All the world’s a stage, according to Shakespeare, and nowhere has there been true drama, suspense, and entertainment... not to mention a very happy ending... than on Lincoln’s Clasketgate this month.

Theatre Royal Lincoln’s new Artistic Director purchased and moved into the venue on 1st February of this year, and in just one month, has treated the Grade II* building to a superb million pound refurbishment, as well as a new programme of events designed to bring the best acts to Lincoln and involve members of the community.

“We’re going to put Lincoln back on the theatrical map.” says Ian, who also serves as CEO of ID Entertainment, which employs 50 full time members of staff in production, 250 actors per year, stages five shows each week at 150 theatres annually and has as many as 16 shows touring the UK concurrently, each with its own budget, team and logistical headaches.

The Nottingham man is in the process of moving to the city with wife Nicola and children Amelia and Nicholas, aged five and four. His aim is to create a venue that will include the whole community and encourage amateur dramatic, repertory and the best professional acts to the venue, providing something for all ages and tastes from approachable opera and ballet to comedy and music, live shows and a regular in-house pantomime.

Ian has over two decades of experience in the industry, and took over the venue from its previous incumbent after the City of Lincoln withdrew over £170,000 of funding. A regular at the venue, having staged over 44 productions at the venue already, Ian wanted to create a permanent location for his otherwise itinerant company.

The producer has given the venue a massive injection of capital and has plenty of contacts necessary to make the venue a real success but recognises that making the venue inclusive, and working with local schools and the university will prove the key the theatre’s long-term success.

“It’s imperative we provide an exciting season with an eclectic mix of entertainment for every age group and meet all the requirements of the community. Young people are the future of the theatre, so we aim to welcome school and nursery school visits and offer our student population specific shows with special offers and discounts too.”

Lincoln Co-Op has already sponsored the theatre’s Young People’s Theatre Officer, Amelia Highfield, to increase the venue’s appeal to local schoolchildren and work with local schools to ensure the theatre’s programme complements the GCSE and ‘A’ Level syllabuses.

“We’re looking for quality acts.” says Ian. “And we’re staging quarterly ‘Sunday Night at the Royal’ events - wildcards where we ask you to trust us, to provide surprise music, comedy and variety acts.

Many of the acts though will begin in Lincoln before making their way to the West End of London, which means a good mix of large, prestigious acts and community productions.”

Since arriving at the venue, Ian has already overseen the creation of a new entrance foyer and box office, revamped and extended bar area with three separate areas, and has ensured the whole building, which dates from 1893, is replumbed and re-wired.

The 481 venue has re-upholstered seating, and ‘the gods’ have been transformed with a new bar area for the upper stalls and renovated 90 seater upper stalls. The stage area boasts new lighting rig and digital sound system, newly refurbished stage surface and new, real, curtain over proscenium.

Ian is also transforming two shops adjacent to the venue into restaurants, due to open later in the summer. Meanwhile, ‘phase three’ will see a full refurbishment of the theatre to restore its original features according to English Heritage’s Grade II* listing. “It’s a fantastic building.” say Ian. We want to breathe new life into it and create a superb venue for the whole community for years to come.”