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What I Want for Christmas (2).... to allow theatres, companies and writers the right to fail occasionally. Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous, but it isn't really. The problem we are facing in theatre at the moment is that the government is really only interested in mass-appeal. The Arts Council's "Investing in Excellence" document is peppered with phrases such as
All are also very laudable aims, but new and experimenetal approaches are not going to attract new audiences or be "popular" in the sense of appealing to a wide range of people. On the contrary, they are going to be extremely limited, almost esoteric, in appeal. But theatre (or any any of the arts) will not progress without them. As Sir John Drummond said last week, "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?" Quality and experiment are the lifeblood of the arts. It is through aiming for the highest quality (regardless of public taste) and trying new approaches (in spite of public resistance to change), that theatre moves forward. We tend to forget that those things we accept as natural in theatre today were at one time vilified as dangerously avant-gard. There was a wonderful article in the Sketch for 29th April, 1925, about Noel Coward, entitled At Home: Our Most Daring Playwright. Surely that says it all? So, dear Santa, please let the government (and, hence, ACE) recognise that, even if an experiment fails spectacularly, it can still be much more worth funding than a sure-fire crowd-puller. Now, I'm not going to be greedy, Santa, but there is one other pressie I'd like. I've been asking for it for the last two years but you've ignored me. Please - PLEASE! - let the Treasury realise just how silly it is that, if a member of the public buys the script of a play, he doesn't pay VAT, but if he actually goes to see the play in a theatre - which, after all, is why it was written in the first place - then VAT is charged. No VAT on theatre tickets, please, even if the European Commission wants it. The difference it will make to the Treasury is as nothing in comparison to the good it will do to theatre audiences - as long as you make theatres reduce ticket prices rather than try to hang on to the money! Finally, Santa, if you are feeling really generous, why not make David Blunkett and the Department for Education recognise the huge importance of the Robinson Report and take steps to implement its recommendations as soon as possible? Putting creativity at the centre of the education system will have more wide-ranging benefits than all the literacy and numeracy hours combined! (You know: I have a horrible suspicion that I'll be saying the same things next Christmas. We are a long, long, long way from inhabiting the best of all possible worlds!) Articles Indices: |
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