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At the last meeting of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain (Cymru/Wales) a resolution was unanimously passed by our members to campaign for the complete suspension of the Arts Council of Wales's disastrous drama strategy. In the light of ACW's U-turn over their policy for Theatre for Young People, which had threatened the closure of Gwent Theatre and Theatr Powys, the Writers' Guild now believes the only honourable action ACW can take is to abandon the strategy completely, and await The National Assembly of Wales's report in arts and culture which started last week. "For the last year we have been told by ACW officials that the drama strategy could not be suspended as its success depended upon the implementation of all its parts," a spokesman for WGGB says. "However, since ACW have quite rightly backtracked on so many elements of the drama strategy, we feel the proper and right course of action now is to admit they've been wrong, and construct a policy which supports Welsh writers and promotes home-grown work." The WGGB is particularly opposed to ACW's plans for new writing which will mean the closure of two Welsh theatre companies specialising in the development and production of new plays from Wales, a cut of almost a third to the budget for original work, and a drop in employment opportunities for Welsh writers. The policy would also endorse the establishment of a bilingual theatre company in Cardiff, which the WGGB believes would be a backwards step in the development of Welsh drama in both languages. In percentage terms, ACW already lags behind both the Arts Council of England and the Scottish Arts Council in its support for writers and new writing. A further cut in support would be shameful. Television producers in Wales have warned of the possible knock on effect any cut could have on them, and the WGGB passed a vote of no confidence in ACW back in November 1999 when ACW failed to respond to its concerns. The campaign against this strategy has now moved to a UK level and the Theatre Committee of the WGGB is canvassing support from names such as Alan Plater and Arnold Wesker. |
| WGGB web site: |
| WGGB e-mail: undeb_wggb@hotmail.com |
Wednesday, January 26, 2000 |
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