USA: Kevin Spacey hosts a NY benefit to save London's Old Vic theatre

Stars of the screen and stage supported a benefit in New York on Thursday (April 19) to raise funds for London's struggling Old Vic theatre. The theatre's artistic director, Kevin Spacey co-hosted the benefit, which began with a performance of "A Moon for the Misbegotten" starring Spacey in the leading role. The Old Vic has a long and rich theatrical history. Great actors such as Sir Laurence Olivier and Dame Peggy Ashcroft made their names on the beloved stage. The theatre closed for approximately nine years after it was badly damaged during a World War II bombing raid. It relies on fund-raising endeavours to maintain its existence. Two-time Oscar winner Spacey believes that the Old Vic will prosper under his artistic direction. Spacey has held the position of artistic director since 2003 and plans to remain for another eight to nine years. "We've had in just our first two and half seasons over 650,000 people have come in to see our productions. And for a theatre that for really, the previous thirty years was essentially a booking house, to have started to build a new audience, so that when I leave this position in eight or nine years, that the company will be on a very strong foundation and will become again, as it used to be, a destination theatre" he said. Some of the stars joining Spacey were Mary Stuart Masterson, Gabriel Byrne and British director Sam Mendes. Masterson, who made her Old Vic debut two years ago said that one can still feel the presence in the theatre of acting greats such as Olivier and Ashcroft. "No God, it could never close. And also because this big push for more money is also because the programme is bigger than it's ever been and there's really a reason for it. It's not just trying to keep it, keep an old horse past its longevity, it's actually, they've got really great big plans," she said. Irish actor and author Gabriel Byrne thinks that theatre will not survive in its current form because of the huge technological developments in film, television and digital media. "It's not enough to be sentimental and to say that it has a history and the ghost of Laurence Olivier walks there. That doesn't really mean anything to an eighteen year old kid who says I want to see something that excites me," he said. Spacey places immense emphasis on attracting younger audiences to the Old Vic. "If we don't begin to establish a way to reach out to younger people and make theatre affordable for them, we going to lose them all to television and film and every other darn thing there is to pay attention to in terms of entertainment," he said. To encourage younger attendance, one hundred tickets are made available to everybody under 25 years old for 12 pounds (GBP Sterling) on every night of production at the Old Vic. "If you get them young enough and they have an experience in theatre that they won't forget, then we might just have something to do with planting the seeds of building the next generation of theatre-goers. It's hugely important to me," said Spacey. Tickets for the New York benefit ranged between 500 and 2,000 U.S. dollars and guests were treated to a keynote address by former U.S. President, Bill Clinton who is the Chairman of the Old Vic's Benefit Committee.

ITN Source | April 26, 2007

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