ON A DAY that suggests that winter might not go on forever, writes DAVID WARD, the boss of Theatre by the Lake gazes out of his office window overlooking Crow Park, sips his coffee and defines the theatre's role: "I think it's about showcasing the best of Cumbria to the world and bringing the best of the world to Cumbria. We are the only full-time producing theatre in the county; we need to be both a community resource and creative hub for the region."

Conrad Lynch takes another sip of coffee and explains that he had never intended to have a career in the entertainment business. "I stumbled into it. I had been in plays at school in Rochdale but had done no amateur drama. And I had no passion to direct. I read history and business studies at university and planned to join a graduate training scheme with Ford."

Fate intervened when he went to London’s Young Vic with his father who noticed that the theatre was looking for ushers and suggested his son could earn some extra cash while at university. "Since then, I’ve had many roles in the theatre - but none of them on stage," Conrad said.

He moved on from casual ushering to a permanent job in the Young Vic finance department and his career began to move faster than a souped-up Ford Fiesta; motivated by a wish to know about parts of the theatre industry, he became a local council arts officer in Stevenage, moved on to the Drill Hall in London, back to the Young Vic as part of the executive team, and on to the touring outfit Oxford Stage Company.

Then came Salisbury Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe and the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Before Keswick, he was a producer working on plays and musicals for ATG, a British-based international theatre organisation.

Having built up all that experience of the business, Conrad went freelance four years ago and moved to Kirkby Stephen, where the parents of his wife Kate live. And two years ago he joined Theatre by the Lake (TBTL) and is now artistic director .

From its opening in 1999 until 2016, executive director Patric Gilchrist and artistic director Ian Forrest had created a theatre with a reputation for high quality productions and a summer repertory season in which five or six plays were performed by up to 14 actors who lived and worked in Keswick from Easter to early November.

"What I found here was an incredible legacy of great work and I hope we can continue to build on that," said Conrad. “But there was a downside: every time I thought of a play we might present here, I found Ian had already done it."

Whilst he doesn’t direct the work on the theatre’s stages, Conrad’s skill is as a producer, the person who brings together the talent that puts on the shows; already several directors and designers who had not worked before at Theatre by the Lake have made their way to Keswick. "I want to expose our audiences to different work, to be ambitious, to take more of our work elsewhere in the hope that more people will want to come and work here, visit us and take part.

"When I arrived, I wanted to link Theatre by the Lake more with the rest of our industry, to shout a bit more about a how wonderful it is to have producing theatre in a small Cumbrian town, one that makes phenomenal work and gets an audience for it around the year. It’s a unique venue."

Conrad has increased the number of TBTL shows made in partnership with other organisations, which makes sense at a time when arts funding is tight but also allows the venue to work with an exciting range of artists, companies and performers. In 2017, audiences enjoyed two very successful Studio shows staged in association with other theatres in London and the regions, and a co-produced Main House show went on to tour nationally.

Easter this year saw TBTL produce a show about Edith Piaf (Hymn to Love) that, after its run in the Studio at Keswick, will visit York Theatre Royal, wander villages in Cumbria and eventually go to London. The 2017 Christmas play, The Secret Garden, transfers to York Theatre Royal for a month this July. Conrad has put together a varied programme for this summer and all five are likely to move on elsewhere: Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense - a fast-moving comedy based on PG Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster novels, Alan Bennett’s Single Spies and an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility in the Main House; the Studio will have the world première of Rails by Simon Longman and Bold Girls by Rona Munro, whose Iron played in the Studio two years ago.

Theatre by the Lake has staged several major productions set in Cumbria, most recently The Shepherd’s Life based on the book by James Rebanks; Conrad wants more. "It would be great if we could find the next big play about here," he said. "There is something exciting in the offing for 2019. But it is being kept firmly under wraps for now. You’ll have to wait and see."

Box office 017687-74411 or book online at theatrebythelake.com.