|
Four new companies will take charge of youth theatre in South and Mid Wales, the Arts Council of Wales announced yesterday. A total of £375,000 will support the development of arts activities for young people. Thus, said the ACW, represented a 40% increase in the funding of projects for young people in the Mid and East valleys. The four companies and the funding they will receive are: West Valleys - Theatr na n'Og (formerly Theatr Gorllewin Morgannwg), £125,000 Mid Valleys - Spectacle Theatre (£125,000) East Valleys - Theatre Iolo (£125,000) Mid and west Wales - Arad Goch (£185,000) Joanna Weston , Chief Executive of ACW, said, "in each case we were impressed by the artistic vision and flair of these companies". She added that the franchises represented a long-standing commitment of ACW to redress an imbalance in funding towards the South Wales Valleys. The Theatre for Young People franchises replace the Theatre in Education programme that was adversely affected by local government re-organisation "The alterations to the local authority map meant that funding to the TIE companies fell by half. The decisions that have arisen out of this process of review have been complex and I have to add that there are still some further details to be settled on provision in the North Wales area, before an announcement is made", said Jo Weston -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article first appeared in the Western Mail 23/10/1999 Notes: Two of the existing companies are now having to face winding down their operations, Theatr Powys and Gwent Theatre were unsuccessful in their bids for the new TYP franchises and will cease to receive ACW funding from the end of this financial year. It is rumored that Theatre Powys will continue to receive funding from their local authority, Powys County Council. It is unclear at the moment what this means in practice for the company, and what this implies for the role of Arad Goch in Powys The TYP franchise for north Wales has yet to be decided, it seems. North Wales is by far the largest geographical area to be franchised (extending from the tip of the Llyn Peninsula across to the Dee estuary), and the one with the most diversity of language and culture. |
| Western Mail web site: www.icwales.com |
| e-mail: |
Saturday, October 23, 1999 |
Older news
stories have been carefully archived.
2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999