Birmingham Hippodrome’s new artistic director talks about his vision for the Midlands venue.

Birmingham Hippodrome’s new artistic director & chief executive, Jon Gilchrist, is hitting the ground running as he takes over the city’s largest theatre in the same year the eyes of the world are on Birmingham.

With Birmingham 2022 Festival now under way and the Commonwealth Games taking place in the summer, the Hippodrome is perfectly placed to be part of that story and to reach out to new audiences.

Jon, who has been executive director of multi-arts venue HOME in Manchester since 2018 and takes over the helm at the Hippodrome on 11 April, sees a clear comparison with Manchester, which held the Games 20 years ago.

“That was a moment in time in Manchester which was part of that city’s cultural revolution. The Commonwealth Games in 2002 had a real legacy for that city. Birmingham is now seeing 2022 as a moment, and it’s a moment which can be used to bring cultural organisations of all shapes and scales closer together and to see what the cultural life of this city will be in the future. 

“Birmingham has the richest and most exciting creative ecology in the country in terms of the range of artists reflecting the different communities and the types of work that are happening. What makes

Birmingham so incredible is that there aren’t particularly dominant culture groups. It feels like there are so many different cultural voices here. Also it’s a very young city and I love that.

“I’m very interested in how culture can, not be the solution to all the world’s problems, but can be part of the solution. And Birmingham as a city, which is already an incredible place but now has so much potential to build on that, has the chance to build that legacy.”

Jon’s first roles in theatre were in marketing at venues including The Lowry in Manchester, Octagon Theatre Bolton and The Dukes in Lancaster before he became executive director at the Bush Theatre in London in 2014. And he says the chance to head up the team at the Hippodrome, on the departure of former artistic director & chief executive Fiona Allan to Opera Australia, was too good to miss. 

“I can’t tell you the amount of producers who tell me that Birmingham Hippodrome is the best theatre in the country. And they’re talking in terms of performing in the city as well as the shape and the scale of the theatre. This is a theatre which is incredibly loved.”

Jon also has a personal connection to the city, as his father was born in Birmingham, grew up in Malvern, and met Jon’s mum at Birmingham University, where they were both studying English.

“My parents have just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and they met in Birmingham, so I have always considered it to be the most romantic city in the country. We always came back a lot, and I’ve had friends who lived here, so it’s funny driving round the city now and little memories of things like playing in Cannon Hill Park or taking part in outdoor activities with Midlands Arts Centre come back. There isn’t any other city I would have wanted to come to.”

Jon is keen for the Hippodrome to be at the heart of Birmingham’s communities.

“I think my vision for the venue is, to quote Shakespeare, ‘what is the city but the people’. My vision is that the Hippodrome becomes even more open to the community, even more connected to the city, and more reflective of the values of the city. And that’s not a tokenistic approach or a generic diversity statement - Birmingham is about quality, it’s about internationalism, it’s about rich cultures.

“I feel that Birmingham is the most exciting city in the country at the moment. There’s a hell of a lot of artistic talent that operates within the city, and I think the Hippodrome is already doing so much to amplify that and to provide opportunities. I’d love to explore that further.

“I want to reach out into communities and do different things and look for ways that we can, not replicate things that are already there, but help and support them.  

“You want the people inside your theatre and at your events to look like the people who are walking past your theatre every day, and you want those people on your stages, in your workforce, on your board and in your audience. How you achieve that is multi-faceted. It’s not just marketing, or the actors you have or the programme or the building - it’s all of these things and more.”

Last year Jon was elected joint president of UK Theatre, a post he takes up later this year. He says we should never forget that a theatre is first and foremost about entertainment.

“Theatre can provide a sense of belonging and give people joy. Different people will have different definitions of what brings joy. It might be attending a festival in your community, it might be going to a panto, it might be doing a Q&A with Carlos Acosta at the ballet, it might be attending a class we put on. It could be any number of things. We need to assess what the city is and how we bring joy, and if we can do that, we make for a healthier and happier city. Increasingly people are seeing theatre’s capacity to do that.”

There are undoubtedly challenges for Jon and the Hippodrome, not least in recovering from two years of pandemic and multiple lockdowns. 

“We certainly can’t underestimate the challenges that are coming, and we’re not out of the woods yet. A lot of the things that we did before have changed, and I do think there’s a process that needs to be embarked on now in listening and learning about what people want.

“It may not all be change. I went to see the panto at the Hippodrome and it was notable that there was something incredibly familiar and reassuring about doing that annual thing with people you know. Part of what we need the theatre to be is continuity - that idea that this is the way the world was before and it can be again.”