Key figures in theatre have come together to put the sector on a firmer footing, writes ANDY MOSELEY
At a time when Scotland’s arts sector has been through deepening funding cuts and faces a future that could be seen as bleak at worst and uncertain at best, a meeting of some of the main players has paved the way for a future in which the sector can move from barely surviving to thriving.
An Tobar and Mull Theatre, Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland, and Citizens Theatre brought together key players for State of the Nation, an event to consider a way through current challenges. The first step on that path included representatives of the Lyceum, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Traverse, National Theatre of Scotland, Federation of Scottish Theatre, and Tron Theatre.
The choice of Citizens Theatre as the location was particularly fitting, not merely because its recent reopening hints at a positive future in the midst of other, less encouraging, signals, but also because its name embodies the notion of theatre as something for people and communities, rather than serving corporate interests.
This is not to say that the event organisers ignored the commercial drivers that influence the decisions of artistic directors across the country. Nor were they failing to acknowledge the effects that years of austerity and the cost of living crisis continue to have on arts funding in Scotland. However, rather than dwelling on the past, one of the ground rules given out at the start of the event noted it was ‘to be taken as being of most use in helping to imagine something better for the future.’
After an overwhelming demand for tickets, and it being noted that freelances had not been included in the original list of people invited to the event – with it being pitched at artists, producers, funders and policymakers – the capacity for the event and the invite list was extended. This was a positive move to correct an unfortunate oversight, recognising the role that freelancers play and the threats they are facing as opportunities for directors, writers and other independent artists are increasingly limited.
The programme focused on three key strands: resource sharing, and how meaningful collaboration might unlock opportunities; the role of advocacy and lobbying in helping the sector to move from a reactive position to one where it is playing a far greater role in shaping and driving policy, and; how the sector can avoid repeating the same struggles that occurred in the most recent round of Creative Scotland multi-year funding, where organisations either got less than they bid for or nothing at all.
Rather than focusing on what’s broken, attendees were asked to think about what could be possible if the cultural ecology was restructured from first principles. Provocations for discussions included; What if access to arts and culture were a civic right, protected in law? What if creativity were embedded in education, work and daily life as part of national wellbeing? and wWhat if funding and decision-making were genuinely democratic and devolved?
These were more succinctly summed up by the use of a quote from Scottish writer Alasdair Gray to ‘Work as though you live in the early days of a better nation.’
Unsurprisingly, there was enthusiasm for a similar programme to Ireland’s Basic Income for Artists which, after a successful three-year pilot, will continue to provide 2,000 artists with €325 (£283) a week following a decision this month by the Irish governmentto make it permanent from next year.
So far, the pilot has cost the Irish government €72 million but has generated almost €80 million in economic benefits. A report by UK-based consultants Alma Economics found that artists in the programme earned, on average, over €500 more each month from their creative work. With this income, artists can not only cover their basic needs, but they can also invest in their projects, like buying supplies, marketing their art, and growing their creative businesses over time. The report showed that the partipants also became less dependent on social support, receiving roughly €100 less per month in government assistance.
Alongside this, another regular theme was the need to recognise the wider contribution arts make in general to wellbeing beyond the simple metrics of ticket sales and profit and loss figures. As something that policymakers both here and in the rest of the UK often overlook, the consensus around it in this event raises hope that it will become a bigger factor in decisions on the amounts allocated to arts funding in the future.
As to what the event more immediately achieved, the organisers were keen to stress that State of the Nation is intended to serve as the starting point for something more lasting. Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, artistic director of An Tobar and Mull Theatre said: “There’s a real hunger for connection, solidarity and strategic action—and this event is a step towards reclaiming our collective power.
“This gathering is just the beginning: a proof of concept for what’s possible. We hope it will lead to something much bigger, with future events that bring the whole cultural sector together to shape a stronger and more sustainable future.”
Louise Stephens, creative director and CEO of Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland added: “For me, it’s part of our responsibility as leaders of organisations – however big or small – to make sure we make these chances to talk and work together, so that our individual efforts and hard work translate into a healthy foundation for the art and artists which are essential to our organisations’ existence.”
In this context, the event was never going to lead to a set of clear recommendations or a collective manifesto emerging from it, but the exchanges of ideas and the recognition of common ground not merely on what problems the sector faces but also on where the solutions may come from, will hopefully pave the way for further collaborative working to shape a strategy that works for the entire sector.
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