Dear Sajid Javid MP,
Firstly may I congratulate you on your appointment as
culture secretary following the resignation of Maria Miller. You come to your
post at a very important time, and as such, I have a few requests.
Firstly, unlike Ms Miller, I urge you to actually go and
watch theatre and entertainment. The only way you get to experience the unique
talent our country creates is by getting out there and watching it for
yourself. Please do not send your secretary, PA, best mate Brian from Croydon,
or anyone else whose judgement you trust. You
are the culture secretary, and you should
witness the excellence that is being produced.
Then, after experiencing first-hand that our country is the
world leader in creating and developing theatre, you will realise how important
the funding of this art is. Without the essential support of local authorities and
the government, the future of theatre in our country will disappear. Indeed it
already is. You are the man who can change this ridiculous pattern – and either
help reinstate support to those suffering theatres who do so much for their
local communities, or at least review the way the cuts have affected these
vital institutions. Every day we hear MPs talking about the need for more
effort going into building the strength and value of local communities – and financially
supporting theatres is one way that can instantly help with this. A theatre is a community – a family – a place
where people go to entertain, and to be entertained. It is a necessity. And it is also a creative space where
communities get to rehearse, practice, perform, and create. Indeed, with even
more local youth centres being forced to close, the theatre and amateur groups
that are connected with theatres allow another place for these youngsters to go
and socialise.
My dear Javid – I beg that you do not, like Ms Miller, try
to appease the arts by giving us the chance to make an economic case for the
sector. Art needs funding, it needs finances – and in return offers rewards in
other ways.
As i’ve already stated, as a consequence of these arts
funding cuts, creativity is suffering and theatres are closing (we only have to
look at the Brewhouse Theatre debacle last year – which luckily seems to have
been resolved for the present - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-22638005 ). Recently
many shows are even closing before they have even opened. We are known to have
the best actors, directors and writers in the world – most of this talent
beginning in subsidised theatre. This new talent and work will end if
everything is reliant on profit. Who will take a chance on new writers and
talent when the pressure of profit is so overwhelming? No-one. The whole system
as we know it needs to alter. I know the government encourages theatres to try
and cover the cuts by finding private funders and philanthropists – but this is
difficult. Especially for those regional subsidised theatres – in fact a recent
report from Arts and Businesses showed that donations in London grew by 10% -
but for the rest of England it dropped 5.3%. Even more worrying is that 90% of
nationwide individual giving goes to London, leaving only 10% for the rest of
the UK. So for these arts organisations outside of London they have to spend
all of their time and resources trying to get money elsewhere – time which
would otherwise be spent on creating valuable work for their local communities.
One of the main problems is that arts are not considered a
vital part of our lives – and are constantly labelled inferior against sport,
education and healthcare. Indeed it is vital for the health of the nation to be
cultured. Art provides a communication, and a response to human nature that
brings us all closer together. It is a major part of our culture – and if we
don’t start supporting it now, our children will solely think of theatre as a
part of history.
When did you last hear a politician speak passionately about
the arts? What we need are politicians who affirm them - and not solely worry
about the expense of them. The general public recognise its value – so why
can’t our esteemed politicians? So, Mr
Javid, I am asking you to fight for the arts and make sure they are not disposed
of as an unnecessary expense. Our actors and directors are international
ambassadors – and the art they produce is an international commodity. And
without the support of an understanding government our place in the world as
leading creators of arts and artists will fall.
What we need is someone like Jenny
Lee - who was Arts minister from 1964 –
1970. She was, like Maria Miller a female Labour Minister, but unlike Ms
Miller, Jenny was admired and loved by the arts community. Lee was a passionate
supporter of the building of the National Theatre. She believed there was a danger
in politicising funding for theatre as this leads to what she saw as stagnant
art.
Jenny, being a Socialist, recognised
the Social value of Theatre unlike current politicians who see the cost of
everything but not the value . She showed that politicians actually can be
good news for the arts – if they understand and have a passion about them.
And that is what we need again. Someone who wants to save arts, and not merely
squeeze every ounce of profit out of it. Hopefully our new culture secretary
will have some of this lost passion.
To end – I say we need to carry on supporting and nurturing this community that has made our country leaders and ambassadors of this art form. Theatre is our countries greatest asset – it is not complacent to say ‘nobody does it better’ – we entertain and transport people from their worries, we give audiences an uplifting experience, we challenge, provoke, debate, and shock - all of which is the healthy lifeblood of a cultured society. Squander it by neglect and we become unthinking and uncultured. Mr Javid - now is the time we have to act before it is too late– once support for our arts has gone – how will we ever get it back?
With all best wishes,
West End Producer
@westendproducer
http://www.westendproducer.co.uk/