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June 2009 | by: Mary Wakefield | Comments (0)

The serious business of theatre

‘I fear for the future of the arts because we are naturally philistine as a nation and our politicians even more so. The first thing that is always cut is the arts. We think we don’t need them, but the arts are crucial in a democracy.’

But there is an upside to all the current political chicanery, which is that it makes Peter Hall’s selection of Bernard Shaw’s The Apple Cart for his Bath season spookily prescient. ‘It is a play about politics and it could have been written yesterday,’ says Sir Peter. ‘There is even an observation by one of the politicians that the problem with the Cabinet is that there are too many Scotsmen in it. It is about the impossibility of democracy really, about why we have to try even though it won’t work.’ Across the hall, The Apple Cart cast are beginning to drift in again. Sir Peter Hall smiles, pushes his plate away and gets up. Back to the serious business of theatre.

The Peter Hall Company is at the Theatre Royal Bath 25 June to 29 August; box office: 01225 448844

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