Theatre Watchdog Attacks Labour Arts Policy
Date: 7 December 1999
The government's own watchdog has attacked it for contributing to the current precarious state of British theatre, in its annual report published today. In particular, as long heralded by other culture watchers, the Theatres Trust warns that there is a crisis of confidence in the regions where repertory companies are in decline, touring shows are increasingly expensive and both producing bodies and theatre buildings themselves are under threat.
But even the revered West End, home to the highest concentration of theatres in the world, is not immune to the impending decline. Theatres Trust director Peter Longman worries that in a decade's time, if the trend continues, live professional theatre across the board will be reduced to nothing more than micked arena opera, two-handers in pubs and American musical imports touring to a closely controlled network of venues. 'We will be left with a hundred of the finest theatre buildings in the western world propped up only by a planning system which protects theatre use and by the fact that they have been listed for their architectural and historical interest,' he believes.
Both Longman and Theatres Trust chairman Sir John Drummond blame New Labour's policy of populism for the current state of affairs. 'There is a growing tendency to believe that nothing has any value unless it reaches vast numbers of people,' says Drummond. 'Somehow the head count has taken over from matters of quality as a yardstick. And a very inadequate and misleading one it is proving. There is no limit to the potential audience for dross ....But what about the audience for quality? Is it simply to be dismissed as unimportant because the numbers are relatively small?
'I cannot believe that a few years of well intentioned but unthinking populism can be allowed to destroy a tradition that has played a key role in the European mind for over two thousand years,' Drummond continues. 'All of us who love theatre must be prepared to speak out on behalf of both small audiences and high standards.'
The Theatres Trust was set up by an act of Parliament in 1976 to promote the better protection of theatres for the benefit of the nation. Its 15 trustees are appointed by the secretary of state for culture, media and sport and it receives a small grant from the Government.
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