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In his Gregynog Paper, State of the Arts, published last year by the Institute of Welsh Affairs, David Clarke has this to say about the state of theatre in Wales at the end of the millennium: "It is in theatre and in the work of the theatre companies and the performance-based venues of Wales that the most ominous signs of difficulty in our cultural life manifest themselves. Over the twelve years of my observation of Welsh theatre, highlights in the work of particular companies at particular times have not masked the consistent and fundamental decline in sustainable activity. One of the concerns that a smaller country must have about its cultural life is that it is possible to allow practice to decline beyond the minimum level of sustainability - to come, at the end, to a point where there is no ractice at all, beyond the occasional and sporadic. I'm afraid to say that Welsh theatre is close to this line. I have an apprehension that we may already be on the wrong side of it." David Clarke has identified what is a crucial danger: that professional theatre activity in Wales has been reduced to such an extent that, not only is it no longer a significant cultural form, but that it drops out of public awareness altogether. One might say that, for all but a tiny minority of enthusiasts, Welsh language theatre scarcely impinges on our consciousness at all except, perhaps, once a year at the National Eisteddfod. For the last ten years, as funding from central government has declined, the job of the Arts Council, and particularly of the Drama Boards and Panels, has been almost exclusively crisis management and damage limitation. It may attempt to put a gloss on it - "At the heart of where we want to be is a professional theatre of the highest quality and aspiration which reaches increasing numbers of people in Wales and through its popularity gains economic strength and confidence to diversify"- but the reality is further decline in theatre activity for the foreseeable future. It is within this context that one has to read the Art Council's latest Draft Strategy. The main strategic proposal in the document is a move away from revenue support for theatre companies towards subsidising time-limited franchises and short term, one - off projects. Revenue funded organisations (i.e. those which can expect regular annual grant-support) will be cut from 20 to 10 or 11. Of Welsh-language companies, only Cwmni Theatr Gwynedd, in some sort of projected amalgamation with Bara Caws, is likely to be granted revenue status as a new Welsh National Performing Arts Company. The future of all the other companies - Dalier Sylw, Arad Goch, Gorllewin Morganwg, Fran Wen, Brith Gof is not guaranteed beyond the Autumn of this year. No doubt some of them will apply for time-limited franchises to deliver Young People's Theatre or to develop new writing, but there will no longer be any sense of long-term security, or much opportunity for planning beyond three years. In the old days, theatre was structured as a team-game: there would be a permanent nucleus of people responsible for the creation of the work: directors, administrators, technicians and actors would all have a stake in developing the policy and practice of the company. In the new framework, more and more theatre activity will be the result of the commitment of a number of isolated individuals, who have the patience to spend most of their energies, not producing the work, but continuously submitting grant applications to an ever-increasing number of small funding sources. This is already the reality for many practioners in Wales: Ian Rowlands of Theatr Y Byd, Sera Moore-Williams of Y Cymraes, Firenza Guidi of Elan, Wales, to name but three. This will become the norm. And let us be under no illusions about the time, effort, and expense involved in preparing an application for grant-aid at a time when the conditions imposed by funding organisations become ever more restrictive. It is true that, from the savings made in revenue support, the Arts Council proposes to double the funds available for project grants in 2000 - 2001, but the number of projects which will come to fruition will still be very limited: when, for one year, I was a member of the Drama Board project assessment panel, the grants applied for exceeded the money available by a ratio of almost 10 to 1.When you talk to practitioners, who are dependent on project funding, the feelings of frustration and anger are palpable. This is really no way to ensure a healthy future for theatre. The original purpose of project grants was to allow new-comers the opportunity to show what they could do, and provide a constant transfusion of new blood into the profession. Once a new director or company had proved that a genuine artistic need was being fulfilled, it was assumed that the work would be actively encouraged and developed by renewed funding, not necessarily on a permanent basis, but, at least, over a number of years or a series of projects. This is quite different to the new scenario in which every one, no matter what his or her experience and track-record, has to start from scratch on a project by project basis. It will inevitably lead to disaffection: those who, in healthier times, would have been the artistic innovators, the torch bearers for theatre, will simply walk away from the business. Will there be any winners if this new strategy is introduced? On the face of it, the big winners will be the two Welsh National Performing Arts Companies: Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold (no surprises there) and a Welsh-language consortium, based in Gwynedd. It may be a source of satisfaction, particularly to the Gogs amongst us, that both these companies are based in North Wales at a time when more and more social and cultural activity is Cardiff-based, but a closer reading of the document gives cause for concern. Most significant is the statement that the Welsh company should not expect the same funding as the English language company. Clwyd Theatr Cymru is promised over one million pounds a year; the sum which the Welsh-language sister company might receive is unspecified, although recent rumour and hearsay, our usual sources of information about Arts Council deliberations, suggest a figure of half that amount. As I've said elsewhere, this gross inequality in funding between English and Welsh language theatre is of relatively recent origin. There is already a very lively, not to say acrimonious, debate, about almost everything contained in the Draft Strategy. Among all the other issues, I earnestly hope that, when the final document is published, the Arts Council is prepared publicly to justify why English language theatre should receive twice as much money as its Welsh counterpart. But I expect this is a vain hope: I doubt whether the Arts Council has an answer. |
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Thursday, April 1, 1999 |
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