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Monday, January 08, 2024
‘A national emergency’: UK theatres fear closure after more local funding cuts
Arts funding | The Guardian: The chill blast of damaging cuts to provincial arts venues has returned to Berkshire this weekend as the cash-strapped local authority becomes the latest to scrap its cultural budget.
This was a tough read. I think I avoid articles talking about theaters closing and a lack of funding the most often. I think most artists can agree that it is nerve racking to read about a lack of funding in the industry so many of us have just committed to pursuing. It breaks my heart when the community as a whole does not recognize the importance of keeping theater open. I always think about how popular concerts and live music have become especially recently, yet there is not as much interest in theater… The thing that reassures me is knowing that there are people out there fighting to save these theaters. Articles like these are important because they are spreading awareness and catching people's attention. As the last sentence explained, we need people to speak up and defend the art form we love so much. I cannot believe that in the UK it is being called a national emergency. I only hope the US does not follow next.
This is so disheartening to read about. Though now post-covid it’s much better for the ‘business’ of theaters than it was during the pandemic as audience members are coming back, it is still a struggle to bring even Broadway back to how it was a few years ago. Unfortunately budget cuts seem to happen more often than not for the arts, and it can be extremely challenging for these venues to remain active when they are unable to produce shows to their full potential, let alone pay their employees. It is upsetting that this is also happening in the UK right now. Theater and the arts is so important to enriching culture, and not only is entertaining for an audience but can increase empathy and understanding in society as well, something I think some may forget when considering finances. Some of the best work in theater that I’ve seen has been in the UK, and so I hope they are able to keep up their theaters despite this sudden budget issue, and gain more profits soon as well.
I am stunned that policymakers are openly cutting cultural budgets. I’ve always applauded the UK’s commitment to public art, with the funding of the National Theatre, TAIT, and art museums. I would love to end up in the London theatre scene 10 years from now. From what I read in this article, it seems like these cuts are being made at the county level, not the national level. This alleviates my panic in some respects, but local cultures are also important; they’re what makes the world interesting. I’m quite glad that the UK has declared this a national emergency. Frankly, the US should probably do the same considering how little we fund public arts on a county and state level. It's a tough conversation as the arts can be seen as frivolous in comparison to other budget items. And to be honest, in international recovery from a deadly pandemic, the arts sometimes are. I don’t have the answer to how we move forward from this, but I’m intrigued to watch the UK’s art change with these budget cuts.
3 comments:
This was a tough read. I think I avoid articles talking about theaters closing and a lack of funding the most often. I think most artists can agree that it is nerve racking to read about a lack of funding in the industry so many of us have just committed to pursuing. It breaks my heart when the community as a whole does not recognize the importance of keeping theater open. I always think about how popular concerts and live music have become especially recently, yet there is not as much interest in theater… The thing that reassures me is knowing that there are people out there fighting to save these theaters. Articles like these are important because they are spreading awareness and catching people's attention. As the last sentence explained, we need people to speak up and defend the art form we love so much. I cannot believe that in the UK it is being called a national emergency. I only hope the US does not follow next.
This is so disheartening to read about. Though now post-covid it’s much better for the ‘business’ of theaters than it was during the pandemic as audience members are coming back, it is still a struggle to bring even Broadway back to how it was a few years ago. Unfortunately budget cuts seem to happen more often than not for the arts, and it can be extremely challenging for these venues to remain active when they are unable to produce shows to their full potential, let alone pay their employees. It is upsetting that this is also happening in the UK right now. Theater and the arts is so important to enriching culture, and not only is entertaining for an audience but can increase empathy and understanding in society as well, something I think some may forget when considering finances. Some of the best work in theater that I’ve seen has been in the UK, and so I hope they are able to keep up their theaters despite this sudden budget issue, and gain more profits soon as well.
I am stunned that policymakers are openly cutting cultural budgets. I’ve always applauded the UK’s commitment to public art, with the funding of the National Theatre, TAIT, and art museums. I would love to end up in the London theatre scene 10 years from now. From what I read in this article, it seems like these cuts are being made at the county level, not the national level. This alleviates my panic in some respects, but local cultures are also important; they’re what makes the world interesting. I’m quite glad that the UK has declared this a national emergency. Frankly, the US should probably do the same considering how little we fund public arts on a county and state level. It's a tough conversation as the arts can be seen as frivolous in comparison to other budget items. And to be honest, in international recovery from a deadly pandemic, the arts sometimes are. I don’t have the answer to how we move forward from this, but I’m intrigued to watch the UK’s art change with these budget cuts.
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