Falling through the cracks

Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash

This week has been a welcome break for the creative industries with many arts venues and companies across the country breathing a sigh of relief as they opened their email offers of support from The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). For many, it was make or break time. This support has been a long time coming, but better late than never. Theatre venues are struggling behind closed doors without the footfall of audiences; as are the local economies whose bars, cafes and restaurants depend on pre-theatre dinners and post-show drinks to survive. Although their doors may be closed, there are still bills and people to pay.

It was encouraging to see a range of organisations being supported, from pub theatres to national institutions, including Jermyn Street Theatre, the Park Theatre and the King’s Head Theatre; venues we have staged work in. We need to protect and cherish theatres of all shapes and sizes so that we retain the breeding ground for new talent and our reputation as world class producers.

However, we must not forget the hundreds of companies that have failed to access any support throughout this time; companies that have fallen through the cracks of the funding criteria. These are the companies that have no office space, no salaried positions, no long-term funding. The companies that survive project by project and rely on the funding from activities to snatch dedicated paid admin days. These are the companies who sit outside the Arts Council England National Portfolio and therefore lack the security of knowing they will survive even when productions are paused. It’s been made more challenging with the trend for project grants being redirected to emergency grants during this pandemic; grants that were previously the lifeline for such companies who now find themselves ineligible to apply.

These are challenging times that no one could have predicted; they are also times when we must evaluate what is precious in our society. When the nation turned to our televisions and radios and earphones and books for distraction, we in fact turned to the cultural sector to help us through these dark times. Let’s value them; all of them.

So, although we celebrate our peers and look forward to a day when artists and audiences once again take their place on our stages and in our seats, we also stand shoulder to shoulder with those who work tirelessly and voluntarily to avoid falling deeper into the cracks.