A new home for Mull Theatre

As Mull Theatre company prepare to leave their tiny base at Dervaig, director ALASDAIR McCRONE writes an open letter in which he describes their hopes and plans for a new theatre in Tobermory, and invites support and feedback for the project.

Dear Friend,

You may know that Mull Theatre is a professional producing and promoting theatre based on the Isle of Mull in Argyll. It is currently a Scottish Arts Council Core Funded Company with a remit to commission, produce, tour and promote theatre throughout the Highlands and Islands, particularly within Argyll and Bute, and to contribute to the broad spectrum of theatre provision for Scotland.

The company has operated for many years from the tiny, remote and now rather dilapidated Little Theatre in Dervaig, once noted as being the smallest professional theatre in the world. Now Mull Theatre is looking to move on and hopes to create a modern venue and production facility on Mull.  We are looking for your input and support in this process.

Over the summer of 2003, Scottish Cultural Enterprise, in association with Construction Project Management Specialists and Surveyors, Hardies, undertook a detailed feasibility study looking into options for the future of Mull Theatre, following the expiry of the lease on its current building at Dervaig in 2006. This study has now been concluded and submitted along with an application for Stage One Lottery Funding to the Scottish Arts Council.

In recent years, there has been a major shift in the perception of professional theatre in the Highlands. Partly through the creation (through HI-Arts) of the Highland Theatre Network, there has been a considerable upsurge in the range and quality of the output from Highland theatre companies.

For example, it is now clear that Mull Theatre is a significant contributor to the Scottish national theatre community with its productions regularly appearing at some of the country’s leading venues as well as in theatres and halls the length and breadth of Scotland.  We believe there is a sense of ownership and pride that work created within the Highlands can make an impact and compete on the national scene.  At the same time, there is a tremendous struggle to paper over the cracks and allow that work to happen.

Our most recent production, Kidnapped, written and created by a Mull Theatre team, was produced and opened at and with Perth Theatre because the nature and scale of the production meant that we had nowhere on Mull to build it, rehearse it or perform it. The show ran at Perth for two weeks, toured Scotland for 5 weeks (breaking box office records), and will appear for two weeks next year at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, a further two weeks at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh and a week at Eden Court in Inverness. But on Mull, there’s nowhere for it to play.

Our current home, the little theatre in Dervaig, is so tiny and idiosyncratic (seating only 43) that anything not specifically designed for the space has to be completely re-designed and rebuilt to tour, even for comparable small highland locations.  At the same time, size restrictions mean that any more than three people on stage constitutes a crowd scene.  But the problem is even more fundamental – the building is a tiny, very old, patched-up and falling-apart converted cow-byre owned by and in the grounds of a tourist hotel. It has never been at the centre of the community and is hard to get to.  The roof leaks, the dressing room loo is unspeakable, disabled access is very poor, etc.

The rustic charm experienced and enjoyed by thousands of people over the years wears very thin when one considers that this ramshackle shed is the only home of the only core-funded producing professional theatre for the entire Highlands and Islands of Scotland. That gives a clear message to locals and visitors, audiences and professional staff, about the perceived economic and social significance of the arts in rural Scotland.  30 years ago, this might have seemed unique and charming, now it is simply embarrassing.  It’s hard to attract and recruit quality staff when they’re forced to work in conditions they would not tolerate at home.

Now, more than ever, the theatre wishes to play a key role in the communities of Mull, Argyll & Bute and the Highlands & Islands.  Tobermory is becoming something of a boomtown with visitor numbers greater than ever before.  The quantity and quality of the visitor infrastructure is growing, as is its socio-economic importance.  The potential spin-offs for Mull residents are considerable. A new theatre building of quality might contribute hugely to the development of the whole area.

There is a key relationship between Mull Theatre’s various roles – that of creation, production, venue and touring, which makes it essential in our view that we build here both the facilities to create quality theatre and to have it seen.  The need for a production centre to facilitate the company’s touring work is as profound as the need for a venue in which it can be seen, but the two are intertwined, a support for each others’ existence and a showcase for the best creative Scotland has to offer.

It would be easy to create some tin huts and a well-equipped workshop at minimal cost to support a purely touring company – but how many touring companies in Scotland have been around since 1966?  We believe it is partly the strong identification and association with its home and its venue which has ensured the longevity and existence of Mull Theatre.

After many months of detailed work, having looked at sites in various locations on Mull, the feasibility study concluded that the option offering the best range of artistic, social and economic benefits would be at Ledaig, on the waterfront in Tobermory. This proposal foresees the development of a new theatre, with a flexible auditorium that will be capable of holding up to 150 people, along with other spaces such as a rehearsal room, a meeting room and offices.

In addition to Mull Theatre’s own programme of work, which will be greatly enhanced through access to bigger and better facilities, the new Theatre would be furnished with state of the art media presentation equipment, which opens up the possibility of a year round cinema programme, embracing new releases as well as historic material which might be of interest to the many visitors to Mull. Looking at the wider cultural scene, this equipment could also provide an “electronic window on the world”, allowing work and performances to be beamed into Mull from elsewhere in Scotland and indeed beyond.

As well as the film and media side of things, the ambition is to create a family friendly environment ultimately providing “wet weather” attractions suitable for the increasing number of young people visiting the island (and indeed those at home) from basic play resources to especially tailored entertainment for young people and families.

There will also be scope for offering more opportunities to the local community to become involved in the work of the company and to develop new skills.  Our longer-term aim is to enhance our role as a trainer and educational resource in the performing arts. Through being based on the waterfront, there is also scope for incorporating much longed-for facilities for the boating community, as well as enhancing existing provision of conveniences for the general public in the town.

The overall vision is very much one of collaboration and we are keen to work closely with existing venues such as An Tobar and the Aros Hall to see how we might pool resources and use the additional facilities that this development would see being invested in Tobermory to everyone’s advantage.

We are also keen to see how this theatre could provide the sort of facilities that are key to attracting the conference market sector to Mull, thereby helping to bring fresh hotel and accommodation business to the island and capture all of the associated economic benefits that flow from this sector.

The projected cost of this development is just under £2.2m in cash and it is projected to be ready for the 2007 season.  The contribution sought from Argyll and Bute Council will primarily be in the form of support-in-kind through access to land, with the majority of the cash required being generated through national and EU funding proposals, particularly via SAC’s National Lottery Capital Development Funds.

Looking to the immediate future, the next stage of the project will be to undertake a design competition, which the Royal Incorporation of Architects of Scotland believes will prove immensely popular within the architectural profession. We are looking to ways in which we can engage with the local community during this design competition phase, including scope for running a schools project, so that everyone can be involved and help shape the final plans.  However before any of these many benefits can begin to flow, we have to secure funding from the Scottish Arts Council to undertake the design competition.

We are currently consulting individuals and representative organisations, hopefully to win support, as without it we may well lose out on getting public investment to bring this to fruition.

Yours sincerely,

Alasdair McCrone, Artistic Director