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Winner of the new writing contract in Wales, Sgript Cymru, will begin operating despite the threat of legal action against the Arts Council of Wales by the losing rival contender Made in Wales is seeking to halt the new writing strategy, claiming that remarks made by ACW Artform Development director Michael Baker influenced one of the selection committee to choose Sgript Cymru, then called Dalier Sylw, as the sole bilingual company. But Sgript Cymru's artistic director Bethan Jones said "As far as I am aware Made in Wales is appealing, and that's fine. We will see what comes of it. IN the meantime , someone has to make sure that writers are being commissioned. There has also been controversy over where the new writing company will be based. This was initially supposed to be at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, but it now appears that there will not be enough office space for Sgript Cymru. Jones added: "Everybody has been calling for a specific place fro new writing, but the building is not there - it will always be part of something else." The new company will take advantage of its national status to attract co-production and co-commissioning deals with other theatre companies as well as those in television and radio. A new constitution, board and extra staff are already in place, and a literary manger will be appointed in the next few months. Jones admitted that the reduced budget - £170,000 for one company, instead of the £90,000 each for two - will affect the amount of new writing in English and Welsh developed in the Principality. However, she added that this reduction would be spread evenly across the two languages. "We have a three year contract and it is not set in stone as far as finances are concerned", she explained. |
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Thursday, June 1, 2000 |
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