The Election: Debates and The Economy or Theatrical Thursday's with the PM

Many long time readers of Theatre From My Head will probably remember an article I wrote several months back about the Budget and how it will effect the Performing Arts industry. If you do not remember or have not read it then you can find the link to it right... here. In the article I lambasted the current Labour government's decision to start downsizing the arts and cultural investments in their pre-budget plans and I feel right for doing so, I asked the questions that I felt needed answering. So it was with great relief, great happiness and much hope that I tuned into ITV just over three weeks ago to witness along with 9 million other people a brilliant fusion of theatre and politics, I am of course referring to the Election Debates. These were essentially performance pieces by each Party Leader and they were fantastic. The acting and theatre aspects were particularly obvious with some of the fake emotions and statements made by these politicians and in my mind only one of them came across as really genuine and naturalistic... Mr Clegg. In my own mind I dubbed these nights of debate and arguments 'Theatrical Thursdays with the PM' as I thought about how fun they were as well as interesting.


Nobody referenced the cuts that would be made to the arts sector in Debate number 1, not surprising there was nothing to discuss really. We are after all in a massively bad situation still with the national debt etc but in debates number 2 and 3 there was nothing either. The truth is the cuts that we have been told about will come, according to both David Cameron and Gordon Brown, from public services, so yes, your libraries will be cut further and there will be less of them, the ones left filled with people who probably are not being paid and don't know the job properly. David Cameron in the first Election Debate was talking about people volunteering their time to helping community establishments and services so I guess one of the first things to go will probably be Library assistants. It is, however, highly ironic when you think that being a right wing politician with capitalist friends he would suggest a very communist approach to local institutions. Or maybe heknows that Thatcherism is already going to be coming back and we will have another 8 million unemployed people who he has to place somewhere. Gordon Brown doesn't want to cut these things but is facing the real threat of the economy destabilising once again and is taking necessary precautions which is fair but still will cause long term damage in my estimations. The Liberal Democrats have completely laid out in their manifesto how they will take chunks out of the deficit including reducing public sector pensions in a fair way in collaboration with both government and the unions. Public sector spending in general will be assessed by an independent body that will advise a Liberal Democrat government how to streamline and get the best from these services with minimal cuts. So they are all going to cut into what little money there already is. Now the whole theatre thing is quite vague and I am sure none of the 3 party leaders are really that interested in whether this policy gets people voting or not but to me it is an important subject so I took a look at all three parties' manifestos and these is some of the highlights.


First the current Labour Government's policy (for full policy please click: here)


Labour has put culture, media and sport centre stage since we came to power in 1997 – in the last decade we have increased public funding by £541.3 million, an increase of 47.3 per cent.


We want to open up the arts and culture to everyone. We have put in place major initiatives, such as free entry to national museums and galleries, and free theatre for young people...


Over the past decade the creative sector has grown at twice the rate of the economy as a whole and the annual exports in cultural goods amount to £11.6 billion.




Of course the Labour Government has supported the sports sector more than any other but with the figures above and the abundance of theatres, schools, performance spaces and schemes to get people involved in creative activities they have shown they are committed to this subject. Of course as has been the overall theme for the Labour campaign this Election it is all about what they have already done, not what they will be doing in the future. So I do not know what to think regarding their arts and culture policy except perhaps hope that if re-elected the Government would still be dedicated to funding this sector.


Now for the Conservative Parties Policy (For the full policy please read: here)


With the London 2012 Olympic Games approaching, we have a wonderful opportunity to showcase these sectors and highlight the best sporting and cultural activities that Britain has to offer, promoting this country as the attractive tourist destination it undoubtedly is.


I really recommend you read the full policy as it is just another attack on the Labour government and then goes on to talk about London 2012 and that is about it. Well there is one big problem there for me, we go into 2012 and then what happens for the next 3 years of the Tory term? I just wish the Tories had put a better well rounded explanation for what they see theatre and the arts adding to the UK or will add to the UK with their support. Still maybe they think that they do not need to invest money in the theatre because of the amount of plays and shows made during their terms of power about how awful it is to live in a Conservative England.


The Liberal Democrats. (For full policy please go: here)


Liberal Democrats recognise the enormous contribution that arts, heritage and culture make to the lives of citizens. We believe that culture should be valued for its own sake as well as for the undoubted benefits to other areas, such as the economy, health, crime prevention and education.


We believe that public investment in the arts should fund talent not bureaucracy, and sustainability not short-term initiatives.


Now I chose these two quotes because I found them the most relevant to me and the rest of the policy covers ways they would improve the culture, media and sports sector. They go into detail about their hopes and attitude towards television, radio and the Internet. I should also point out that the Lib Dems also attack the Government on their usage of the Lottery funding just like the Conservatives but don't make it a focal part of their policy.


After the fantastic acting we have seen every Thursday night for the past 3 weeks- kudos to Nick Clegg for practicing this act over the years with the likes of Sam Mendes and Helena Bonham Carter- it has been an Election campaign trail not to forget and I get to top my month of Thursday Theatrical fun with the Olivier Award Winning 'Morecambe' when it rolls into Worthing on the 6th of May. A new Government and a Theatrical event, oh what fun!


CHEAP PLUG
Tickets are still available for Morecambe at the Pavilion tickets can be purchased: here. Curtain goes up at 7:30.


Xtofer

Charity Shops... and Libraries

I have a thirst for knowledge, I must know that which I do not already and that is never so obvious as when it comes to the theatre. In an industry like ours where the very artform itself is changing day by day and tastes are altering it is important to try and capture that tsunami of information. It doesn't of course help that there is a vast history out there of the theatre and that is what interests me the most. I will freely admit to not being able to keep up with the modern theatre as well as I would like mainly due to my own personal tastes and judgements but I will quite happily read and listen to articles, books etc about things that happened in the past. That is why I am so addicted to trawling second hand book shops, car boot sales, charity shops and of course Libraries. My own personal library of dramatic books is of course growing by the week which in a room as small as ours is a bit of a pain. The biggest complaint despite the lack of space is that these books sometimes go unread, the majority of the technical ones on directing and design etc have been pored over at length same as the plays, but the history ones are neglected which is why I have started reading them with an aim to review them and see what they can teach us today.

I get the majority of my books funnily enough from the Library service who sell off old books they no longer need or want due to the condition age or whatever of the book. The prices range from 50p to a couple of pounds and are really a steal, you can pick up old paperbacks and hardbacks on all sorts of subjects for those prices thanks to the library needing to update its stock. Then of course there are charity shops, the past two weekends we spent time in Littlehampton and managed to over those two saturdays pay out £30 for a collection of about 30 rarish and old books that are now out of print. My favourite so far, apart from a beautiful copy of To the Actor by Michael Chekov, is a theatre criticism book from the early 19th century (its a reprint and re-edited) by an author named William Hazlitt who writes about the performances of great early actors like Edmund Kean and Mrs Alsop in a book titled: Hazlitt on Theatre. So that is the first I will review and look forward to that soon everyone. However like I said charity shops are a great place to find bargains, at the end of terms near well known drama schools and colleges you can normally find tonnes of plays from students who do not keep their texts. I implore you if you are looking for something different from the same old typical books you find in Waterstones and WHSmiths then look in the Charity shops or the Libraries they may have some rare books at a steal which can interest you.

Support your local charity shops and go have a look.

Xtofer

Update

Hi all. I first of all want to apologise for the fact that there has been a serious lack of updates on this blog over the past 3 weeks. I came back from my Holiday's and I have found it a little hard to get back into the rhythm of posting. However I have been keeping very active, resuming my studies and doing more work on the Curtains!!! project (which included visiting one of the theatres on the list). I have also been recording more of my monologues from yet more cut price theatre books... more on that a little later... but yes I have been recording more monologues and these are more for me rather than anyone else. It is good to practice your art and this is how I practice mine, it also helps to get feedback and as ever you are all invited to comment on them. So here are the links for my latest records.

Owners
Once a Catholic 1
Once a Catholic 2
Cherry Orchard

As ever please feel free to either email me at chrisandrewpilgrim@yahoo.co.uk or leave your comments below.

Xtofer