In the company of Wendy Richardson

"We only have to say we’re good enough. 

We’re part of this herring fleet. 

We’re part of this flight of birds across the planet” 

- Joan Littlewood

The most important thing I’ve learnt in the last thirty years is that, as artists, we must tell our own stories & make our own work happen, no matter what.

But the arts game has seldom been an easy game to participate in.

For my own part, I hit it lucky. In the late 1980s I went along to an open-door, council-funded, free-access youth theatre in North East England - there was no audition & no financial cost - you simply turned up & joined in.

We devised our own work - sometimes with local writers-in-workshop. We’d be encouraged to build sets, run lighting rigs, assist in costume-making & book our own tours - everyone was encouraged to do everything.

It’s still my deeply held belief that everyone should have this opportunity but the reality is, most people don’t. Because today, most council-run, free access youth theatres have been amongst the first services to be cut in our society & that is an outrage.

For many years I’ve worked as an arts practitioner in so-called 'hard to reach’ communities & it’s worth reaffirming that no human being is 'hard to reach'.

There’s always a lot of talk about access & inclusion in the arts, but talk is cheap. It is true to say there are a lot of inspiring companies & dedicated practitioners out there, however, any joined-up thinking from politicians on how to make the arts available to all is totally lacking. They often tell us that in tough times the world needs wealth creators, not artists - the correct etiquette when answering such comments is: “Cobblers - the arts are as important as hospitals, libraries, prisons, schools or football clubs”. The establishment would also have us believe that there are only a finite number of prescribed pathways into the arts & perhaps, in part, that is true – those pathways do exist - but we must remember that systems can change & not one single thing should stop you from the act of creating.

One person who certainly changed the system was Joan Littlewood. She smashed open theatre’s doors for working class actors & audiences alike. This took graft & dedication, as well as a willingness to take risks & always be ready to adapt to change. Along with her group, ‘Theatre Workshop’, Joan made work happen despite having no money at all.

Now, you might be reading this & thinking: ‘How does any of that relate to me? How am I supposed to 'make my work happen’ in this day & age, with all the struggles of modern life, from my bedsit in Hackney?’

Great point!

Life is tough when there’s food to buy & rent to pay, but perhaps we can all take inspiration from the likes of Joan’s company, who from 1946 until 1953 didn’t even have a base & spent years touring communities in a clapped-out old van. They had to learn to be resourceful & adapt constantly to change. They also slept on the floors of audience members who took pity on them & did odd jobs for cash, such as selling ‘hot’ tomatoes out of the back of their van. So, whenever I feel like I’m having a tough time, I remind myself of how Joan’s company existed for their first decade together - completely potless.

To be clear, I’m not trying to fetishise the 'skint artist' stereotype, as if somehow 'to be an artist' without money is a noble thing - it is not, it absolutely sucks! And it has never been easy to tell the stories of the unheard or to 'make work happen' with no money at all.

We need to stop trying to fit into a system which has embraced finances over art-makers for far too long & simply get on with making our work any which way we can - in my case this has been to make a series of unfunded independent documentaries. And believe me, if I can find a way to pick up & operate a camera, sound equipment, editing software & learn how to make a documentary, then YOU CAN TOO.

And you can take that to the bank!

Joan Littlewood saw potential in everyone. She understood, that sometimes all we need is a nudge in the right direction, in order to get our hands on the means of production & make work happen. I’ve come to wholeheartedly believe that too. The most beautiful piece of music we might ever hear could be hidden within the person who sweeps our streets, or the poem that could move us all to the core of our being sits lost inside the person who serves our chips, or the best play, film or story we will ever experience hasn’t been written yet - because it’s waiting inside of YOU.

So, get busy!

YOUR story matters more than you could possibly understand - please share it & encourage others to share their stories too.

“A few times in human history there’s been a crossroads & then there’s been great theatre. Now we’re at a crossroads again. Rilke said it: Every day a woman locked in her little flat is, for one moment, a poet. All along the backstreets of this world” - Joan Littlewood

Amen to that!

Now, go & be your own Joan.

Here’s a FREE link to my first film about Joan Littlewood: In the Company of Joan