The Future is Fun

It is too easy to look at the state of the arts and do little besides moan and groan.  There’s no money, there are no audiences, there are not enough plays by/about/performed by the multi-cultural Britain we should be celebrating.  There are not enough women. The arts isn't valued enough in our schools. Theatre costs too much.  Even when theatre costs nothing at all, audience’s don’t come.  What are we meant to do?  What are we expected to do?

And yet, as those links will suggest, there are two sides to every argument.  It is a case of whether we choose to be devoted, or be disgruntled.  In my local What Next? meetings, the topic of conversation often lands on the difficult discourse between those who run the arts organisations and those, the local councillors, who interrogate why we bother with the arts in the community.  Thankfully, this is a group who yanks the reigns on moaning and groaning, and instead seeks a plan of action.  The consensus, last time we talked about this, was to encourage the artists and audiences who are independent of those running the arts centres and theatres to step in and lobby their MP.  Maria Miller was present at last month’s meeting, and of course, she quite agreed.   

But excuse me while I have a little grumble, because that is much easier said than done.  Particularly in towns that are within heckling distance of London, if you're going to pay for theatre at all, it is more worthwhile to hop on a train and dive straight into the fringe and the West End.  When it is that easy, there is little impetus to care about the arts in your local community.  Sorely, sometimes this is even the cheaper option.  So how can we inspire people to think otherwise?

At the What Next? meeting, while we were on the topic of engaging with audiences and providing free theatre, Mary Swan, artistic director of Proteus Theatre Company, told us about the Fun Palaces.  The energy in the room shifted.  “Do you know what they are?”  “No, but I definitely want to know.”  This is an exciting initiative taking place nationwide on the 4^th and 5^th October.  The idea sprung from a Devoted and Disgruntled meeting in January 2013, where Stella Duffy asked what should be done to celebrate Joan Littlewood’s centenary.  Inspired by Littlewood’s saying ‘everyone an artist, everyone a scientist’, the group came up with the idea of building these spaces for communities to come together and play, for free, provided with whatever art, theatre, games or music they want.  If the children want to go in and learn the ukulele and play table football while also having their face painted, then that can happen.  Theatre can happen, live music can happen, so long as there is opportunity for everyone to get involved.  

There is far more information on the website, as well as the tools to find/build your nearest Fun Palace.  But basically, this is terrific news.  Within the title Devoted and Disgruntled, it is easy to spend too much time being disgruntled.  We should primarily be devoted – to enjoying art, and enjoying it with our audiences.

(Also, within the original Devoted and Disgruntled report, there was the suggestion that everyone walk to Winchester - just as Joan Littlewood walked to Manchester - because it is also Theatre Royal Winchester’s centenary.  I absolutely want this to happen.)