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Having not digested all of the report in great detail I can only give a short personal response to the general thrust of it and a few comments on possible effects. It would seem that as a response to the consultative processes used to compile it, the strategy seems to have drawn peculiar conclusions and imposed decisions that don't seem to relate to the needs of those consulted. A ruthless logic may glint beneath the surface, are they expecting most companies to get lottery funding from a depleted budget leaving fewer revenue funded companies who will be expected reach greater heights of artistic excellence ?. On the one hand sending popular and community responsive companies to the wall eg. HiJinx . ( this is where the logic fails utterly) while on the other hand criticising the intellectual, artistically motivated and research companies, CPR for example, for not being populist enough. The TIE groups being slashed will no doubt seriously put under more strain the aforementioned depleted lottery budget as companies heavily compete for lottery grants. They may of course just be expected to fold and the theatre practitioners get telesales jobs. Where is the young theatre audience to develop from ? In the past our company has sought alternative funding and with the deepest irony and a stern dose of Zen disorientism we have only recently been involved in seeking project funding , only to find that it will be even more oversubscribed. SWT has an excellent record for audience figures and have for more than 20 years often relied on " bums in seats " to finance aspects of our work. However we seriously need to have more WAC funding available as part of our own strategy of survival if not growth. The WAC strategy will not encourage a climate where the next generation of younger, newer companies, or "new blood " can establish themselves as theatre practitioners. The lack for instance of a funded Magdelana, to provide encouragement and direction with an input from an international network of outward looking, experienced and talented performers to draw on, will leave young performers the task of re-inventing the wheel. From most....... No all of the theatre practitioners I have talked to the feeling is that this strategy seems to have put in question the credibility of WAC. Some of the companies criticised have been given the axe where a hand would be more appropriate. The big world picture will make WAC and by inference Wales look very silly, especially as the companies that are appreciated and even WAC promoted beyond it's borders, will be no longer funded from within it's borders .After the stiff brush stops it's frenzied activity and the dust settles we may find the new broom has left us with a still, silent, empty, cold room. No heat. No light. The free market meltdown starts here. |
| Small World Theatre web site: www. |
| Bill Hamblett e-mail: |
Thursday, March 18, 1999 |
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