April 2025.

I attended The Stage newspaper’s Future of Theatre conference at Soho Place, London.

Overall, it was an interesting day (and I may write more about it at another time). But for now, I have pulled together 5 of the most interesting things that were said during it.

Rosemary Squire 

Speaking at The Stage’s Future of Theatre 2025 event at Soho Place, London Trafalgar Entertainment joint chief executive Rosemary Squire discussed the company’s ongoing growth and shared insights on how the theatre sector can navigate challenging times.

Reflecting on the end of her time running ATG, she said: “Business was booming but behind the scenes, our financial partners didn’t always share our view of how we wanted the business to develop.”

“It was probably the most painful moment of my career as we said goodbye to the company that Howard and I had spent 25 years creating. A truly existential crisis. A body blow.”

Erica Whyman 

Former Royal Shakespeare Company acting artistic director Erica Whyman criticised theatre boards for being “frightened” of staging provocative work.

Speaking during the panel Surviving the Hate Speech: Free Speech and Theatre Lines, Whyman urged boards to be honest — with themselves and their sponsors — about their venue’s mission.

“I think there’s quite a lot of dishonesty about that… We have far too many frightened boards, or we have a funny mixture of frightened and really brilliant business minds.” she said.

Indhu Rubasingham 

Elsewhere, The National Theatre’s new artistic director, Indhu Rubasinham. unveiling her inaugural season this week, said she would welcome being asked about her work as an artist or director, rather than repeatedly fielding identity-focused questions.

Rubasingham outlined her vision for the NT and highlighted the vital role theatre and arts plays in uniting communities and opening children’s hearts and minds.

“We need to be serious about boosting arts education and tackling the growing skills gap affecting our sector,” she said.

“The seeds of creativity are planted in our classrooms and nurtured through skills that empower future generations. Without it, we risk losing not only tomorrow’s artists, but the stage managers, lighting technicians, costume makers and stage designers who make live performance possible.”

Big Idea
A proposal for a “devolved, national, repertory network” of theatres has won the Big Ideas debate at this year’s Future of Theatre conference.

Actor and director Rob Myles issued the provocation, asking: “Labour has made devolution a central policy elsewhere – why not in this industry?”

Graeme Farrow

The chief creative and content officer at Wales Millennium Centre has warned that the theatre industry could face a workforce crisis within two decades without urgent action.

Farrow cautioned against complacency, stating it would be “dangerous” to assume theatremaking will endure simply because it has for millennia. He urged greater collaboration between venues and a bolder embrace of artistic risk.

On the panel How Does the Craft of Theatremaking Survive?, Farrow said: “It would be dangerous to assume that theatremaking will always be here because it’s been here for 4,000 years… I’m not sure we could staff the industry in 20 years’ time if we don’t take real action now.”