American appointed new manager at the Kenton

THE new manager of the Kenton Theatre in Henley says it is a dream come true to run the venue.

American Max Lewendel, 39, joined at the start of this month, along with the theatre’s new programme manager Ron McAllister.

The New Street venue is the fourth oldest working theatre in the country and the pair said this heritage attracted them to the roles.

Mr Lewendel told the Henley Standard: “I’m really tremendously excited.

“It’s been a dream of mine for about 20 years to run a venue like this and it’s so rare they become available for a post like this.

“The town has been really warm and welcoming — it’s such a beautiful town and everybody I’ve met with has been fantastic. I’ve probably had a dozen meetings with trustees and visiting companies and it’s been a pleasure.”

Mr Lewendel, who lives in Welwyn Garden City, grew up in Illinois and attended the Illinois Wesleyan School of Theatre Arts.

During his summer break in 2002 he spent three months touring the UK visiting London, Cardiff and Edinburgh and decided he wanted to move permanently.

He said: “For the last year of drama school I had been selling all my possessions and I bought my ticket six months before. I came here with two suitcases and a dream!”

He moved to the UK in 2003 and has spent the last 15 and a half years running touring company the Icarus Theatre Collective.

While the company was in its infancy he took on scenery carpentry jobs to earn a living.

He said: “Its bread and butter was drama and Shakespeare was what earned us money.

“It was very, very drama led so the Kenton is a big shift for me but I’ve always worked with theatres that had an extensive programme.

“The first thing I want to do, before making any definite decisions, is to start to get a sense of what the town wants.”

Mr Lewendel said he wanted to maintain the theatre’s reputation for attracting high profile comedians, tribute acts as well as showcasing theatre groups and organisations in the town.

New ventures include a Shakespeare week to mark the playwright’s birthday next April.

Mr McAllister, 62, joined on July 8 and has been offered a contract until this October to plan the theatre’s programme from next January until July. He said: “I’m going in August to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and I’m hoping we can get some really exciting shows from the fringe.

“Until then I’m just getting to know what has been doing well here at the Kenton.

“I’d like to see a bit more drama because drama has not been as strong as some years in the past and I’d like to introduce a bit more physical theatre or dance.

“I’m hoping that Max and I will work together to reinvigorate the theatre.”

He also wants to continue to give a platform for specialist performances, such as jazz, and attract big names to the theatre.

He added: “It’s really important to bring the big names here. More than anything else it puts the theatre on the map and they get an intimate environment to try out material. It feels like a privilege to be there and see a comedian at work.”

Mr McAllister, who lives in Ascot, is the former director of South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell where he worked for 17 years before retiring in the summer of 2017. Since then he has worked freelance as a musical director on various productions, including The Addams Family which came to the Kenton last weekend, and taught at The Marist School in Sunningdale.

He also opened two theatres – the Maltings in Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield.

Paula Price-Davies stepped down as the theatre’s general manager recently after two years in the job.

She had shared the role with Tom Ryan until he left last summer.

The role was then split in May and Ms Price-Davies was put in charge of the artistic side of the programme rather than the theatre’s general management but then she left soon afterwards.

Her departure was the latest in a series of managerial changes at the Kenton which included Chris Tapp becoming chairman of trustees at the Kenton in October.