THE CEO of the south west’s principal performing arts centre, Theatre Royal Plymouth (TRP), has announced his intention to stand-down.

Adrian Vinken has led the organisation since 1990. He said: “Leading TRP has been a dream job for which I’ll be forever grateful. The opportunity to work in this exceptional theatre in an amazing city with positive, dedicated colleagues, inspirational world-class artists and jaw-dropping, life-affirming shows has been a rare privilege. Choosing the right time to leave was always going to be a tough call. But Plymouth’s cultural scene is currently on a roll with The Box now open, Mayflower 400 shows and events coming to fruition and the British Art Show arriving. We’ve also just launched Plymouth’s new Culture and Visitor Plans for 2020-30 and we’re approaching the Arts Council’s next four-year funding round so it felt like an ideal time to step aside for a new team to take TRP forward.”

Nick Buckland, chair of the board of trustees said: "Adrian Vinken is an incredibly well-respected figure in the sector. His vision and leadership has not just sustained Theatre Royal Plymouth for many years, creating a unique model of operation unlike any other in the UK, he has spearheaded a number of initiatives to develop Plymouth as a cultural and tourist destination, his commitment to which is especially evident with the Mayflower 400 programme. The Trustees are now actively seeking a successor to Adrian who can build on that legacy, developing the work of this cherished organisation during a period of great potential."

Tudor Evans, leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “Theatre Royal is one of Plymouth’s enduring success stories of the past 30 years — a bright cultural beacon for the City and the region with a well-earned national reputation for quality. This hasn’t happened by accident but has been nurtured and brilliantly led by Adrian Vinken. Adrian set out from day one to ensure that the people of Plymouth can access the same quality of theatre as people living in London. He has championed TRP and Plymouth nationally and internationally, most recently leading Destination Plymouth and overseeing the Mayflower 400 commemoration. Adrian has also steered TRP through its darkest times with Covid19 and has managed to ensure that not only has it survived but with an absolutely stunning reopening programme for 2021/22. We will miss Adrian terribly but he leaves our theatre in the best shape, and I am sure this job will be one of the hottest opportunities in the UK cultural sector.”

Adrian joined Theatre Royal Plymouth in 1990 after a ten-year career in Sheffield during which he founded and directed the iconic Leadmill music venue. Since then he has built an organisation with an enviable reputation for its broad and eclectic artistic programme drawing audiences of over 350,000 each year and in 2019/20 over 81,000 attendances from people of diverse backgrounds through its sector-leading engagement and learning programme. The charity operates across two sites. Theatre Royal Plymouth opened in 1982 is the youngest listed theatre in the UK and houses three auditoria. It is complemented by TRP’s award-winning 2003 Production & Learning Centre, TR2, on Plymouth’s waterfront. It houses the theatre’s learning and engagement programmes plus its world-class rehearsal and production manufacturing facilities. In April 2019 Adrian also oversaw the commissioning and installation of Messenger, the UK’s largest ‘lost wax’ bronze sculpture created by Joseph Hillier, situated in front of the Theatre.

Prior to COVID, TRP’s programme of touring and produced stage work was as distinctive as ever. The theatre was forced to close just after presenting Robert Lepage in his biographical masterpiece 887, whilst Sally Abbott’s I Think We Are Alone, a TRP co-production with Frantic Assembly had just premiered prior to a UK tour. At the time Jen Silverman’s The Roommate was in production as was TRP’s ambitious large-scale trans-Atlantic community production, This Land as part of the Mayflower 400 commemorations. 2019/20 had also seen Sam Steiner’s You Stupid Darkness! co-produced with Paines Plough remounted for a season at Southwark Playhouse; co-productions of The Strange Tale of Charlie & Stan (with Told By An Idiot) and Maya Arad Yasur’s Amsterdam (with ATC and Orange Tree Theatre) were both on tour and £¥€$ (Lies), a co-production with Belgium’s Ontroerend Goed was returning to the UK. TRP will produce a number of, soon to be announced, new commissions in 2021/22 alongside creating new productions with long-standing collaborators Ontroerend Goed,

Paines Plough and Stuff & Nonsense. TRP will continue to partner with national companies Birmingham Royal Ballet, Welsh National Opera and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures. The theatre will reopen in May with the world premiere of Rambert’s Draw From Within.

Adrian concluded “Despite the horrendous hardships of this last Covid year, TRP remains on a sound footing and, given the emergence of Plymouth’s new Culture Plan, the Art Council’s new round of funds, and our recent award of funding from the second round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund, it’s an ideal time to handover to a new chief executive to lead the theatre from 2022."