{"id":374526,"date":"2025-08-26T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T09:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/374526\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T09:00:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T09:00:28","slug":"the-pubs-embracing-plays-and-keeping-theatres-indie-spirit-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/374526\/","title":{"rendered":"The pubs embracing plays and keeping theatre’s indie spirit alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gareth Kavanagh, theatre producer and former landlord of the much-loved Lass O\u2019Gowrie pub, remembers when its spot beside the BBC made it one of Manchester\u2019s busiest boozers. \u201cWe were down the side of the BBC,\u201d he said, recalling his years at the helm from 2005 to 2014. \u201cSo we were a busy, busy pub, and we did pub things very well; the place kind of looked after itself. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen of course the BBC closed and that building was emptied then knocked down, and all those busy lunchtimes, evenings and weekends vanished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Gareth continues to work as an independent theatre producer, staging grassroots productions in Manchester pubs, most recently at The Seven Oaks, where he and his former business partner have created a low-cost performance space upstairs.<\/p>\n

Keeping the spirit of indie theatre alive <\/p>\n

\"\"The Lass O\u2019 Gowrie<\/p>\n

Fortunately Gareth had decided to diversify what people could find in the popular Charles Street boozer long before the issue of getting punters through the door became the centre of\u00a0every landlord\u2019s life. And it started with a friend\u2019s partner at the time, an actor, asking if he could stage a play in the room upstairs, till this point a little-used manager\u2019s lounge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe put on a Stephen Berkoff play called Harry\u2019s Christmas, and it was very popular,\u201d said Gareth. \u201cI thought \u2018maybe there is something here\u2019, so we put some lights up and set up some equipment, and then over the next few years it developed a life of its own, which was really handy, because we needed to replace the lost bits of business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt worked out very well for us at the time, because it was a unique offering that you could only get there. Football\u2019s great fun and exciting, but you can watch it anywhere. There\u2019s plenty of places that have cheaper pints than us, but to get something unique you\u2019d have to come to the Lass, and that was what it was about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manchester\u2019s independent theatre scene <\/p>\n

\"\"The Seven Oaks interior <\/p>\n

After leaving in 2014, Gareth continued to stage independent productions across Manchester and increasingly found the costs of producing plays in established venues to be too expensive, if the venues themselves were even still open. Meanwhile, pubs started finding themselves in dire financial straits as socialising spots, and how we enjoy ourselves, began to change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI found that over the years it had become very expensive and there weren\u2019t many venues left,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult when you start out, trying to find a venue where you can rehearse and put something on. So I had a chat with Patrick, who was my business partner at The Lass for all those years, and said it\u2019d be really worthwhile if we each put some money in to get some equipment and try putting some stuff on upstairs at The Seven Oaks. So we started that in January of this year, and it\u2019s been quite successful. It made more sense, weirdly, for me to spend money on a venue that I could then use for free.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Greater Manchester Fringe<\/p>\n

Another local theatre producer finding his feet, after graduating from a drama degree, was Ross Thompson, co-founder and company director of Farewell Theatre Co. You can check them out on Instagram by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When looking to stage the company\u2019s play Death of the English Pub following its run at the Greater Manchester Fringe<\/a> back in 2023, he found that while one night at an established venue would cost an average of \u00a3600, they could stage a three-night run in a pub for \u00a3360. \u201cYou never know if a play is going to flop or not until you put it on,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you\u2019re never going to take that risk at \u00a3600 a night.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The Talleyrand\u2019s theatre space <\/p>\n

What followed for Farewell Theatre Co was an immersive and very appropriate production in The Talleyrand in Levenshulme<\/a>, the audience not simply observing the action but a part of it, the fictional Death of The English Pub bumping up against real life. \u201cI think theatre is often seen as this elitist thing, and getting people to come to the theatre can be quite tricky in itself. So if we bring the theatre to the local people, then that\u2019s even better. It was about getting people back into their local and having fun with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it is in this atmosphere of uncertainty, for pubs and grassroots plays alike, that a solution seems to present itself; pubs need people spending at the bar on quiet weeknights, not to mention maintaining the pub as a vital part of British social life, and grassroots theatre companies need affordable spaces to stage their work and build an audience. Why not join forces?<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt\u2019s eye-wateringly expensive to stage plays at some of these venues\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s eye-wateringly expensive to stage plays at some of these venues,\u201d said Gareth. \u201cAnd I just think it\u2019s the wrong way to do it. I think you\u2019re better off having more stuff on at a lower price, and giving people a space to develop and try things out, and then maybe they get to move on to bigger things. After the Lass many of us went on to do all sorts, and that would not have been possible without doing bonkers things above a pub, and not having to lose your shirt over a play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Gareth Kavanagh<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for pubs, they\u2019re under a huge amount of pressure, no doubt. It was hard 15 years ago and it\u2019s even harder now. It\u2019s a constant battle to get new people through the door. So this is good for theatre, because you\u2019re offering something new to people who drink in the pub and they\u2019re a potential future audience, and it\u2019s brilliant for the pub, because you get new people through your door who look at the place and go, \u2018Oh, this is really nice, I could come here for a drink\u2019. It\u2019s definitely working at The Seven Oaks and I don\u2019t see why it wouldn\u2019t work elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

So if this approach were more widespread, what would it mean for the grassroots culture of the city and its treasured but endangered pubs?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a win-win for everybody involved,\u201d said Ross. \u201cThe pubs get money behind the bar when it\u2019s going to be quiet, and we get somewhere to perform for an audience; it\u2019s a no brainer. Think of the amount of theatre students coming out of all the unis around the city. Theatre doesn\u2019t pay that well, but it\u2019s where some of the best stories are and some of the newest writing and local voices, so to have that in a local boozer makes sense to me, especially in a city of culture like Manchester.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theatre at Seven Oaks Stage <\/p>\n

\"\"A production at The Seven Oaks<\/p>\n

Gareth looks at the \u00a32000 cost of setting up the Seven Oaks stage, and to the decision-making of government bodies and how they distribute funding. \u201cI would love to think that someone from the Arts Council would be imaginative enough to put together some money for a pot of equipment and just say, \u2018Okay, we can fit out four pubs for two grand each\u2019. Two grand is a rounding error to them, but the way the funding pots are set up, they wouldn\u2019t consider that, or have the imagination to put in place that sort of infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would make a tremendous difference, and make for a much more healthy ecosystem. It\u2019s about preserving and valuing those small spaces that people start in and saying, \u2018These are important\u2019. I\u2019d say they\u2019re more important than the equivalent of the Co-op Live.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all very well having HOME and Aviva Studios<\/a> that are all publicly subsidised, but if you can\u2019t actually access these spaces to start with, and build your reputation and audience up then it\u2019s very difficult. But if the grassroots scene is allowed to develop then it does make for a healthy ecosystem. Then what happened successfully in terms of saving small music venues could happen in terms of theatre. It\u2019s a very bleak landscape out there at the moment, but I hope that can change.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can find out what\u2019s on at Seven Oaks by clicking here<\/a><\/p>\n

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