THE one man capable of holding a phone interview while half in and half out of his pantomime knickers and can then continue until he's almost on stage is Ray Spencer, the workaholic boss of the Customs House, South Shields.

"I have to go, they're shouting to start the show," he laughs as he prepares to launch into Babes In The Wood as the dotty dame's son, notching up 31 years in panto, mostly with co-conspirator Bob Stott. Life was nothing like as promising nearly seven years ago when Ray swapped the secure career of a performing arts lecturer and North-East comic celebrity Tommy The Trumpeter to become the fifth boss in five years attempting to give the Customs House a future.

"Funnily enough, Babes In The Wood was the panto when I was appointed. I remember the Arts Council member of the interview panel saying to me 'How do I go back and tell them that we've appointed Tommy The Trumpeter to save the organisation!'. I was a gamble, but it was a gamble for me as well," says the man who has gone on to become the venue's executive director. "I think the big thing was that there was no ownership by the community of the building. We sent out the message 'it's yours, use it' and that's what's maintained the development since then," he says.

What Ray tones down is his ability to pick winners out of many touring professional shows and the mass of budding North-East actors and writers seeking a platform in South Tyneside.

"We try to balance the programme, it's very eclectic and we have very commercial things and success here allows us to take artistic risk and invest over £100,000 a year in development work in the community. So we go out to people and get them involved and that's why we had 54,000 users back then and we have a quarter of a million who are engaged with us now. We're not just putting on plays," he says.

Ray feels that the 1995 play Blasted by the late Sarah Kane, being performed for the first time in the region by Theatre North, on February 1, is one of the gambles worth taking. This powerful anti-war play, with scenes of sex and violence, is now considered a classic of 20th century theatre.

"Why should we live under the shadow of our near neigbours (Newcastle and Sunderland)? It's nice we're able to be a bit cutting edge and be ahead of the game sometimes. We can't compete with their budgets, or the Arts Council grants to some, but it gives us a little skip to hear South Tyneside and the Customs House mentioned because its doing innovative stuff. The fact we've been mentioned nationally is good for everyone here," he explains.

Early on, Ray admits that getting to grips with finance and booking shows was his biggest test and adds: "I know what I like but that doesn't necessarily mean other people like it and we've really beefed up the programming now after being joined by Kathryn Bradley from The Tron in Glasgow and she's brought a lot of contacts to us, so I'm not alone.

"People say 'Ray Spencer, Customs House' as interchangeable but there's a team here which makes things happen, it's not me that does it all. I'm the one prepared to wear a suit and talk to people."

Even so, Ray has managed to increase an annual subsidy of £320,000 to gain £1m worth of investment in improvements and is just about to spend more linking the rehearsal annex to the main venue.

"We've got another £1m to spend doing that because I think you either move forward or you stand still and risk slipping backwards. It's so much more competitive now because Durham's Gala has got sorted out at last - and well done to them. The Sage at Gateshead, which was meant to be a reservoir for classical and folk music, has become a drain with every type of performance going on there. They had Bagpuss on, what's all that about?" he jokes. "To keep your head above water you've got to keep trying new innovations."

Ray admits that in recent years doing his day job and performing has been really tough until an operations manager was appointed this year.

"But it's the cornerstone of what we do and without a successful pantomime you've got a big hole in your budget"

Exit: (Cheers).