A Provocation on the ‘A’ word
Community Theatre. To fund or not to fund?
I had a very enjoyable evening at the Arc Theatre Trowbridge on Saturday when Trowbridge Amateur Operatic (TAOS) and their youth society entertained a sell-out audience with songs from the ‘West End Now!’ I worked very closely with TAOS to ensure that visiting us was cost effective for them as finances are very tight, as appears to be increasingly the case for many fantastic amateur societies across the Country. There appears to be no obvious areas of funding that will support Amateur work. Should there be? My feeling is YES, ABSOLUTLEY.
At the age of 8 years old I took part in my first amateur production in my home town of Basingstoke, belting out the words to ‘It’s A Hard Knock Life’ with all my might! At the age of 12 I then auditioned for their youth Society which was run by volunteers giving young people the opportunity to have lead roles in some of the best musicals like West Side Story, Calamity Jane and Bugsy Malone with professional Direction, full sets, costumes and wigs performed in professional theatre spaces an incredible opportunity. I then joined the society’s committee getting involved with the planning and marketing of their events and went on to perform in over 15 productions. Not only did these opportunities lead me to find the career I now have, they gave me many of the skills that have made my life as fulfilled as it has been. I bet many of us who are now lucky enough to work in The Arts professionally have had a dalliance or two with an Amateur Society along the way!
This society BATS that has been providing the incredible opportunity to be part of live performance to 1000’s of people over its 50 years, and for many the first and in some cases their only impetus to go to the theatre, to see a friend, family member or just to support their local society. Despite this huge appeal BATS and many societies like them are in great financial difficulty to the point where there is a real threat to their future. So what should be done?
Theatre support: I am aware that many of the home theatres of Amateur Societies have a very low regard for anything beginning with the ‘A’ word! One theatre, that shall presently remain nameless, charge £20 for every blown bulb that surrounds its mirrors, I suspect only to their amateur customers, which is just one example of many ways that venues can make life impossible for amateur societies who in return bring them full houses spending good money at the bar, the opportunity for the venues to market their work to a new audience and the raised profile by the tireless marketing carried out by these societies. I think it should be within the funding agreements between local authorities and venues that they must support amateur work and help ensure its future.
Funding: I think that local authorities and other funders of The Arts should look to provide support for the work of amateur societies in order to secure the future of an area of The Arts that is in jeopardy.
So, let’s stop muttering the ‘A’ word under our breaths, let’s not be ashamed of our secret Amateur Theatre pasts and let’s look at supporting this hugely important area of community involvement in live performance, without which I am willing to bet there would be fewer theatre professionals, on and off stage in the future and far fewer members of the public attending any live performance.
What do you think? Post your thoughts here.
Tracy Sullivan
Arc Theatre Director and proud supporter of Amateur Performance!
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It was TheatreWorks, of course, which championed the notion of better connection between the professional and voluntary sectors locally with its highly regarded project “Connect 4” three years ago (a project still featured on the Arts council’s website as an example of good practice by the way!). As you say Tracy it should be a symbiotic and mutually beneficial relationship … and both parties could do more to recognise, acknowledge and proactively take advantage of the potential benefits to each other…. if you know what I mean!
Yes yes yes Tracey!!! I have also been involved with amateur productions which also led me to take a career in entertainment. Where else can youngsters ‘learn the trade’ and realise they excel except in an amateur production to begin with. I have been to many professional productions in our local theatre this year and sadly most of them were far from full. However, having been to quite a few amateur ones, these were almost packed houses. Does this also not encourage a wider audience to attend, to see ‘little Billy’s first cousins best friend’ in the audience? Who knows – the ‘first time’ theatre goer, might just enjoy it so much they might like to ‘give it a go’ themselves.
Come on local authorities – do your bit to support the community…. besides, amateur groups make a community!
Gosh ‘a’ mighty Bill. It’s interesting isn’t it? How do we encourage the seemingly thriving audience of amateur theatre to attend professional performance? I myself was guilty, despite living walking distance from a professional venue, and being an avid amateur supporter the professional work didn’t reach my radar. TheatreWorks did try to build more partnership work with Amateur groups and schools in a project called Connect 4, but there appears to have been little real impact on this audience. I programmed a Musical theatre event at The Arc and was sure the Amateur performers would come in their droves, alas there were only two in a very sparse crowd. So what do we think the answer is?