Jacksons Lane

Jacksons Lane has been an arts centre for about 35 years, but 20 years ago they had a theatre built into the building. It’s actually an old Wesleyan Church.

It’s always been a breeding ground for art and artists, and also has a very strong community aspect. It’s many things to many people.

I was watching a documentary the other night about Eddie Izzard and he said that he started his career by doing a comedy course at Jacksons Lane and then went on to teach one here. There has been this steady stream of people, from Out of Joint and Complicite to The Mighty Boosh and Little Britain, who all started out here. We’re kind of a beacon sitting out here on the A1, attracting people who are inspired by the building.

Jacksons Lane sits on the edge of four boroughs; Islington, Barnet, Haringey and Camden, so socially it’s got a very interesting mix of people. Before I worked here, coming to Jacksons Lane always felt like an exciting night at the Edinburgh Fringe.

We’re good at spotting talent. We work with some really exciting artists and you can spot the ones who are going to go on. With artists like Layla Rosa from Shunt or Sugar Beast Circus, you do feel something. I can’t describe it. We try to nurture them without being too possessive.

We have about 60 courses happening at Jackson’s Lane right now, so there’s loads of stuff for young people. We’re developing a really exciting series of circus initiatives, as well as physical theatre, dance and drama. We’re also one of the few theatres that can easily attract that 16-25 year old audience.

Sustainability is a major challenge facing contemporary theatre today. It costs a huge amount of money to manage a building and in the current climate it’s very difficult to keep that going. Great art will come out of it as well, but we have to support each other. It means we get to do more commercial things; we’ve had Michael McIntyre, Stephen Merchant, comedians like that.  We need those high-profile names to balance the commercial with the artistic.

There is no obvious route in to this job. You can’t go to university to learn how to programme and direct a theatre. I went to drama school, but I don’t think I was a particularly good actor. In fact, I retired at about 25. But I worked backstage, I did the box office, I was an usher; it’s really important to have that all-round knowledge and experience.

Every year on Christmas Day, Jacksons Lane gets a huge number of volunteers together to feed a few hundred older people. We bring in artists and performers to entertain them. It just shows how versatile we are as an arts venue.

If someone comes along and they’ve got a really exciting idea and no money, then we’re really good at putting them together with professionals, or giving them the space to make that happen. We may not be the most cash-rich organisation in the world, but we do have a lot of expertise.

Adrian Berry was talking to Nell Frizzell

To find out more about Jacksons Lane, visit their website. Image courtesy of Longspoon and Jacksons Lane