I was interested to read playwright and tutor, Fin Kennedy’s blog article on a meeting this week with UK Culture Minster Ed Vaizey see here (click on link text below)
http://finkennedy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/calling-all-theatre-makers.html
Actually Ed Vaizey’s full title is Minister for Culture, Communications and The Creative Industries, broadly his role is to protect the country’s national heritage, and to promote cultural expression and our UK Cultural Industries I’m not going into the communication part it’s *complicated* but obviously inextricably linked to *culture*.
Fin Kennedy concludes that the culture minister is ignorant of what’s going on in the outside world in terms of the impact of government cuts on Arts Funding and describes the discussion as a ‘gauntlet being thrown” and I imagine a small, peevishly thrown thing – but no matter how small, here is an opportunity. Fin Kennedy urges theatre makers, theatres, venues and writers to submit evidence of the damaging impact of funding cuts on new play writing and development. Evidence can be damming indeed but the more powerful part of Fin Kennedy’s ‘call to arms’ is the idea of gathering a body of people, organisations and artists to collate, consider and submit a body of evidence. Fin is offering to do this alone, but he shouldn’t have to – we are always stronger together. It’s the tip of the iceberg in terms of overall impact but very much an arts ‘cornerstone’ ; from film and animation, radio, TV, games creation to theatre, our creative industries are rooted in ‘new writing’ and the nurturing of this.
Do read his blog if you think you can help Fin to educate and enlighten our culture minister, the gauntlett has been thrown, it shouldn’t be difficult to pick it up and throw it back.
cultureactiveuk 