Meet the Chair

For my latest post in the series looking at the people who run Progress Theatre I went to the top and spoke to Dan Clarke, Chair of the management committee.

Dan was a relative newcomer to the theatre when he was elected to Chair. He joined the theatre in 2009 after driving his friends mad with endlessly going on about how much he missed not being involved in theatre since leaving university. He took their advice to "Do something about it or shut up" did some research on local theatres and chose Progress. Soon after joining he got several small parts in Terry Pratchett's Going Postal and says that being part of a large cast was a good introduction to the theatre and all the important behind the scenes people. His big breakthrough was taking on one of the roles in the two hander Intimate Exchanges by Alan Ayckbourn.

Dan studied film and drama at Reading university but dropped out after two years because he was at that age where "he thought he knew more than the people teaching him". He then started working for a betting shop and worked his way up into management before being made redundant. It was around this time that he joined the Progress management committee, initially as theatre manager. He also did the classic working in a coffee shop while trying to get into professional acting and did some profit share and short films. He is now working in an administration role for the NHS which leaves him time in the evenings and weekends to get involved in creative (and management) projects at Progress.

Dan (left) in Rumours
[Photo Richard Brown]

So what does being Chair involve? According to the official documents the chair should have a position on every committee and be involved in every show. Sounds like a full time job... Dan sees the role as keeping things running smoothly, you need to know what is going on in all aspects of the theatre but have to help other people fulfil their roles not try and do it all yourself. The theatre is full of people who are passionate about Progress and have strong views about how things should be done so the chair, as the place where the buck stops, has to have a thick skin to take the inevitable complaints and differences of opinion. Dan also thinks the chair should encourage debate in committee meetings and not always impose their own views.

The major achievement during Dan’s two years in office has been working out a programme of building improvements to the theatre which will enable us to remain on our current site for the foreseeable future. He has also managed the implementation of a new box-office system due to go live next season. There have been other smaller changes such as replacing the old lights, removing the trees in the car park and introducing the double bill for new directors as a regular slot in the season. Dan now feels it is time to move on so will be stepping down at the next AGM although he hopes to remain on the committee in another role to provide continuity and take responsibility for the projects he started.

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Little Shop of Horrors, music by Alan Menken, libretto by Howard Ashman,Thursday 18th to Saturday 27th April 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Colder Than Here by Laura Wade 20th - 25th May 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre

Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Monday 17th June - Saturday 22nd June 2013, 7.45 Progress Theatre