WE GOT TO CATCH UP WITH THE CHARMING AND TALENTED JOANNA READ, CEO & DIRECTOR OF THE YVONNE ARNAUD THEATRE IN GUILDFORD, ON THEIR MOST IMPRESSIVE YEAR YET, THEIR RENOVATIONS, GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY, FAMOUS YVONNE ARNAUD FACES AND FUTURE PLANS, INCLUDING THE CHRISTMAS 2025 PANTO REVEAL!
First of all congratulations on the most amazing year with such an impressive reach and impact on the community. (Check out the full statistics alongside this article!) What’s been the highlights of your year so far?
There have been so many. I would have to say seeing all the kids and families together in the building on our ‘Easter family Fun Day’ in April, ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ with Michael Maloney was a great show back in January and our recent production of ‘Handbagged’ was another stunning piece of work. Our numbers are growing on the ‘Pop Up Play’ on Friday mornings too and I recently sat in on he ‘Creative Learning Workshops’ and seeing those young people engage with the work we are doing already on the panto is so rewarding.
How hard was conducting shows whilst also renovating the theatre last year?
It was a struggle! My team have been extraordinary in how patient they have been with the upheaval, the day-to-day noise and the drilling! Because a lot of the work does go on when we don’t have shows our team have born the brunt of it! Our catering staff have moved locations up to 6 or 7 times now!! In fact, all of our staff were brilliant and how they coped with it and made the best of the situation. It has been tough but we needed it to happen!
The new look Yvonne Arnaud theatre is stunning, is there any particular area you are most pleased with and why?
Well, the new lifts have been fantastic, the River Room is stunning and we all love the extra light that is being let into the building now. While it’s not quite finished yet the front ‘Yvonne Arnaud’ signage is going to be amazing and the fact that we have been careful with all our building materials which are renewable and energy efficient is a major plus point.
You are working with mental health groups Catalyst and Oakleaf – how did these collaborations come about?
Our Creative Learning Team consisting of Rhiannon and Charlie framed the project ‘Show Goers’ and then reached out to charities like Catalyst and Oakleaf to get involved. We know attending plays and the arts in general makes you feel good, makes you feel better and connects you with people. But sometimes getting people to us can be tricky at times so we deliberately put a project together that tries to support people with well-being and mental health while at the same time combatting social isolation. 95 people have attended 18 shows so that’s a great turn out to start with, we will continue to work on and develop this further in the future.
You have also partnered with some great local institutions including the YMCA, Zero Carbon and Action for Carers, how important is the community/charity aspect of your role as CEO?
The theatre functions as an arts venue within the borough to reach out to all areas of the community to engage in arts. To do that effectively we need to get out there and reach out to all those people who might think we are not for them or for socio-economic reasons might not have the ability to come to our shows. It’s a fundamental aspect of what we do and we have some great charities we work with.
Giving back to Youth Theatre and Education is paramount at Yvonne Arnaud with workshops aplenty for any area of theatre life – what workshops have you been most impressed with and why?
We had this really funky workshop that we set up the other day, called ‘Comic Book Writing’ they were so engaged all those young people. As well as theatre workshops we like to think outside the box – you don’t have to just have drama workshops. The Young Company we have just started working with recently run a ‘Mime and Motion Picture Workshop’ which was brilliant fun!
What budding actors have launched their fledgling acting careers through schemes/workshops at Yvonne Arnaud?
Well that I know of (the Theatre launched originally back in 1965) we have had David Tennant when he was in his twenties, Dame Judi Dench who was reminiscing about a play she brought here ‘Mr & Mrs Nobody’ in the nineties – that was before she was a Dame though – and of course the wonderful actress Maureen Lipman.
You must have met some seriously famous faces in your role – who were you most impressed with and why?
Derek Jacobi and Martin Shaw are just lovely!
We were excited to see Lucy Benjamin, Peter Gordon and Matt Pinches are back for the YA panto again this year. Are there any more cast members for ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to divulge yet?
Yes we have 3 new cast members to reveal. Clair Gleave, Rickey Oakley and Dylan Collymore.
Comedy is gaining a lot of traction too. You have Lou Sanders, Shaparak Khorsandi and Nigel Planer coming soon – is there anyone on your comedy hit list you would love to have perform and why?
Sandy Toksvig is great and we would love to have Harry Hill back again. Also Lenny Henry but I’m not sure if he’s still doing live comedy. Oh and John Bishop, he’s local.
As a female CEO and director, what does being a ‘positive female role model’ mean to you?
Well I like to be visible, engage with people and attend a lot of external events, I’m happy to put myself forward as a spokesperson for the theatre. I think this is really important as if you are a young women or girl coming up in the world it’s good to see other women in these roles.
Who are the women who have had the biggest influences on your life and why?
My director Annie Castledine (sadly she is no longer with us) was a major inspiration when I was an assistant director in my twenties. She was a force of nature – just brilliant! I had some really good teachers at school too, my English teacher at my comprehensive in Stroud installed confidence in me.
What advice would you give to other women starting out in their careers?
Do it!! You are good, you are confident, take that space and own it!
