Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre's Chief Executive Stephen Freeman has resigned after a report into the controversial cancellation of last year's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Steph O'Driscoll amid allegations of censorship found "significant systemic organisational and leadership failures rather than the deliberate suppression of political content".
The independent report, from people make it work, said that "the lack of senior artistic leadership and properly documented producing processes created conditions where legitimate concerns about artistic developments in the production became entangled with allegations of censorship." It has recommended "that RET embarks on a programme of change wherein it restates its commitment to artistic innovation and daring, and publicly acknowledges the leadership failures that led to the cancellation of AMND."
In response, co-chairs afshan d’souza-lodhi and Jo Taylor said, “while we are reassured that the review did not support accusations of censorship, we recognise that more needs to be done to support artists and other partners, especially in a period of leadership transition. The Board apologises to all those involved in the production, whose work was not able to be seen, as well as to staff and audiences for these shortcomings.
"We are embarking on a process designed to reinstate our organisation’s core values, culture and guiding principles, led by senior management with support from the Board. Change of this scale takes time in order to be truly impactful, but this work has already started and we commit to prioritising it so that significant progress can be made over the next six months. The Board’s commitment to ambitious and courageous work at the Royal Exchange remains undiminished.”
Following the publication of the report, it was announced that Stephen Freeman would step down as chief executive, a role he has had since 2018, on 14 March. He said, "I am comforted that the report from people make it work has concluded that censorship was not at play. For personal reasons linked to the impact of the last few months, I have, however, decided to resign from the position of chief executive. I wish to make it clear that this is my decision, and mine alone."
Freeman became the sole Chief Executive last year when the theatre dropped the role of Artistic Director, instead appointing Selina Cartmell as Creative Director. Freeman said at the end of 2023, "the focus for the creative director role will not be about getting in the rehearsal room and making shows. It will be about devising strategies and programmes of work that respond to our audience and contemporary challenges". A Midsummer Night's Dream was to be the opening production of the autumn 2024 season.
The theatre has now said it will move to a "joint artistic and executive leadership model" with Cartmell as co-Chief Executive.