David Farr: Artistic director

Bristol Old Vic's Artistic director David Farr says acting was never one of his skills: he always preferred to direct. Although directing actors is his first love, he says it's quite a different challenge to direct a whole theatre, although some of the skills are transferrable. When directing a play, you are only dealing with people who understand how theatre works, but when you run a theatre, you also have to engage with the general public who may well know little or nothing about the peculiar demands theatre makes on its employees. You have, David says, not only to be creative, but also political, organized, and really good at managing a lot of very different people.

David says that what really excites him about his job is watching the response of audiences. His vision for the Bristol Old Vic Theatre is to use innovative theatre forms to create radical classical and contemporary work that brings in both established theatre-goers and new audiences. Some of the challenges he faces, he says, involve breaking down the sometimes staid image projected by the imposing and historic architecture of one of Britain's oldest theatres, and making it more inviting and accessible to the public.

Find out more about being an artistic director.