Kevin Spacey reflects on Old Vic success... his way
Feature by Jack Foley
KEVIN Spacey continues to be a name that’s synonymous with style as well as substance. From his mesmerising screen performances in films like The Usual Suspects, Se7en and American Beauty through to his breathtaking stage performances in The Iceman Cometh and – most recently – Speed-The-Plow, he’s one of the great entertainers working today.
And yet he hasn’t always been given the easiest of rides, especially in recent years as artistic director of London’s Old Vic theatre. Theatre critics have been quick to pour scorn on some of his production choices, while even movie critics have lamented some of his recent screen choices.
Spacey, though, treats such criticisms with a wry smile and a wise comment. One of my fondest memories, for instance, of an audience with the actor came at the Superman Returns press conference, when a journalist inferred that his appearance in the movie was slumming it, somewhat, compared with his highest standards.
Never mind that his performance as Lex Luthor was one of the highlights of that critically acclaimed blockbuster, Spacey nevertheless looked at the journalist and replied: “Well, if it’s good enough for Brando, it’s good enough for me.” [Brando, of course, appeared in the original Superman movie as Christopher Reeve’s father].
Currently promoting new gambling drama 21, which he stars in as well as produces, he was equally candid when answering questions about the film, its impact on his theatrical duties, and why he had fully been expecting the hard time given to him by London’s theatre fraternity.
“The truth is that unless I’d have come riding down Waterloo Road on a white horse with Laurence Olivier on my shoulders, they wouldn’t have liked me no matter what I did. So, I did what I wanted to do,” he calmly explained.
And listening to his reasoning, it’s hard not agree that his way was the only way in securing the Old Vic’s future and guaranteeing its success.
“You have to put in context why there was the passionate criticism [there was],” he elaborates. “People have very, very strong, fervent memories of what the Old Vic theatre is to them. Both as critics, some of them have been doing it since the 50s, but also as young people who remember going to the theatre.
“There’s kind of an impression that the only thing that belongs on the Old Vic’s stage in some peoples’ minds is Shakespeare, Ibsen, Shaw and Chekhov.
“But I had to look at what I was facing, which was a theatre that had ceased having an artistic director in 1976, that ceased being a company in 1976, and for 30 years was a booking house.
“There were two exceptions, when Jonathan Miller came and tried to start a company and when Peter Hall came and tried to start a company. But they were not given subsidy and they both eventually abandoned those companies.
“My task was, how do we return the Old Vic as a destination theatre for audiences who’d not been coming for 30 years? Yes, there’d occasionally be a hit play, but there was no audience development, there was no education, there was nothing like what we do with Old Vic New Voices. It didn’t exist, it was a building with a great history, but not a great recent history.”
So, with that in mind, Spacey set about establishing his production company and drawing audiences. There were hits, such as National Anthems, in which he appeared, as well as failures, such as Resurrection Blues, which had the wolves baying at the door.
Throughout, though, Spacey persevered and continued to attract some of the brightest lights from Britain and the States to tread the Old Vic boards – names including Sir Ian McKellen (whose appearance as Widow Twanky lit up the annual pantomime season), Rosamund Pike, Jeff Goldblum and Jennifer Ehle.
“I always knew it would take us probably three or four seasons to establish ourselves, and that’s exactly what happened and that’s exactly what I kept telling my staff,” he continued.
“I said: “Keep your heads high, we have a 10-year vision, and we’ll get through this, it’s been done before.”
Needless to say, Spacey has been proved right and the future continues to look very bright for The Old Vic theatre, with ongoing educational programmes proving a massive success, and a rich and varied production schedule heading its way.
“We’ve got Pygmalion coming in the next couple of weeks. We’ve got Sam Mendes directing two classic plays over the next three seasons, a year in rep, so that’s six classic productions that will be coming into the Vic.
“And at the same time we’re doing new work like Pedro Almodovar’s All About My Mother, and Stephen Fry’s Cinderella.
“So, we’re trying to appeal in some ways to a slightly different audience with each production we do, and we’re encouraged by the response of the British public. In the face of all of that criticism they never stopped coming, and I never stopped getting letters from the British public saying: “Hang in there, hang in there!” It was always my intention to hang in there, so I’m glad that it’s going along alright.”