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Kevin Spacey defends record
14/04/2006 10:41 - (SA)
London - Kevin Spacey on Thursday defended his leadership of London's Old Vic, but acknowledged that the theatre's latest production had been a disappointment.
The Old Vic announced this week that Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues would close on Saturday, a week earlier than scheduled. The production, directed by filmmaker Robert Altman, had received scathing reviews, and one of its stars, Jane Adams, has already quit.
Spacey, who took over as artistic director of the 200-year-old theater in 2004, told BBC radio he was "more determined than ever" to serve out his 10-year contract.
He acknowledged that Resurrection Blues had been "in trouble" before its opening night last month. "Risible" and "incompetent" were among the adjectives used by newspaper critics to describe the show, which also starred Matthew Modine and Neve Campbell.
"Everyone was completely open and honest about the fact the show wasn't where it should have gotten but I can tell you that after the critics' night, that cast pulled themselves together," Spacey said. "They started to deliver that play in a way that I think audiences saw a much better production than those critics saw."
Resurrection Blues is one of several recent Old Vic productions panned by critics, although several shows, including a production of Shakespeare's Richard II starring Spacey, have garnered good reviews and strong sales.
"I don't think that, 18 months in, anyone needs to apologise for having done a programme that has brought 425 000 people into the theatre," Spacey said. "We must be doing something right even though 11 or 12 people who write for newspapers don't particularly like what we've done."
The theater will be dark through the summer, with Spacey scheduled to star in a production of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten in September.
Spacey said the long summer break was "not ideal, but at the same time we're trying to get a financially responsible situation".
- AP
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South Africa
