When Trevor Nunn took over the artistic directorship of Britain's Royal National Theatre four years ago, he must have felt like he was stepping out of the frying pan and into the fire once again.
Having run the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) for two decades (as well as presided over a clutch of highly profitable musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber in the West End, on Broadway, and elsewhere, including "Cats," "Starlight Express," "Aspects of Love" and "Sunset Boulevard," not to mention Cameron Mackintosh's production of "Les Miserables," the latter co-produced with the RSC and co-directed with John Caird), he'd already long ago established his artistic as well as commercial credentials.
But returning to the state subsidized, not-for-profit sector proved a controversial appointment at the time, with the National Theatre's Board of Directors at once criticized for playing it too safe with such a known pair of hands, but also worries that he wouldn't have the commitment required for the job because of his numerous and varied freelance activities.
After a term of office that has had its successes—certainly if measured in terms of awards won (more than 60 in three and a half years, according to The Times of London)—but has also been characterized by almost relentless press criticism of Nunn's every move, he finally can't stand the heat anymore, so is getting out of the kitchen.
The Board has announced that he has told them that he will not be seeking reappointment at the expiration of his current contract next September, but wishes to leave once a successor is in place. He has agreed to stay on until that happens.
Next to his immediate predecessors, Richard Eyre and Peter Hall, who respectively ran the National for nine and 15 years, his time at the helm has been unprecedentedly brief.
And while Eyre and Hall were not immune to flops or charges of excessive commercialism (Hall had a notable howler with a musical about the life of "Jean Seberg," and Eyre found himself on a spot with an old Broadway comedy, "Johnny on a Spot"), Nunn's brief reign found him besieged with criticism about the poor quality of new writing on the South Bank, and his own penchant for commercial partnerships in reviving old musicals.
Yet Eyre—whose own hit production of "Guys and Dolls" at the National long before he took over the running of the building might have been seen as the catalyst that swept him into office—had overseen a program that included numerous shows that subsequently transferred to the West End and Broadway, from "An Inspector Calls" (directed by Stephen Daldry), "Arcadia" (directed by Nunn), and "Carousel" (directed by Nicholas Hytner) to his own productions of David Hare's "Amy's View" and "Skylight."
But Nunn faced different charges. While none of the last cited shows might have seemed pre-destined for commercial success, some of Nunn's own choices have been more conspicuously commercially driven. Revivals of "Oklahoma!" and now "My Fair Lady," both directed by himself, have both been staged in association with Cameron Mackintosh, the commercial producer who in fact staged the previous most recent revivals of both in the West End, and has been behind ensuring that the National productions transfer there, too. Nunn's own potential royalty earnings as a result have been the source of much fevered speculation. And with Nunn lining up revivals of "South Pacific," Glenn Close in "A Streetcar Named Desire," and the possible appearance of Nicole Kidman in Ibsen's "The Lady from the Sea," all of which could have a commercial life after their National Theatre runs, the anxieties about using a subsidized environment to try them out have continued.
In the field of new writing, Nunn has made no comparable partnership to that Eyre enjoyed with Hare, seen the theatre suffer some catastrophic duds, and once again indulge in the overtly commercial programming of the Alan Ayckbourn double-bill of complementary plays, "House" and "Garden," that between them took over the Olivier and Lyttelton Theatres for the entire last summer. At the same time, however, Patrick Marber's "Closer," Michael Frayn's "Copenhagen," and Joe Penhall's "Blue/Orange," none of them guaranteed hits, have gone on to award-winning commercial lives in the West End and on Broadway.
Though Nunn's own productions of such plays as "The Merchant of Venice," Gorky's "Summerfolk," and Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" have proved (if proof were needed) that he is one of the leading classical directors in the world, he has also found himself unwilling, or unable, to attract the kind of other major directorial talents that Eyre regularly drew to the National to work there as associates.
This has also created a problem for the board of succession, since there are no obvious candidates now ready to take over the reigns. The only in-house candidates of note are John Caird, Nunn's old RSC partner who has become a semi-regular fixture on the South Bank, and freelance director Howard Davies, whose National Theatre revival of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" won four of the National's eight Olivier Awards this year. Nicholas Hytner, who is currently making a determined return to the London theatre after a few years trying to forge a film career and is working regularly on the South Bank again, is also seen as a possibility. In contrast, Stephen Daldry and Sam Mendes, whose film careers are currently soaring, may be ruled out by their Hollywood aspirations. Other front-runners from outside are Jude Kelly, currently artistic director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, from where her production of the musical "Singin' in the Rain" transferred to the National (and picked up the Olivier for outstanding musical production), and Michael Grandage, artistic director of the Sheffield Crucible, whose revivals of "Passion Play" and "Merrily We Roll Along" were award-winning successes at the Donmar Warehouse last year.