Dominic was directed home.
Byline: Val Javin ,Little did he know when his theatre company was booked on a major tour that one of the venues would be in his home town of Huddersfield.
But theatre director Dominic Knutton is clearly delighted. And you suspect that dad, former Examiner journalist Mike Knutton, isn't averse either to the talents of his son being seen back on home ground.
We met at the Lawrence Batley Theatre where next month, audiences can see Dominic's company, the Cornish Theatre Collective, in a production that has already toured successfully twice and had the sort of reviews you couldn't have written better yourself. No wonder then that Dominic has much to smile about.
He's engaging and refreshingly open about his ideas and his views on theatre. It comes as no surprise to find that when he decided that he wanted to adapt the cult novel, The Alchemist by the Brazilian writer Paul Coelho, Dominic took the direct route - and contacted the author.
"I went to his website and there's a little thing that says, e-mail the author." So he did.
Coelho's book is in stratospheric circles when it comes to sales. The Alchemist has been hailed as a life- changing book, a modern classic. Its story of an Andalusian shepherd boy who travels to north Africa in search of treasure is seen as a metaphor for life, a universal fable.
Current estimates put sales at 29m copies in 57 languages across 150 countries. And no, no-one had had the English language rights to turn The Alchemist into a play. So perhaps an e-mail was a long shot.
"I thought he would probably never even get it," said Dominic. "One day I got this e-mail back from his agent saying, could you let us know something about your company."
Dominic duly sent off background material about the Cornish Theatre Collective, the company that he founded in Falmouth and waited. When the reply came, it was from the man himself and as direct as is Dominic.
"It said: `I think that we can probably do something together.' I thought, `This is fantastic'."
And that something was virtually condition free.
"The contract I've got with him is less than one sheet of A4. It more or less says, `I will give the Cornish Theatre Collective the rights to adapt my book for the stage.'
"It gives us absolute freedom to do what we like. It is encouraging and quite startling."
Unusual though that simple contract is, Coelhe didn't let the young director get away entirely free. The one stipulation he makes is that he wants 10% of what the company takes on the door. The irony is blissful.
"In the book, everybody wants 10%, of the boy's sheep, of the treasure ..."
Dominic smiles at the rightness of being asked to give what everyone in the book seeks to take.
You sense that this project has meant something special to this young director who at 34 seems to have achieved much and promises still more.
Dominic, now 34, remembers going to school in Birkby and is certain that the move to Cornwall, where dad went to Falmouth to work for a specialist railway publication, was in 1977 when he was just seven.
"I remember the Silver Jubilee celebrations and we moved that same year."
He looks at Mike for confirmation.
So where did this passion for theatre come from? Knutton senior clearly has a way with words. So does Dominic, but in a totally different way.
"I don't think my interest in theatre comes from going to see things. I think I just liked to show off."
He also credits two of his teachers in Falmouth for encouraging him.
"It wasn't that they suggested that I might be able to do it as a career - who thinks that at that age? - but they made me think that perhaps it was something that I had a talent for."
After taking drama at first O then A-level, the next step was drama school and Dominic headed off to the Rose Bruford College in London. After graduating he spent the next seven years living and working in London as an actor.
Television saw him in shows like The Bill and Wycliffe and on film he appeared alongside Michael York playing a younger version of the actor.
But clearly, for Dominic, there was something more. And he looked to Cornwall to find it.
"I never planned to be a director. I though that setting up a company would give me the opportunity to act."
But in the event, it offered him much more.
For what Dominic has created is a vibrant, exciting company which brings together young performers and offers them the chance to promote Cornish culture while gaining valuable experience in a supportive environment.
There are few barriers (other than the financial constraints which rein in every theatre ensemble).
Company members have found themselves looking to the past, working on classic storytelling like that found in the Mystery Plays, as well as creating work with new writers.
But essentially, this is an actors' company, an ensemble of performers from this country and overseas.
It is a full-time commitment for Dominic but not a full-time earner which is one of the reasons why he also spends a couple of days a week programming arts for Falmouth Arts Centre where the collective is based.
Ideas are certainly not something Dominic is short of.
He also runs a training company, is working on a new play set in the world of karaoke and you suspect, will very soon be spreading those director's wings beyond his adopted Cornwall.
* See The Alchemist at the Lawrence Batley Theatre on February 25 and 26. Box office is on 01484 430528.
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| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Huddersfield Daily Examiner (Huddersfield, England) |
| Date: | Jan 15, 2005 |
| Words: | 956 |
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