Dave Murphy, chief executive Cambridge Arts Theatre, August 2011

Cambridge Arts Theatre has come a long way since its current chief executive took over. And he has big plans to take it further in the future, as he tells Olivia Abbott

Dave Murphy is a man with a lot on his mind. In the nearly nine years since he took over as chief executive, he has taken the Cambridge Arts Theatre from a failing institution to a massively successful, vibrant theatre, bringing in the cream of West End productions and actors, and even producing its own musicals.

‘It is transofrmed beyond sight,’ says Dave. ‘When I came in, it was weeks away from closure, and now, to be in charge of such a vibrant institution, with such incredible productions, it’s great.’

Secret of success

One of the secrets of the theatre’s success is Dave’s business background. The theatre board’s rather unusual step of bringing in a businessman with a love of theatre, rather than a theatre person who knows a little bit about business, certainly seems to have worked. ‘I was chief executive of a large consulting company, but I’d always been a theatre nut,’ says Dave, ‘so when I got the chance to run a theatre I jumped at it. And we do things very differently. Everything is very businesslike; we pay on time; we make sure everything’s very efficient and organised. That’s not generally the case in theatre,’ he laughs. ‘It’s a bit more sloppy.’

But even more important, perhaps, than Dave’s busisness acumen, is his passion. ‘It was a steep learning curve,’ he says. ‘I mean, you know the great plays, you know what’s going to appeal to yourself, but I had to learn what’s going to appeal to a Cambridge audience. And not everything does!’

One of the things you notice asDave talks, is his constant use of the word ‘we’. He is quick to praise his team and to stress that it’s a collaborative effort. ‘Yes, I’m responsible for choosing the shows, the programme, but I’m very fortunate to have a wonderful team here to make sure that once I’ve done that, it’s sold properly, and front of house is efficient, backstage is efficient… It would be easy for people to make out that it’s some sort of solo genius, but it’s absolutely not like that.’

There’s no denying that Dave is involved in pretty much every aspect of his theatre though, from artistic and theatrical matters to day-to-day organisation. ‘I’ve got quite a multifaceted job. Which is great. I don’t get bored!’

And certainlyhe has no time to get bored now – as he is overseeing prossibly the biggest development in the theatre’s history. In May, Dave and his team launched the Act II project to redevelop and expand the theatre. The exciting plans include redeveloping the foyer – which, it is universally agreed, is pretty grim at the moment - a restaurant and café, plus two new stages, offering more intimate performance areas and scope for different sized productions.

‘We have a fantastic opportunity here,’ says Dave. ‘We can improve people’s experience of the theatre, and we can increase the number of artistic platforms that we’ve got. We really want to inspire and nurture a lifelong love of the performing arts, so we want to be able to attract younger people to the audience; we want to be able to attract people who prefer less mainstream theatre, and get all of them coming to Cambridge Arts Theatre.’

Dave also feels very strongly that Cambridge Arts should be a destination as well as being a theatre – with a café and restaurant where people will meet friends for coffee and lunch, and also to hold educational events, informative discussions, and pre and post show talks. ‘And we’ll have the scope to do jazz, perhaps a little bit of chamber music- it would be nice to do Question Time or “Evenings with…” that sort of thing.’

Size no object

Put all the other stuff aside, though, and it is clearly the theatre itself, and the prospect of being able to expand the offering that really excites Dave. ‘I see a lot of theatre and there are things that I would love to put on here, that we can’t currently. I go to the theatre in London two or three times a week and I see stuff at the Donmar Warehouse, at the Young Vic, in the National Theatre at their small space, at The Cottesloe - theatre that I think is wonderful but is in a 200- to 250-seater sapce. And I would love to build up relationships with those theatres so they toured their work here. Effectively I’d like a microcosm of the incredibly vibrant London theatre scene, here in Cambridge. That’s what I’m trying to create.

‘We’re an international city, for goodness sake - we attract students and acadmeics and intelligent people from all over the world: we should be able to provide a world-class performing arts centre. And I want to inspire people to get into the arts, whether they’re seven or 70, and be that way for their whole life.’

On top of the grand plans, though, there’s stil the day-to-day running of the theatre to be done and Dave is nothing if not hands-on. ‘I love getting involved with the productions, and over the years I’ve come to understand quite a lot about it. I don’t have as much time as I used to to get involved, but I’m still completely hands on, because it’s so important to me. It’s quite hard to describe really, it’s not a job, I absolutely love it. And I want to know it’s perfect.’

Right now what’s on Dave’s mind is the all-important Christmas panto. It won’t be long before the queues of this year’s wannabe panto babes are curling around the block – the first round of auditions takes place on 4 September and Dave is looking forward to it. ‘It’s always a great fun day,’ he says. ‘It’s great if I can get into the building with being attacked by parents!’

A tradition the panto might be, but there are some changes this year. Erstwhile writer, dame and Dave’s co-director Brad Fitt has taken a break from Cambridge - with the choice of Cinderella, the ugly sisters replace the dame role – and stalwart principal boy Julie Buckfield has retired, so there will be some new faces, though regular Matt Crosby will still be there to get the kids onside. Dave himself has handed over the direction to Michael Gyngell, though he is still producing. ‘Michael’s very experienced – he’s done eight pantos before, and he’s writing it as well. And obviously I know what I’m doing on that front, so I can help him.’

The panto will go on

Dave is so involved in the panto, it’s so close to his heart, one wonders that he doesn’t also take a part. ‘No, getting on stage would be a bridge too far I can assure you!’ he laughs. Joking and corny jokes apart, though, the panto is a serious business for Dave and the theatre. ‘It’s the greatest recruiting sergeant we have for young people getting involved with the theatre,’ he says. ‘The number of people who have been a panto babe and gone off to stage school; the number of people who come here and say “The first production I ever saw was the panto” - it’s a really much-loved, much cherished institution and I am absolutely not going to take my eye off it.’

Until then, though, there is the autumn season, kicking off with Ian McKellen in The Syndicate. ‘We’re incredibly excited, knowing that we’re going to have Ian McKellen here and knowing that every week from then until panto is booked up with a big production,’ says Dave.

And he knows how fortunate he is to be in this position and is not complacent about it. ‘The recession has meant that the weaker theatres with smaller audiences are struggling to get good shows, and the stronger theatres like ours are – I won’t say inundated, because we’re not – but we’re getting very strong shows. I noticed the other day that the Broadway in Peterborough had to close, which is a great shame. We’re lucky to have such a vibrant theatre here.’ And under Dave’s passionate care, one feels it can only keep getting better.

Cambridge Arts Theatre, St Edwards Passage CB2 3PJ, 01223 503333, cambridgeartstheatre.com