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Monday, September 02, 2024
Lack of arts schemes for working class will make UK theatre whiter and posher, director says
Theatre | The Guardian: The lack of investment in arts schemes aimed at working-class children will create a cultural landscape that is whiter and posher, according to one of the UK’s leading black British theatre directors.
2 comments:
Tane
said...
Theatre is better with a more diverse community. The stories will reach a larger audience and inform our communities of different types of experiences. Theatre needs to be spread around the way we spread American football. Arts should be as accessible as a basketball court. Culture is built out of art and experience and one of the reasons Raisin In the Sun continues to be a play we discuss and talk about. For a black family moving into a white neighborhood is still a story that happens today. It's a story that holds the heart of the American dream and watches a minority achieve it, or do they? To hear that academic programs are being saved for the wealthy is a disservice to the art and world we are trying to build and create. And the article talks about how this play is still relevant in the communities across the pond. For now is the time we lean into spreading the words of those less fortunate than us. Let them shout their stories from the rooftops. We don't know what gems will come out of it.
Working with a diverse group of artists and theatre-makers is one of the best parts of being in theatre. When everyone involved comes from different backgrounds, experiences, and life stories, the story that is created is all the better, and there is more for the audience to connect with. Even as an audience member, some of my favorite shows are ones that at first don’t seem to have much in common with my life, but the more I think about it the more I find in them to identify with that isn’t obvious. I believe it is a fuller experience for all when stories of various experiences are both told and involved in the telling. Furthermore, it should not just be the rich that have access to the joy of theatre and theatre-making, everyone deserves the chance to tell their stories and tell others’ stories through their interpretation. I think the solution is what used to happen, funding arts programs for children to allow the programs to be free or low-cost. It is sad that it has been going away, but I firmly believe that it can and should come back.
2 comments:
Theatre is better with a more diverse community. The stories will reach a larger audience and inform our communities of different types of experiences. Theatre needs to be spread around the way we spread American football. Arts should be as accessible as a basketball court. Culture is built out of art and experience and one of the reasons Raisin In the Sun continues to be a play we discuss and talk about. For a black family moving into a white neighborhood is still a story that happens today. It's a story that holds the heart of the American dream and watches a minority achieve it, or do they? To hear that academic programs are being saved for the wealthy is a disservice to the art and world we are trying to build and create. And the article talks about how this play is still relevant in the communities across the pond. For now is the time we lean into spreading the words of those less fortunate than us. Let them shout their stories from the rooftops. We don't know what gems will come out of it.
Working with a diverse group of artists and theatre-makers is one of the best parts of being in theatre. When everyone involved comes from different backgrounds, experiences, and life stories, the story that is created is all the better, and there is more for the audience to connect with. Even as an audience member, some of my favorite shows are ones that at first don’t seem to have much in common with my life, but the more I think about it the more I find in them to identify with that isn’t obvious. I believe it is a fuller experience for all when stories of various experiences are both told and involved in the telling. Furthermore, it should not just be the rich that have access to the joy of theatre and theatre-making, everyone deserves the chance to tell their stories and tell others’ stories through their interpretation. I think the solution is what used to happen, funding arts programs for children to allow the programs to be free or low-cost. It is sad that it has been going away, but I firmly believe that it can and should come back.
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