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WALES may have a wide variety of cultural venues, catering for both mainstream and contemporary productions. But many performance groups, particularly those from abroad, may have shied away from visiting the country. In the past venues have blamed the difficulty visiting groups have faced booking more than one theatre in a short space of time, making a visit to Wales unfeasible. But a new organisation, set up to overcome this problem, is heralding success as it launches its inaugural annual report. Creu Cymru was set up last April to develop the provision, accessibility, presentation and vibrancy of the performing arts in Wales. It aims to encourage the development of products of Welsh origin through the medium of both Welsh and English and, as a result, create the right atmosphere to develop a new dynamic forum for communication among art professionals. Its director, Richard Hogger, says its success can be measured by the positive reaction it has received since its launch. "When we started 31 venues were members which has now increased to 38. "In that time the marketing manager and myself have made more than 90 visits to these venues and we have helped to bring together lots of organisations to talk about the table who might not have thought about doing that before. Some really good work has started to happen." Mr Hogger says specific projects have been developed to serve venues which share common needs or a specific expertise to bring to a particular sector of touring. A series of meeting between Arts Council of Wales's core funded middle scale venues has resulted in the formation of a consortium which will start programming from the autumn. Tours already planned for 2002/2003 include Driving Miss Daisy and The Misanthrope by the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds/Net-work Consortium, Harold Pinter's The Caretaker from Milford Haven's Torch Theatre and David Copperfield from Eastern Eagles. In a special project, four South Wales venues - The Borough and Beaufort Theatre, Theatr Brycheiniog and Theatr Gwent - will team up for The Tinder Box by Charles Way. "We're getting a great response from all across Wales, from smaller venues, such as Theatr Clera in Welshpool to the New Theatre in Cardiff," Mr Hogger said. |
| ICWales web site: icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0900entertainment/0050artsnews/page.cfm?objectid=11636471&method=full |
| Emily Lambert e-mail: |
Thursday, February 21, 2002 |
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