UK Edition
National Theatre admits it avoids using Royal prefix for fear of appearing 'elitist'
Britain’s national theatre has admitted it deliberately avoids using the prefix Royal in its title for fear of putting off potential new audiences by giving the impression it is an elitist institution.
The artistic director of the National Theatre delivered a snub to the Monarchy yesterday when he suggested using its full title could usher in the theatre’s “downfall”.
Permission to add the ‘Royal’ prefix to the name of the theatre was given in 1988, but the full title is rarely used - in contrast to the National Theatre’s counterparts The Royal Ballet and The Royal Opera House.
Speaking at the launch of the National Theatre’s 2018/19 programme Rufus Norris indicated that was unlikely to change any time soon.
He said: “This country is still very class divided and anything that adds to that perception, that this place is not open to everybody, could be a downfall. I fear that for some people that [the ‘Royal’ prefix] adds to that perception.”
Mr Norris said he would consider taking the matter to the board of the National Theatre, paving the way either for the prefix to be dropped altogether, or even for it to be used more frequently.
“This place has to be a community centre and the fact is that [using the prefix] that may alter that perception,” he said.
There has been a suspicion among observers that the NT fears the prefix ‘Royal’ would not chime with its public image of staging cutting edgeexperimental plays and new interpretations of classic works amid its modern brutalist concrete home on London’s South Bank.
But Mr Norris said the theatre welcomed the support of the Royal Family, including an intervention last month by Prince Charles - who once described its design as “a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London without anyone objecting” - during which he called for every child to have access to a “vital” arts education.
His comments chimed with those of the chief executive of the Royal Opera House, Alex Beard, who last month said the inclusion of “Royal” in the venue’s name was “off-putting” to the general public, with those who are not familiar with its work fearing it is not for them.
In an interview with the Sunday Times magazine, Beard said: "Well, we had three problems. "Royal. Opera. And House. Each of those words is charged.”
Mr Norris courted further controversy on Wednesday when he launched an outspoken attack on the Government’s “neglect” and lack of support for drama as part of the timetabled curriculum in schools, saying it threatened to undermine Britain’s future economic prospects.
He accused ministers of not caring that actors and performers increasingly come from a narrow layer of British society.
Mr Norris cited figures showing that since 2010 there has been a 35 per cent fall in the number of students taking GCSEs in arts subjects.
“Arts funding is being sidelined in the curriculum. Schools are cutting creative opportunities at every age group,” he said, adding: “Without a commitment to creativity in schools at Government level artists will continue to be drawn from a very narrow section of society. The arts thrive in diversity if class, of gender, of ethnicity. But they [Ministers] aren’t too worried our creative leaders are coming only from one sector of society.
“To remain world leading our country needs to be funding bright, young talent from the outset. If Government policy continues to marginalise the arts there a very real threat to the creativity of our country.”
The National Theatre’s new programme includes a timely adaptation of Andrea Levy’s award-winning novel Small Small Island, about the Windrush generation, and Lenny Henry’s one man play about the influential US comic Richard Pryor.