This is something that will only really be of interest to those people who knew and supported my work with Durham Dramatic Society pre-2020. For those of you who have followed this saga, it was always my intention to carry on directing at the City Theatre after Coronavirus was over. However, in late 2022 I announced that I would be ceasing activities for at least a year. I'm not going to give a blow-by-blow account here, but it was a combination of many issues culminating this year - from micromanagement, to dealings behind my back, to petty obstructive behaviour, to general disrespect.

I did not want this to be permanent. I had hoped that by disengaging for a year, it would lead to all parties taking a step back, reflecting on how we got to this point, and calmly discussing a positive way forwards.

Quite simply: it hasn't.

I'm sorry to say they're doubling down.

Shortly after I said I was leaving for a while, I was contacted by the chairperson who suggested - correctly, as it turned out - that something had happened which caused me a great deal of upset. I agreed to put in writing exactly what led to this, starting with the final straw and moving to the underlying issues that have been building up. We agreed I would do this when I was ready to, and I finally did it this March, in spite of my misgivings over their attitude to handling grievances.

Unfortunately, it turns out my misgivings were right all along. I have now received a response, and they've basically ignored everything I said. Instead, it's repeated a previously-used argument which, at best, half-addressed one of my issues. Their excuse for disregarding everything else is that it happened a long time ago, meaning "recollections will vary" and "nothing constructive will be achieved". (Not entirely true, I have paper trails for most of these things.) One would have thought - at the very least - they would have considered the incident that prompted me to leave, seeing as they specifically asked me about that one.

I've given up. I don't have time to persist with a complaints process that shows no sign of actually listening to what I have to say.

[In case you're wondering, the final straw was the Production Committee assigning me to slot for a play at a one-act festival, and the Chair of that committee then giving my slot to someone else behind my back else under the (completely untrue) pretext that I never accepted it. But the details don't really matter now. What does matter is that "Oh, that was over a year ago, I don't remember that" is considered an acceptable excuse to take no notice - especially when I was told I could take my time and give my reason for stepping back when I was ready.]

Look, contrary to what some people seem to think, I have no intention of using Durham Dramatic Society as a vehicle for my own adventurous projects. I have more than enough ways of doing that elsewhere. There are many fantastic mainstream plays with wide audience appeal out there that I would love to bring to their stage, using my experience of professional work to give the actors and audience the best production we can. But it's impossible to work with a play selection procedure which makes arbitrary decisions on what's not mainstream enough. A Harold Brighouse play wasn't mainstream enough. A Tim Firth play wasn't mainstream enough. An Alan Ayckbourn play wasn't mainstream enough. Alan Ayckbourn, for crying out loud. How is anybody supposed to work with that?

For those of you asking why I'm not on stage any more, that's why. For those of you in the society who liked working with me as a director, I am really sorry it's come to this, because we could have done some great things together. For those who fought my corner when things were getting bad (you know who are), thank you, I know you tried. I'm not quite cutting all ties; I am still happy to work with a few people in the society with whom there is mutual respect. But it sadly been made impossible to work directly with the current leadership of the society. As it stands - and I would dearly love to be proven wrong on this - there is no hope of things getting better with them.

I will always be grateful to Durham Dramatic Society for the opportunities it gave me in learning how to get from page to stage. I don't know how I'd have got where I am today without. And I wanted Durham Dramatic Society to be with me on the journey every step of the way. It's too bad that some people don't see it that way any more.

Postscript: This is a VERY simplified account of what's led to this. If I was to write the full list of grievances it would go on for pages - I don't think anybody wants that. However, if anybody from Durham Dramatic Society reads this and thinks it's unfair that they can't respond to this without the details, I'm happy to send you the details again. Or if you want to whole lot discussed out in public, I'll be happy to oblige. You had your chance to settle this quietly in private. If, how and where we settle this now is up to you.