After staging adaptations of Charles Dickens tales for its last three festive shows, Coventry’s Albany Theatre is taking a ‘hole’ new approach this year, with a seasonal version of Alice In Wonderland. 
Chief Executive & Artistic Director Kevin Shaw tells What’s On about the theatre’s recent refit, and explains why he was attracted to the challenge of tackling Lewis Carroll’s seminal children’s book...

After a busy year overseeing the completion of the theatre’s £3million redevelopment, Kevin Shaw, the Albany Theatre’s chief executive and artistic director, is finally getting back to his first love - working with actors and directing stage plays.

It’s something he’s largely had to put on the back burner during the protracted work, but he’s clearly happy with the result, which has seen the venue’s impressive Art Deco main house joined by a new studio space as well as a dramatically (no pun intended) improved foyer area. The new elements were officially launched in October, just in time for Kevin to switch back into director mode for the rest of the year, as he takes the reins of the all-important festive production. There’s a definite sense of excitement, as well as relief, in his voice.

“It’s great now we’ve got it all, but it’s been a struggle - that’s what capital programmes are like. Now we’re gradually ramping up what we do in our new spaces, developing more links into community groups, making sure it’s all accessible and so on.”

The community aspect is all-important on a number of levels, not least because the theatre has been run as a charity ever since it reopened in 2013 and owes a huge debt to the army of volunteers that work alongside its core professional team. Kevin is under no illusions about how much they contribute to the success of the venue - and particularly its in-house productions (the sets for which are all created by volunteers) - and believes community spirit is key.

“If they have ownership of the theatre - which they clearly do because they are volunteers who give their labour for no money - they will always go the extra mile to make it the best it can be.”
And that goes for this year’s festive show, Alice In Wonderland, which sees a change of tack for both director and venue after three years of Charles Dickens’ adaptations. The Albany productions of A Christmas Carol (2021 and 2022) and Oliver Twist (2023) earned plenty of acclaim - as well as guaranteed secondary school interest courtesy of the GCSE syllabus - but Kevin says he was always keen to expand the palette.

“We want to get to a point where the title doesn’t matter; it’s the Albany Christmas show which is important, and that’s why people come. I know the Old Vic in London does A Christmas Carol every year, but I just think that, creatively, for all of my regular collaborators, and myself, the idea of doing the same show every year would start to get quite stilted. 

“The rationale for Alice In Wonderland is that I wanted to aim at a slightly younger audience - obviously a family audience, but families with younger children. It’s paying real dividends with the primary schools, as we’re doing very well with bookings, which is terrific.”

Targeting a younger audience also means the show’s run will continue during the lucrative period between Christmas and New Year for the first time. There’s a good reason - “It’s an absolute seller of a week because everyone’s on holiday and looking for things to do with the children” - but Kevin’s having none of it when I suggest the show will be lighter fare for youngsters compared to the darkness inherent in the Dickens material.

“Oooh, I might take issue with you on that! Alice is quite a dark story, especially when you think of the Duchess’ ‘speak roughly to your little child and hurt him when he sneezes’ line, or the insane world where it takes place. We won’t be going down the Disney route; think more Tim Burton. It won’t be as dark as his film version - it is Christmas, after all - but we won’t shy away from some of it.”

Kevin also hasn’t shied away from what he feels is the theatre’s responsibility to invest in what he calls the “local arts ecology”, particularly actors that reflect the diverse population of Coventry.

“Everybody needs to be able to say ‘there’s someone like me on that stage’ - that’s really important to me. Where possible, I try to employ creatives and actors who are based in Coventry or the broader West Midlands. It’s important for people to know that, because it’s all about ownership, and the audience can say that the people on the stage are our neighbours. I think that creates much more of a sense of ownership of the theatre and the product - which is part of what theatre should be about.”

This year’s seven-strong cast, all of whom will play more than one role (“We can’t afford to have every character represented by a separate actor”), is made up of four newcomers and three returnees from previous shows. Kevin likes an element of continuity but is excited by the new blood, too.
“It’s really helpful in the rehearsal room if people understand how I work, but at the same time I don’t want it to become a clique - I want to offer opportunities across the piece, which is why there’s some new and some old hands.”

Knowing the number and make-up of the cast also gave him an added focus when adapting Lewis Carroll’s book for the stage: “I don’t want my actors to spend time in the dressing room, because what’s the point of paying them to sit there? I’d much rather have them all on stage as much as I possibly can.”

And like the last three festive shows, the staging - created by those volunteers we mentioned earlier - is likely to play almost as big a role as the actors.

“I’m not going to give too many spoilers away about the design, but I can say that this year we’re aiming to use state-of-the-art technology and old theatrical techniques. It’s going to be a mixture of the two that I think will make for a visually stimulating evening and really exciting staging.”

He also accepts that those old-school skills will particularly appeal to younger members of the audience.
“If you go to the theatre, you have to suspend your disbelief and invest your imagination in the show. I’m particularly interested in young children who really do that, and I want to make sure there’s something for them to get absolutely engaged with.

“It’s an absorbing story in the first place - I used to read it to my children as a bedtime story, and I’m sure generations have done that. But we’re going to find the humour in it and present it in a way that’s visually stimulating and asks everybody to engage their imagination.”

Feature by Steve Adams

Alice In Wonderland shows at the Albany Theatre, Coventry, from Saturday 7 to Sunday 29 December