an openness, a generosity. There’s also a great sense of humour here – often cruel. You have to learn to take it in your stride.”

This suggests he has managed to burrow under the skin of the city as he prepares to re-launch the Crucible as a venue. The building has been closed for two years to carry out a £15.3m redevelopment.

Evans says: “The city has missed the building terribly. It’s wonderful to see how much fuss is being made of the re-opening here in the city and nationally, but I think the challenge will be to maintain that level of attention. Maintaining the high standards of craftsmanship will also be essential. The Crucible has a reputation for great acting, great design, great costumes. We must consolidate and advance that reputation.

“I would love the people of Sheffield to believe that the building is theirs. I want to move people in the region through the work that we do both on and off our stages so that we can have a positive effect on their lives. I want to change their lives by providing theatrical experiences that invite them to look at themselves and think about the world around them.”

- For further information about Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People and the Crucible’s opening season, contact the ticket office on 0114 249 6000