Laurence Harbottle
‘I am of course honoured to become an Honorary Fellow of Birkbeck,’ says Laurence Harbottle, consultant and co-founder of the law firm Harbottle and Lewis, which provides legal services to those working in the media and entertainment industries.
He is also a supporter of Birkbeck, especially in its work to set up the MFA Theatre Directing. ‘I have long admired Birkbeck,’ he says, ‘not least for its provision of learning for people often already talented or qualified. This is one of the strengths of the master’s degree.’
‘The lack of any support for those aspiring to become directors of theatre was long ago made the subject of a report by the Gulbenkian Foundation,’ he continues. ‘After many struggles, the National Council of Drama Training (NCDT) has managed, through the Birkbeck initiative, to establish an appropriate course. This has been warmly supported by the Arts Council, a number of drama schools and theatres and not least by the Theatre Managers’ Association (TMA). As a former President and now the Hon Vice-President of this association and as Hon Solicitor to the NCDT, I have naturally been anxious to help the project. Training involving both the academic and the practical is of rare value and with this course, Birkbeck has achieved just that. The early results suggest that the outcome is to be applauded.’
The full-time, two-year MFA Theatre Directing programme includes a term’s fieldwork exploring the training of the professional actor, while the second year enables students to develop their skills as directors through a six-month secondment.
Laurence Harbottle read for his MA at Cambridge, qualified in 1952 and founded Harbottle and Lewis in 1955 with Brian Lewis. He was a senior partner and has acted as a consultant since 1994.
Harbottle and Lewis has developed a varied client base, ranging from actors, sports icons and rock stars to dot.com entrepreneurs, company directors and airline executives. Highlights in recent years have included the successful representation of Virgin in the much-publicised BA versus Virgin trial, and acting for Chris Evans on the £225m sale of Ginger Media Group.
When asked about plans for the future, he adds: ‘I suppose the opportunity to live as long as my father did. He died at the age of nearly 105 with all his faculties intact. Perhaps that's a bit unlikely!’
