Memorandum submitted by the Little Theatre
Guild of Great Britain
1. The Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain
(LTG) is the representative Body for Amateur Community Theatres
that own or have control of their premises, operate on a non-profit
making basis and whose Board of Management comprises volunteers.
Of the more than 100 theatres in the UK that qualify for membership,
96 currently belong to the LTG.
2. In the Year to 1 September 2004, LTG
member theatres mounted a total of 807 productions to audiences
in excess of 620,000 realising Box Office Income of £3.7
million and a turnover of approximately £4.5 million. Most
of the member theatres are in buildings that have been adapted
from other uses, many are listed as Buildings of Historical or
Architectural interest and some provide the only live theatre
experience in their localities.
3. The LTG welcomes the opportunity to submit
evidence to the Committee but considers that an effective consultation
period of two weeks, given that the Christmas and New Year period
takes up at least seven days of the 25 day consultation, is totally
inadequate. The LTG National Committee meets quarterly and the
next meeting is on 5 February. This submission will be considered
on that date and must be regarded as interim. There has not been
and will not be any opportunity to consult our full membership
which extends from Bangor in Northern Ireland to Whitstable in
Kent and from Dumfries in Scotland to Llangefni in Anglesey and
Exeter in Devon.
4. While LTG member theatres are mainly
producing theatres, with a full programme of in house productions,
many also act as receiving theatres for professional work, including
the use of the Peoples Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne as the Centre
for Royal Shakespeare Theatre productions in the North East. In
this way, some small subsidy may be received to host individual
productions, but in the main, the amateur theatre is providing
a service for the professional sector, often at a cost to their
own funds.
5. As a voluntary Association, LTG receives
no public subsidy. All costs are met from member subscription.
The services given to members, in the form of advice and guidance
on legislation and management is provided by professionals who
are members of theatre groups and freely offer their professional
expertise in order to improve management and achieve high standards
of compliance with legislation. LTG is registered as an umbrella
body with the Criminal Records Bureau and provides a service in
the field of Child Protection for all member groups. Individual
theatre groups have in the past obtained assistance with Capital
Projects from the National Lottery and it is greatly regretted
that this funding has virtually ceased. ACE appears to have concentrated
funding on revenue schemes and favoured the professional sector.
The latest proposal for standstill funding for theatre will inevitably
reduce the small amount of funding that has been available to
the voluntary sector to the detriment of our members. LTG members
are subject to the same legislative disciplines as all theatre
owners and, we believe, should be given equal consideration when
grant aid in relation to building projects is available. Historically,
it is apparent that the professional sector is given priority.
6. You ask for evidence of the performance
of the Arts Council in developing strategies. The Amateur sector
is almost totally ignored in ACE theatre strategy, and while some
consultation takes place through CCAT, we can point to very little
tangible result and certainly no suggestion that there should
be even modest core funding in England. In Wales, the funding
of Drama Association Wales is currently at risk from the decision
of the Welsh Assembly to take the regrettable step to abandon
the arms length principle for arts funding with the danger that
funding will become a matter of political whim. In Scotland the
Arts Council decide a year ago, without notice and without explanation
to withdraw funding from the amateur sector. It will be seen therefore
that, throughout the UK, the Government's pronounced support for
the voluntary sector does not extend to the voluntary theatre
sector.
7. We have already referred to the fact
that assistance for capital projects has virtually ceased. While
ACE, with CCAT and the Writer's Guild recently produced guidance
on new writing for the amateur theatre, our producing companies
tend to use their own sources to find new plays and, with all
amateur theatre, suffer from the reluctance of rights holders
to release new work to the amateur sector until it has completed
West End and professional regional runs. Additionally, rights
can be withdrawn with little notice if there is a professional
production in prospect.
8. On the question of the significance of
theatre as a genre, we point to the statistics in paragraph 2
which indicate that our 96 member theatres are very popular in
their individual communities. The turnover of £4.5 million
is spent on building maintenance and improvement, contributing
towards the local economy, royalties, publications, equipment
materials etc, all of which keep theatrical publishers and suppliers
in business and provide an income for playwrights.
9. Finally, so far as (re)development projects
are concerned. Our member theatres have been in the forefront
of ensuring compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act
and other legislation. The new Licensing regime will inevitably
bring additional calls for development of premises. We believe
it of the greatest importance that capital funding is once again
given prominence and that the amateur sector is recognised as
having an equal call on such funding as does become available.
We recognise that West End commercial managements have for many
years neglected their maintenance responsibilities and that considerable
funds are required to bring the buildings up to 21st Century standards.
However, we see no reason why London should once again be given
special consideration and priority over the rest of the country,
or why the commercial sector should necessarily be granted large
amounts of money from the public purse.
10. We thank the Committee for this opportunity
to make a submission, which may be amended when the National Committee
meet in February. We are also willing to expand on any points
should the Committee so wish.
January 2005
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