Memorandum submitted by the Guildhall
School of Music & Drama
INTRODUCTION
1. The Guildhall School of Music & Drama
(GSMD) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Committee's
inquiry into Arts Development: Theatre. GSMD was founded by the
Corporation of London in 1880. It offers musicians, actors, stage
managers and theatre technicians an environment in which to develop
as artists and professionals. The reputation of the teaching and,
increasingly, the research, is well respected and the School aims
to be active, not merely reactive in response to the challenges
of the professions.
2. At GSMD actors are being trained to work
in as diverse ways and places as possible. It is vital that there
are as many opportunities as possible for them to ply the craft
in both modern and classical work.
3. This note attempts to set out the School's
response to the initial areas identified by the Committee when
it announced the inquiry.
PATTERN OF
SUBSIDY
4. It is important from the GSMD's point
of view that theatre is supported by the Government and/or the
Arts Council in order to encourage the employment of actors in
a diversity of work. Such support sustains and enables the development
of the actor's craft in a wider range of work. The pattern should
continue to strengthen the craft and ensure that a wider range
of audiences across the country are able to see a wider range
of work. For example, most large cast plays are only performed
in London or Stratford since most regional theatres are not able
to afford a cast larger than eight. Unfortunately this effectively
rules out much Shakespeare and other classics pieces. It is important
that there are theatres big enough to stage this work.
PERFORMANCE OF
ARTS COUNCIL
5. There is a perception that the Arts Council
is overly bureaucratic with only limited first-hand experience
of running theatres or companies. It is suggested that the Council
should be more part of the industry it serves. It used to have
specialist panels to advise on matters but now only has a board.
Actors should be encouraged to serve as Arts Council members.
SUPPORT
6. Local authorities often cannot afford
big theatres—for example Teeside has just one run-down theatre
to serve 650,000 people. Unless new writing and new young acting
talent are encouraged, it is feared theatre will become non-regenerating.
SIGNIFICANCE OF
THEATRE AS
A GENRE
(a) Cultural Life
7. Theatre is one of the major strands of
our culture, and has been for many centuries. The UK is pre-eminent
in world culture for its written, text-based theatre addressing
a variety of strands of human life. It is important that theatre
is seen not just as art, but as entertainment too.
(b) Regions
8. In addition to maintaining a varied range
of theatrical work, it is important to continue to widen access
to this work, especially because of the issues it addresses. If
access is restricted the gap between regions widens as well as
the gap between London and the provinces.
9. Increased funding for the regions in
the last two or three years was beneficial, but only went to the
selected few, such as Salisbury or Liverpool. Many other regional
theatres are getting left behind. Young actors used to be able
to develop their craft in repertory theatres, but there are now
far fewer opportunities for this to happen before being over-exposed
too soon in major roles on TV in subsidised national companies.
(c) UK Economy
10. Theatre is critical for the regions
as well as deprived inner-city areas—a new theatre can add
new life to a main street attracting ancillary amenities such
as wine bars and restaurants. The land values in Minneapolis have
risen dramatically since the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre opened. Portsmouth
University's study of the economic impact of Chichester Festival
Theatre on the city showed that the theatre, directly or indirectly,
brought £20 million to the area. People, especially younger
graduates, are attracted to work in areas which have these cultural
facilities.
11. Actors are now being trained not only
to work in theatres but to go into cinema and bring money back
from abroad. The disproportionate number of English actors in
character roles in Hollywood movies is not only a tribute to their
talent but to the fact their skills were honed after training
in character roles in British theatre both in London and in the
regions.
12. The amount of tourism attracted to London
for its theatres is widely recognised and well-documented.
EFFECTIVENESS OF
PUBLIC SUBSIDY
13. Non-commercial theatre includes not
only the National and the Royal Shakespeare Company but also children
and young people's theatre, ethnic work and disabled companies.
14. There are mutual economic and artistic
benefits to commercial managements and subsidised theatres when
they mount co-productions. The managements get a lower-risk start
and the theatres enhance their programme. This seldom applies,
though, to large cast Shakespeares.
15. Many subsidised theatres develop and
encourage new writers who go on to write not just for theatre,
but TV and film—Julian Fellowes only the most recent example.
January 2005
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