Alan Russell, who has died of cancer aged 78, was the production manager at the Birmingham Rep when its new theatre on Broad Street was being planned in the early 1970s. Theatre Projects Consultants had been appointed to oversee the project, and Alan joined their design team in 1971. I joined TPC two years later, and he and I soon became close colleagues and great friends.
A theatre consultant may be involved in planning a new theatre or resuscitating an old one; the design of a theatre space fixed or flexible; or the design and specification of theatre technical equipment. The role varies depending on the relationships forged with the user and with the architect. There can be trouble with either an over ambitious publicly funded body or an artistic director with too many ideas. Support too eagerly a distinguished architect who has never built a theatre and you risk getting a theatre space that fails actor and audience, despite being set in a beautiful building.
