Steve Winter: The 24 Hour Plays

How did you get involved with Old Vic New Voices?

I have been at The Old Vic almost since day one with Kevin Spacey whose great idea was to have an eclectic season of work to encourage a new audience, and £12 tickets. We were doing £12 tickets eight years ago – long before other big theatres.

He also wanted an education programme to run alongside that season, so I was brought in from The Tricycle Theatre.

So, did The 24 Hour Plays start soon after you joined?

Yes. After the first celebrity gala in 2004, [Old Vic producer] Kate Packenham and I started to talk about doing a young person’s version. We decided to aim it at the emerging talent market and just saw it as a really fun one-off project.

I was in Manchester on the Wednesday – two days before applications closed. At that point there were about 40 applications. Then, on the Friday, 18 sackloads of applications arrived at the Stage Door. We realised that this was something special.

We could never have predicted what a success it was going to be. Just take the producers from that first year: James McKenzie Blackman, now Executive Director of NYT; Jo Danvers, General Manager of the Donmar and Emma Brünjes, General Manager of five theatres through Nimax [Lyric, Garrick, Apollo et al].

What should audiences expect from The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices?

Audiences should expect vibrancy, risk-taking, humour and a great deal of goodwill. There's a sense of hysteria, but ultimately quality. You do get a sense that you're watching the next generation of artists.

If you had to create something for The Old Vic stage in 24 hours, what would you do?

I'd make it as contemporary and current as possible. For me, the ones that work best somehow understand the zeitgeist. I think there is a real fear among people at the moment; fear for the future, fear of being without money, fear of not getting a job. But, often, fear can make great creativity.

If someone had told you at 18 that you would be running Old Vic New Voices at this stage in your career, would you have believed them?

I always knew I'd be in the arts. I trained to be an actor, set up my own theatre company, toured for a year and then went back to do a top-up degree. It was called Arts Practice and Cultural Policy, which is what I do now: community and education and being your own business. What I was learning at 18 I’m putting into practice now.

My success has always been about being a chameleon. You are naive if you believe that just being an actor is enough. You should be an actor that can teach; an actor that can write; you have to have something else.

What advice would you give to people who are applying for The 24 Hour Plays: Old Vic New Voices this year?

Actors should only do a piece that they completely believe in and that is of their age. Writers have got to write from the heart and not try to be anything they’re not. Directors have got to show leadership; it’s not enough in our auditions to show that you can understand text, you’ve also got to be a leader and motivator. Producers have got to be multi-skilled, understand new media and market themselves.

And, for God’s sake, don’t do a 10-minute piece when we ask you to do a two-minute one.

To be part of this year’s 24 Hour Plays, visit the Actor, Producer, Director and Writer briefs.