by Joseph H. RADDER
Have you ever been in a theater watching a very enjoyable play, wondering who put it
all together? Who selected the play from the thousands available? Who hired the director?
Who supervised the casting, the set design, set construction, and acquisition of props? At
Studio Arena Theater that person is Gavin Cameron-Webb, artistic director. He is one of
those rare people who's bursting with artistic talent, yet is realistic enough to know
what will appeal to mass audiences. "Essentially, I'm responsible for everything that
goes on the stage", he said.
The success Studio Arena has enjoyed for the past twelve years under his direction
certainly attests to his unique capability.
Gavin was bitten by the theatre bug at a very young age when he saw "Peter Pan"
with his family. His first appearance onstage was in a Scottish play. "I remember my
father built me a shield that seemed bigger than I was. Onstage, I think the silver paint
he used (from painting cars) may have blinded the audience."
In addition to contributing to Studio Arena's success, Cameron-Webb has been instrumental
in the success of the arts in the community in general by seeking partnerships with other
cultural institutions. He told us: "We have a collaboration going at the moment with
the Buffalo Philharmonic and Shea's Performing Arts Center. We did a production a couple
of years ago, 'Two Pianos, Four Hands' in conjunction with Shea's. We have also worked
with the African-American Cultural Center, the Paul Robeson Theater, on a cross-marketing
effort ".
"We try to employ as many local actors as possible," Gavin continued, "and
we have a commitment to Buffalo writers including, A.R. Gurney and Tom Dudzick."
Studio Arena has produced many A.R. Gurney plays including "Scenes from American
Life," "What I Did Last Summer," "Sylvia," and "Buffalo
Gal." Tom Dudzick is the author of the "Over the Tavern" series which
includes "Over the Tavern," "Over the Tavern, King of the Moon," and
"Lake Effect."
 |
 |
| Left to right: Gavin, Sheryl, Simon, mother, Mark and dog Buck -1959. | Sister Sheryl and brother Simon. |
 |
 |
| Gavin’s Maternal grandparents (center) A.G. Dain and MB Dain. | Top row, left to right: Mother, Uncle Ian, Aunt
Margery, Father, Uncle John Seated: Brig. General J.H. Cameron-Webb and Mrs. Cameron-Webb. |
Gavin Cameron-Webb has a natural affinity for the works of Tennessee Williams, having
lived in New Orleans for several years after arriving in the United States from his native
England. As a result, he launched a five year retrospective of Williams' major works which
ended last season with "A Streetcar Named Desire." "I've always admired his
writing," says Gavin, "particularly his imagination. He is, after all, one of
the great American authors."
Gavin also inaugurated the Studio Too Series which produced such titles as "Three
Viewings" and "How I Learned to Drive."
Before coming to Buffalo, Gavin Cameron-Webb lived in New York City, where he taught at
the Juillard School and at SUNY (no comma) Purchase, N.Y. While teaching, he worked as a
free-lance director staging productions across the country and abroad. His work has been
eclectic, encompassing both contemporary plays such as the European premier of "I
Hate Hamlet" starring Horst Buccholz and classical works such as "Hamlet"
with Val Kilmer at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Gavin considers this experience one
of his best as a director both because it was "Hamlet," the most celebrated play
in Western literature and because it was Val. "Every scene seemed to have its own
reputation as a classic in some way. Val was superb to work with and incredibly demanding
and anxious to get everything right. He would try virtually anything."
Gavin also worked with Jimmy Smits on a production of "Othello." "He has a
wonderfully sunny nature and exuberance in the way that he embraces life."
Gavin's career continues to take him on adventures throughout the country and the world.
This past summer he staged Ronald Harwood's "Quartet" for the Vienna's English
Theatre. It was a great thrill to be working on a Harwood production because he had just
won the Oscar for his screenplay "The Pianist." "He was an established
playwright, with a worldwide reputation. Harwood surprised us all by flying in from Tel
Aviv for opening night! He was extremely complimentary to everyone, including the British
Ambassador."
 |
| Gavin Cameron-Webb, Julia Schafranek (ArtisticDirector, Vienna’s English Theatre), actors John Hart Dyke, Roger Forbes, Ronald Harwood (playwright), Jennifer Piercey and Delena Kidd. |
With all of the satisfaction that being a part of live theatre brings, Gavin says that
even with the most careful planning, things don't always go as planned. "My worst
rehearsal was a final dress on New Year's Eve a couple of years ago. I was directing an
adaptation of "Dracula." Everything seemed to go wrong. Bats flew into walls and
fell on the floor, doors came off their hinges, blood spurted in the wrong places and
Dracula's teeth fell out. And, as luck would have it, the artistic director saw the whole
thing."
Success as a director means always being on the go. Once, during an eighteen month period,
Cameron-Webb directed three different productions of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of
Being Earnest". His favorite classical author remains Shakespeare, and to date he has
directed a third of the entire canon. In the early 1980s he led the Boston Shakespeare
company. Prior to living in New York, Cameron-Webb also taught at Southern Methodist
University in Dallas and at Webster College in St. Louis.
More recently he has been involved in the World Premiere of the Studio Arena commissioned
play, "While We Were Bowling" which will be on stage in Buffalo in March 2004.
He was not only involved in the script development but in testing the play before an
audience in Cape Cod. He then returned to Buffalo to begin rehearsals for "Noises
Off", the first play of Studio Arena's 2003-2004 season.
Although English by birth, Gavin Cameron-Webb has lived in the United States for the past
thirty years. Born in 1945 on Friday the 13th of July, he grew up in Hendon, an area of
North London. "My father, Peter Edwin John Cameron-Webb, was a great showman in the
sense of the very colorful life he lived. He was born in India, where my paternal
grandfather, John Cameron-Webb, was a Brigadier General on the legendary northwest
frontier. My maternal grandfather, Albert George Dain loved the United States and visited
many times, traveling on both the Queen Mary and later on the Queen Elizabeth."
 |
 |
| Brother Mark and Gavin. | Gavin (center) Cheltenham College - 1960. |
 |
 |
| Sheryl, Mark, mother , Simon and dog Leo - 1970. | On the balcony of Gavin’s mother’s flat in London, Left to right: Mark, Susie (Mark’s wife), Malcolm, Simon, mother and Sheryl. |
Remembering his mother, he said "My mother, Beryl Dain, was glamorous, passionate,
and patriotic." One of the things she was most passionate about was football.
"She was such a big fan of her team, the Tottenham Hotspur in North London that she
had her ashes scattered on the field." Gavin shares his mother's love of sports and
very much appreciates that Buffalo is such a sports town. "Whilst growing up in
England I played for my school's rugby team, where I broke my nose, wrist and leg playing
the game." He was also on the swim team and played cricket. When he arrived in the
US, Gavin played on the University soccer team where he consequently ruined his knees.
Gavin has two younger brothers and two sisters. One brother is deceased. His other brother
is in the automobile business. One sister teaches diving, the other lives in Malta where
she works at the island's hospice as a massage therapist.
Gavin Cameron-Webb and Jane Page were married in 1996. "We were married in a
bakery" he says. Actually, if pressed, he'll tell you that the bakery was also a
coffee shop they frequented.
 |
 |
| Sydney Hawkins and Gavin’s mother Beryl Cameron-Webb. | Gavin and wife Jane. |
Gavin has one child, a daughter, Madeleine, from a previous marriage. Last summer, she
graduated from the University of Brighton in England with a degree in social studies. She
is also studying jewelry design.
Cameron -Webb's best childhood memory is the day the family brought home a six-week-old
yellow Labrador puppy named Buck. "I remember bringing the dog home when I was about
twelve. The first thing the puppy did was to fall sound asleep under the television."
 |
 |
| Gavin, daughter Madeline and father. | Gavin’s nieces Charlotte, Hope and Gemma. |
He attended elementary school in England, then St. Martin's Preparatory School, Cheltenham
College, the equivalent of an American high school, and then came to the United States
where he attended Tulane University. He went on to graduate from the University of New
Orleans with a degree in Theatre and honors in English. He then attended Ohio University
where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Directing.
He then went back to London and attended the London film school, subsequently applying
those skills in the advertising business. He then returned to the U.S. to do graduate work
at Ohio University where he majored in fine arts.
Cameron-Webb is enthusiastic about the arts in Buffalo, and the local theater in
particular.
"The arts in general are the stuff of life," he says. "The theater in
Buffalo is amazingly diverse
and thriving." He agrees that we are very fortunate to have so much good theater in a
city of this size. His philosophy of life is simple: "Carpe diem" (seize the
day).
His hobbies are travel, photography, and reading, all of which can be practiced together.
He is going back to London in January, then to Amsterdam, and to Japan in May. He's also a
wine enthusiast. Undoubtedly he will take a lot of pictures, visit different vineyards,
enjoy his share of wine, and do a lot of reading on these trips.
Gavin tells an interesting story about how he happened to come to Buffalo. He was on a
waiting list for an apartment in New York City for a very long time. Then, suddenly a
beautiful apartment on the 40th floor became available. This was about the same time he
received almost simultaneous offers in Indiana and Buffalo. He applied for both jobs, and
moved into the apartment, knowing full well that would probably trigger a job offer.
Indeed it did and he accepted the position as artistic director at Studio Arena Theater.
That was twelve years ago, and he's enjoyed every minute of his stay in Buffalo ever
since.
Gavin is honored to be a part of Studio Arena. "Studio Arena is a great place to
work, largely because of the staff. It is a community with a rare dedications and
formidable talent. It is a welcoming place and a supportive atmosphere for our many
visiting artists."
Working with executive director Ken Neufeld, Cameron-Webb developed a 2003-2004 season
that has been very well-received to date. Studio Arena was able to return to a seven show
line-up for this, its 39th season which runs through May 23.
Gavin said "I'm delighted to respond to our audience request for more plays. Our
seven show line-up is filled with terrific variety. We are producing some of the most
vibrant and entertaining theater ever written for the stage. No doubt our audiences will
be pleased with the mix of stories we are offering from moving dramas to brilliant
comedies. Our holiday offering, PLAID TIDINGS was a great success. And I'm especially
excited about the world premiere of WHILE WE WERE BOWLING, a coming-of-age play that takes
place in 1957 and centers around a Buffalo family with a passion for life and
bowling."
The current season is a perfect blend of comedy and drama, new and familiar, traditional
and contemporary. There truly is something for everyone and Gavin encourages everyone, if
they haven't already, to experience not only the theatre's wonderful plays, but its unique
layout. "The theatre itself realizes Frank Lloyd Wright's ideal of having the actors
and the audience in the same room rather than being separated by a proscenium arch. This
is what allows the work here onstage the true ability to embrace and engage the audience.
I have always loved the thrust stage because it brings the actors so close to the
audience, and because it is easy to imagine simply stepping up out of the audience and
into a completely different world."
To date this year, Studio Arena has produced "Noises Off", "Proof",
"Plaid Tidings", and "A Raisin in the Sun."
Beginning February 15, the curtain will rise on "POURING THE SUN", by
nationally-known storyteller Jay O'Callahan. He crafts a moving tribute to Polish
immigrant steel plant workers and the laborers who built this country, one girder, one
beam, one rail at a time.
The play beautifully recalls fifty years of industry as seen through the eyes of 65
year-old Ludvika, whose husbands and sons work "the steel." From boom to bust,
her story illuminates the profound effect of steel on the lives of craftspeople. Studio
Arena is dedicating this production to Buffalo steelworkers and their families.
This will be followed by "WHILE WE WERE BOWLING" March 20 through April 19,
Seventeen year-old Lydia McGlaughlin takes us on a touching and hilarious tour of 1950s
Buffalo. With the world changing around them., one thing keeps her family grounded, the
great sport of bowling. This comedy, written by Carter W. Lewis, was written exclusively
for Studio Arena audiences. Lewis and Studio Arena are participants in the Theater
Residency Program for Playwrights, a project of the National Endowment for the Arts and
Theater Communication Group with additional support from Vivendi Universal.
"STONES IN HIS POCKETS" will close the season from April 25 to May 23. Winner of
the Olivier Award and a New York Drama Desk Award, all hell breaks loose in this tour de
force comedy when a Hollywood film crew descends on a sleepy Irish village. With lightning
speed and precision, two actors portray 15 colorful characters, from locals hired as
extras, to the director, to a spoiled American starlet with rib-tickling results.
For tickets and/or information, call the Studio Arena box office at 716-856-5650. More
complete information can be found at www.studioarena.org
Working in Buffalo at Studio Arena Theatre has proved to be an extremely positive
experience for Gavin. He loves the seasons, the snow, the lake and the friendly manner of
the people. "It's a city with a big heart and beautiful streets. It's easy to feel at
home here."
As Cameron-Webb stated earlier, "The theater in Buffalo is amazingly diverse and
thriving." It's clear that Gain Cameron-Webb has played a large part in making that
happen, thereby making greater Buffalo a better place to live.
Joseph H. Radder, a free-lance writer and regular contributor to Living Prime
Time, is the author of a new book, a fictional biography of a young Jew named Jesus,
“Young Jesus, the missing years.”