I had wanted to review either Campus or The Crimson Petal And The White, but with the recent cuts announced for the UK Arts Council, and more than 200 arts organisations losing their funding, I felt it would be more fitting if I were to write about that first. Severe cuts have been made to London’s Riverside Studios, the Shared Experience theatre at Oxford Playhouse, and the dance companies The Cholmondeleys & The Featherstonehaughs (pronounced Chumleys and Fanshaws, oddly enough…) to name but a few. Seeing as the arts are so deeply ingrained within our culture and provide a valuable source of revenue and tourism, I decided to investigate further just what these cuts mean for the Arts Council, and where it might lead us in the future.
As an aside (just before I get going!), I’m quite fond of The Cholmondeleys & The Featherstonehaughs. One thing I learnt from them, back when I was studying the post-modern choreographic style of Lea Anderson, was that throwing things out of a tent to a rhythm counted as dance. Post-modern, but dance nonetheless, and I couldn’t help but feel that if I had been made aware of this sooner I may have considered a career as a dancer. In fact, I have a sizeable repertoire of post-modern dance, including throwing things out of tents, cars and windows, throwing things into bins, baskets and tents again, and tripping over uneven slabs of concrete resulting in my own curious rendition of Swan Lake as I attempt to regain my balance. Perhaps when I’m next out clubbing I should take along my camping gear and set about throwing things in and out of a tent - at the very least it will detract from the fact that my dancing style is similar to that of Carlton in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air… (Perfect Example Here).
But I digress.
Chief executive, Alan Davey, has insisted that the cuts do not mean ‘equal pain for all’ but more of win-some-lose-some situation. While some are definitely starting to feel the Arts Council cuts, approximately 110 new organisations have been accepted into the national portfolio and are to receive regular funding, so it’s not all bad news for the arts. The summary of the situation is that the Arts Council has had 29.6% of it’s budget cut, resulting in a remix of the national portfolio. Some have received a boost in funding (the Arcola theatre in Dalston, London, has received an 89% increase in funding) while others have gone down, such as the Almeida in Islington, London, which is losing almost 40% of its budget.
Evidently there are going to be mixed feelings about this. Some of those previously unsupported companies have received a substantial boost (yay) and those previously receiving funds have been cut altogether (boo). I think that neatly encapsulates the whole tone of the deficit - some will benefit, others won’t. Whilst this is somewhat inevitable for any society when it’s economy is in decline, I still can’t help but feel perhaps there is an alternative to cutting almost 30% of the Arts Council funding, like say, I don’t know, scale the banker’s bonus down a little bit, or increased tax on the rich? Just a thought, but hey, I’m no politician, perhaps it’s not as simple as that!
Regardless, having looked into the situation further (rather than blindly ranting without any substantial facts as I had initially intended!) it is by no means the crushing blow to our culture I had anticipated.
In the end, all this means is that the organisations that have now been taken on by the Arts Council can afford to be a bit more experimental and stretch their wings, whilst others will be relying more heavily on ticket revenue and private sponsors. I just hope that this is not the shape of things to come, with further cuts down the line now that the gates to reducing arts funding have been opened.
Thankfully, I know of quite a few performers who are willing to be a little out of pocket to help ensure that their production can continue despite these cuts, but I fear that this will also mean that the Cholmondeleys and Featherstonehaughs can’t be so reckless when emptying their tents on the cliffs of Dover - we all know that the Government certainly won’t be replacing your sleeping bag any time soon!
(Since writing this, Patrick Stewart, Maxine Peake, Samuel West and Penelope Wilton have delivered a letter on behalf of Equity to 10 Downing Street calling for an arts summit regarding the recent cuts. More can be read on the matter here.)
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