David Lan talks to David D'Arcy

David Lan is a magician but doesn't like to talk about it. As a youngster he used to chair a magic circle but today he works different types of wonders as Artistic Director of Young Vic theatre.

Over the past eight years Lan has overseen some acclaimed productions at the Young Vic, both on and off the stage. With the recent production of The Magic Flute having gone straight to the West End, two further opera shows in production and a stunning, new award-winning building, things are looking good for the Young Vic. So what's the trick?

Established in 1970 the current Young Vic theatre was set up with the ethos to create an informal environment in which young people can do the best possible experimental work in theatre. Olivier said of it at the time, "Here we think to develop plays for young audiences, an experimental workshop for authors, actors and producers."

Lan has kept this spirit at the heart of the Young Vic by putting together a team that are committed to working beyond boundaries. He describes "yes" as being the default answer at the Young Vic but it is clear that Lan is not a "yes man" in other regards. In the past he has voiced concerns about prevailing isolationist tendencies in British theatre and it is evident from his tenure that he has put a lot into action at the Young Vic to buck this trend.

He explains, "There was an assumption that since Granville-Barker and Stanislavski that the way we (British) produce plays, was the only way to produce plays. But it was just one way of looking at the world.

Ever since the 17th century all the international economies are linked. We're linked politically, we're linked now environmentally and yet culturally we tend to try and isolate ourselves.

I'm very interested in working out why it is that British thinking about Culture, art and about creativity has been quite inward looking, especially in the theatre."

Since his arrival, Lan has forged relationships with theatre groups from all around Europe, from Berlin to St Petersburg.

"It feels to me that there are certain countries in Europe where the work and theatre life is extremely lively and interesting and has certain qualities we don't have. Of course we have qualities they don't have but I am particularly interested in pushing us out into Europe."

The Young Vic's first international collaboration was in 2003 with Reykjavik theatre company Vesturport on their production of Romeo and Juliet. It proved to be a fruitful experience for all involved and one that sat well with the ethos of the Young Vic.

"It challenged the way we work, the way we think. They had a set of skills that we didn't have and from their point of view it opened up the world as they now tour all over Europe."

Since this first venture, the Young Vic has gone on to collaborate on productions with theatre groups from places such as Berlin (Schaubühne theatre), St Petersburg and most recently with the Portobello Theatre Group of Cape Town on the highly acclaimed production of The Magic Flute.

"We're trying to confront the young directors here with these different and very invigorating perspectives, on what the hell this art form is and what it should be doing and can do in challenging people's imaginations in one way or another.

It's because art has to be alive and brave and jump off the deep end but there is also an intellectual stimulus in trying to understand why people (in different cultures) make theatre in the first place."

This approach to theatre is not without its pitfalls and Lan admits that the recent production Prayer for my Daughter (with its themes of 1970's New York grit and repressed homosexuality) may not have had the impact on the London audience as he hoped it would have. He is quick to point out that this was no reflection on the cast or director but rather how as artistic director is obliged to go out on a limb.

"A big part of life in theatre is trusting one's instinct and taking risk."

American drama has been quite prominent on The Cut of late with the recent production of David Mamet's Speed the Plow at the neighbouring Old Vic. Of the relationship between the Young and Old Vics, Lan thinks his opposite number Kevin Spacey (director of The Old Vic) has done a great job while at the helm.

"I'm a big admirer of what Kevin has pulled off and one of the things that link us is that the better he does, the better it is for us. The more great art that is produced the better for everyone."

The Old Vic's Cinderella may have charmed audiences at the end of last year but for all its pumpkins turning into carriages it could not beat the spectacular transformation of its younger sister over the past few years. In 2003, with the old butcher shop in need of refurbishment, Lan & Co. set about raising £12.5m to refurbish the entire building. Pulling together the fund raising skills of the many stars who have trodden the Young Vic's boards, they managed to raise the money and get the project completed by the end of 2006.

With theatre's closing left, right and centre throughout the country this was no mean feat. Having Jude Law as a spokesperson for the fund was a help but Lan feels that the general public dug deep as the Young Vic now has a fond place in the public conscience.

The resulting renovation is remarkable and the Young Vic now counts the RIBA London Building of the Year Award 2007 amongst its many accolades. Lan puts the design success down the creative symbiosis between his team and architects Haworth Tompkins.

"They really engaged and then dissolved themselves into the building and into the company. The worked out what we wanted and gave us so much more than we expected."

And any plans for magic in the future of the Young Vic under Lan?

"Oliver Sachs (the neurologist) once told me that by going into theatre I had abandoned one type of magic for another kind" and so the tricks are now reserved for his closest friends after a number of drinks. Magic aside, "International cooproduction and collaboration is our future and that's the big project for me".

Indeed with Bertolt Brecht's Good Soul of Szechuan (directed by Richard Jones) running until June 28th, followed by Kurt Weil's Street Scene until July 22nd international influences look to remain central to the ongoing success of the Young Vic.

© David D'Arcy. All views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to the European Commission.