Abstract
This chapter begins the in-depth case study of new theatre writing policy in England by looking at public theatre writing policies at national, regional and local levels, in terms of both their development by the arts funding system and some of the key debates within the area of new playwriting. The chapter illustrates the multi-faceted nature of playwriting policy, which includes matters related to the financing of new plays and the terms and conditions of writers’ working lives; issues concerned with the development of writers and their plays; and questions about the place of new plays in the repertoire, in particular the association of new work with the notion of risk – an idea that has been persistently challenged by playwrights’ organisations.
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Notes
- 1.
As explained in Chap. 1, while the focus of my case study is England, until 1994 the Arts Council’s remit was for Britain as a whole; therefore, much of the national material examined in this chapter covers Britain rather than England only. However, the regional and local dimensions discussed here relate specifically to England.
- 2.
The arm’s length approach is the system by which government keeps a distance from detailed policy and grant-making activities by appointing semi-independent bodies to undertake this work. Applied across public policy as a means of restraining governmental powers, in the cultural field it has been regarded as an important buffer between government and the arts, preventing political interference or diktat in artistic matters.
- 3.
Although arm’s length bodies have been officially titled NDPBs (non-departmental public bodies) since the 1980s, they are still widely referred to by the earlier acronym: ‘quangos’ (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations). As this was also the appellation used in the first period of my case study, it is therefore the term I use in this book.
- 4.
It was the nature of these parameters that caused some criticism of national government policy for the arts, because “it would appear that government objectives are becoming more and more removed from the arts, more of what the government wants and less of what the arts need” (Quinn, 1997, p.152).
- 5.
Across the whole period of the new writing schemes, which continued until the 2002 Arts Council re-organisation, other measures included grants for commissions, writers’ workshops, second productions, and for theatres to have a resident dramatist on attachment. There were also bursaries and commission grants for theatre translators and annual ‘best play’ awards.
- 6.
“The Council will look to the companies concerned to play a full part in arranging activities beyond the staging of productions in their own main houses […] for example, expanded seasons of studio work (with particular emphasis on new writing)” (ACGB, 1984, p.16).
- 7.
Enquiry reports do not necessarily represent the official view of the Arts Council itself. The critical verdict of the Theatre Is For All report, and of other commentators, is not reflected in the Arts Council’s own assessment of The Glory of the Garden (ACGB, 1989), which asserted that “the successes greatly outweigh the failures” (p.2).
- 8.
While the Arts Council’s additional £25m was seen as a vital component in this development, Anne Millman and Jodi Myers offer the caveat that other funding streams, such as Lottery grants and European Union funding, were also likely to have contributed to it (Millman & Myers, 2009, p.21).
- 9.
Some of these documents were collected by the author during research for an earlier, unpublished, report on British theatre policy (Woddis, 1997) and were then added to in 1998 and 1999 at the start of the main research period for this study.
- 10.
Interview by the author, July 1999.
- 11.
Theatre Writers’ Union Newsletter, September , 1982, [p.26].
- 12.
‘Fighting to Save the Swan’, Staging Post, Winter 2002, Issue 19, p.1.
- 13.
Documents in Archive of North West Playwrights, NWP 2/1/1/2.
- 14.
Telephone interview by the author, May 1997, during research for the previously mentioned report on British theatre policy (Woddis, 1997).
- 15.
TWU Newsletter, May 1983, p.1.
- 16.
TWU internal notes of meeting with TMA, 23rd November 1983.
- 17.
TWU News Sheet, [December 1983], [p.3].
- 18.
TWU News Sheet 5, [April 1984], [p.11].
- 19.
Interview in TWU Newsletter, Summer 1994, p.7.
- 20.
‘Playwrights demand more time in the theatres for new work’, The Guardian, 21st November 1994, p.21.
- 21.
Staging Post Issue 5, New Year 1999, p.2.
- 22.
Stagecoach! Organising Committee, Report of Stagecoach! 1992, June 1992, p.16 (West Midlands Theatre Writers’ Union).
- 23.
Newscript (newsletter of Yorkshire Playwrights) November 1998, p.[2].
- 24.
[Drama Panel Working Party], Background to the Theatre Writing Strategy, 1999, p.19. (ACE, unpublished paper.)
- 25.
In fact, after pressure from the region’s theatre community, West Midlands RAB continued Stagecoach!’s funding while it reorganised itself. The new organisation, Script, was then also funded by the RAB.
- 26.
Kevin Mandry and Anthony Pickthall (eds) [n.d.], Theatre Writers Union Members Guide, p.10.
- 27.
Theatre Writers’ Union and Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, The New Writing Fund: A proposal to the Arts Council of England, 1995.
- 28.
Article in The Times, 8th December 1982.
- 29.
Peter Hall interviewed by Chris Barlas in Gambit, 1976, Vol.7, No.28, p.25.
- 30.
Ben Payne, Literary Manager, ‘Opening The Door’, in Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Open The Door, Issue 1, Summer 2001.
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Woddis, J. (2022). Public Theatre Writing Policy in England Since 1945. In: Acting on Cultural Policy. New Directions in Cultural Policy Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11162-4_4
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