Danny Boyle urges backing for local theatres, not John Terry I was an usher when I was at school and I'd watched the plays there standing at the back, and the sense of wonder you got from the theatre as a young guy - you know you're obsessed with girls and whatever - but the sense of wonder you got was extraordinary and I got the bug really. He urged people to believe in their local theatres, adding: "They are the modest cousins of football, cinema - which I'm partly responsible for - and pop music, and what they provide is something else to believe in and we must believe in it as well or otherwise we'll lose it really. And it is something extraordinary that can be built - feeling positive and not just complaining about cuts because everyone is complaining about cuts - it's something positive to believe in. And it's something in our cities and towns that's nurtured, that's believed in, that isn't Wetherspoon's and Walkabout pubs and [the footballers] Mario Balotelli and John Terry and people like that, something decent to believe in, something good and nourishing for us all really. Boyle, who was born in Radcliffe, now part of Greater Manchester, and went to school in Bolton, also said there was a danger that "metropolitan London" would take all the credit for Britain's theatrical successes, giving the example of his own success with the Olympics opening ceremony. "It would be very wrong because it's something that very much belonged to everyone," he added. David Thacker, artistic director of the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, where Boyle was first bitten by the thespian bug, said regional playhouses were facing "serious danger." He said: "I don't think we're crying wolf here. What we're talking about is, the kind of theatres we're passionately committed to are in very, very serious danger at the moment. And a small further cut could have catastrophic effect. That's what we're all saying. Boyle's remarks came after Sir Ian McKellen warned that Britain could no longer produce actors of the quality of Dame Judi Dench or Sir Derek Jacobi because of the death of repertory theatre. Sir Ian said the situation was "desperate," adding: "The danger is going to be that the current generation of actors won't develop into good middle-aged performers because they won't have been able to live from their work. The strength of British theatre should be that these actors in their middle years know what they're doing and are good at it. Not rich, not famous, but making a living.