EDINBURGH THEATRE STRATEGY: October 2004

Transcription

1 EDINBURGH THEATRE STRATEGY: October 2004 CONTENTS PART I: Page 1 A VISION Page 1 B INTRODUCTION Page 2 C THE 1996 STRATEGY Page 3 D EDINBURGH s THEATRICAL CONSTITUENCIES Page 5 E THE CURRENT CONTEXT Page 12 PART II: THE KEY STRATEGIC AIMS Page 30 KSA 1 Page 31 KSA 2 Page 37 KSA 3 Page 45 KSA 4 Page 50 KSA 5 Page 52 KSA 6 Page 56 PART III: THE FINANCIAL STRATEGY Page 60 PART IV: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Page 63 PART V: RECOMMENDED ACTIONS Page 66

2 PART I: A: A VISION FOR THEATRE IN EDINBURGH Edinburgh enjoys one of the richest cultural environments in the world. The city hosts an extraordinary range of festivals, unrivalled in the world, which stimulates and helps sustain an exceptionally large number of theatres and innovative theatre companies. This unique environment also contains networks of other agencies (educational, social etc.) which recognise the value of culture for the public benefit. This is a situation to be cherished and developed. However, it must also be protected. A number of English cities are currently undertaking developments which place culture at their heart. Liverpool, as European Capital of Culture, is clearly well positioned to do this but it is not alone. Other regional centres such as Newcastle/Gateshead, Manchester and Birmingham are also proposing development plans for cultural programmes and an expansion of festival activity which (either implicitly, or explicitly) will challenge Edinburgh. In this context, Edinburgh must work vigilantly to ensure it retains and develops its cultural pre-eminence. If it does not, there is a real risk that some of its peer cities in England will speedily catch up or even surpass it as cultural centres. This threat is comparatively imminent. Liverpool s reputation as Capital of Culture will be established by By that point too, other major English cities will have reaped the benefits of their Urban Cultural Programmes (many of them with new or massively overhauled festival programmes). If Edinburgh does not act pre-emptively to match this challenge, it is likely to lose its current extremely valuable position as the market leader. Edinburgh s theatre community can make a particularly valuable contribution to the city s objective of maintaining its position as a cultural capital and to the city s social, cultural and economic health. That will require the theatre community, the City of Edinburgh Council and other public agencies collaborating over the next few years to achieve a shared vision for the capital city which secures and develops its cultural position and in which: The quality of the year-round programme achieves world-class standards with a range of independent, innovative theatres and theatre companies - each with a clear identity - balancing the demands of creative ambition, social objectives and commercial viability This excellence is acknowledged nationally and internationally, attracting increasing numbers of year-round visitors drawn by the vibrancy of the city s theatrical life Theatrical opportunities are equally accessible to all, with every citizen able to participate in, and enrich the life of, their community and the city as a whole both as audience members and active participants A learning culture develops opportunities for audiences and voluntary participants as well as skills and capacity in the professional sector so that emerging talent can be nurtured and a range of training opportunities developed 1

3 The theatre sector - including building-based and non-building-based, professional and non-professional, youth and community - demonstrates an inter-connectedness based on co-operation, joint initiatives, the sharing of resources (and ideas) and a positive sense of creative competition The sector, in collaboration with the City of Edinburgh Council and other public agencies, is in a position to demonstrate its value to the city and to Scotland, through advocacy, marketing etc. This value is acknowledged by secure relationships with (and within) the City of Edinburgh Council and other public agencies, underpinned by increased levels of funding which ensure the stability of every part of the sector By investing in this vision over the next six years, Edinburgh would establish its position by 2010 as one of the pre-eminent theatrical cities in the world, offering an extraordinarily diverse range of experiences for both residents and visitors and, consequently, confirm its role as a cultural capital. B: INTRODUCTION In 1999, The City of Edinburgh Council published a Cultural Policy, Towards the New Enlightenment. Since then, it has implemented a number of arts strategies including a Festivals Strategy and a Music Strategy and it is currently developing a Dance Strategy. It has also developed two Theatre Strategies. Section B following summarises the principal recommendations of the more recent of these, which was published in 1996, with an account of the present state of its implementation. Research for the present Theatre Strategy took place during the later stages of 2003 and Spring This involved: A review of published information, including a range of published policy documents from, inter alia, the City of Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish Executive Analysis of trading data furnished by The Audience Business (TAB) and individual theatres and companies Comparisons of Edinburgh s theatrical ecology with that of a number of other cities within and outwith Scotland Individual and group interviews with stakeholders and theatre practitioners (as set out in Appendix A) Written contributions from a number of other individuals and organisations (as set out in Appendix B) Issuing factual questionnaires to a number of organisations (as set out in Appendix C) Contributions from Edinburgh s Citizens Panel (a summary of which is included as Appendix D) 2

4 An iterative relationship with a Working Group and a Plenary Group, representing interested parties (set out in Appendix E) In addition, separate work has been undertaken on options for the future for: (a) The Festival City Theatres Trust (FCTT) (b) Theatre Workshop C: THE 1996 STRATEGY The 1996 Strategy was undertaken as Edinburgh District Council was being replaced by the City of Edinburgh Council. A summary of the full Strategy and its implementation is contained in Appendix F. Some of its recommendations have been addressed in the subsequent eight years; others still present a pressing need. In some cases, the environment has changed, rendering the 1996 recommendations obsolete. The following bullet points highlight the issues most germane to the present Strategy: The City of Edinburgh Council should secure its major arts institutions while continuing to support community-based, or developmental projects. The present report accepts this underlying premise In doing this, the producing theatres and companies need investment in order for them to maintain and enhance the quality of their work. This remains a pressing issue with many companies struggling to maintain their levels of productivity. Moreover, it is important to note that any such investment should be distributed across the full range of producers, including the non-building-based companies In order to protect more vulnerable groups, the City of Edinburgh Council should recognise the importance of these companies and, where appropriate, ring-fence areas of the cultural grants budget in future years in order to protect the key smaller project clients. This initiative should include not just professional producing companies but also some community-based organisations working in participatory areas. With the increased emphasis on the social inclusion agenda, this recommendation remains valid and informs the 2004 Strategy Both the Traverse Theatre and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company (RLTC) should continue targeting younger audiences. Linkages with the Children s International Theatre Festival might be productive in this - and could help the festival extend its activities and profiles into other parts of the year. Much progress has been made in this area and the issue of work for young people recurs in this Strategy Some of the smaller companies need more secure home-bases. This might be achieved through sharing resources within a capital programme. This issue is still live and is addressed in this report The City of Edinburgh Council should convene a forum of the theatre sector to explore public policy issues and monitor the progress of the Theatre Strategy. This should also facilitate potential collaborations between city centre operations and organisations rooted in more peripheral areas. This latter point remains an objective of the 2004 Strategy 3

5 The civic venues need capital investment. This remains true, particularly in the case of the King s Theatre, as is noted below The Festival Theatre and the King s Theatre should be jointly managed with additional investment in their programme. Due to financial pressures this proposal has not been fully taken forward. The two theatres are now jointly managed; however, the funding package that was agreed reflects a reduction in the operational weeks available across the two theatres and in the total public funds available Edinburgh must develop an integrated and broad-based Strategy for audience development which will, over a period of time, grow its domestic and visitor audience to the level needed to sustain its theatres. This will involve a central marketing plan for the city, which supports and complements the individual venues marketing plans, multi-venue print material and liaison with the Tourist Board and other potential partners. Much has been achieved in this area, including the creation of TAB, but more remains to be done. The 2004 Strategy addresses these issues including questions around ticketing and box-office Relevant departments of the City of Edinburgh Council should collaborate to use the arts to market the city to the outside world. A Cross-Council Tourism Working Group meets to review this area of activity. As well as assessing the impact of one-off events, work is also underway to enhance the role of cultural weekend breaks in Edinburgh's tourism offer The City of Edinburgh Council might wish to pursue negotiations to explore the possibilities of Scottish Opera s significantly increasing its profile in the city. Scottish Opera has undergone difficulties in recent years, which have reduced its contribution to Edinburgh s theatrical life and contributed to the financial difficulties of the FCTT Touring might be facilitated by collaborations or consortia between Edinburgh and other Scottish theatres, between the principal Scottish receiving theatres and their English peers or between Edinburgh theatres and commercial producers who might be interested in co-operating with the city as a production centre, opening shows in the city and then touring them on nationally. A number of such initiatives have taken place successfully in recent years; these options remain as possible approaches to the continuing dearth of high quality large-scale touring drama Departments of the City of Edinburgh Council should collaborate in developing policies and practices aimed at helping its citizens overcome the barriers to access e.g. through: traffic and transport initiatives, ticketing schemes, improved signage, child-care initiatives, the development of the city s venues to make them more child-friendly, provision of quality theatre and arts events for younger children and pricing. Although some headway has been made in these initiatives the need for more such collaborations remains There should be a skills audit for the companies and theatres in the city, resulting in the identification of training needs and the development of mechanisms to answer them. There has been progress in this area; the 2004 Strategy continues to address it 4

6 The Council should act as: An advocate. A funder A lead body An adviser An enabler A networker A provider of services A point of reference Overall, considerable progress has been made since 1996 towards the goals of enhancing the cultural life of the city and the performance of its companies and venues. This has brought with it economic benefits and enhanced profile for the city as a European city. It is to the credit of the many highly talented and resourceful individuals working within, and associated with, the theatre sector that so much has been achieved, especially in the context of the limitations of and increased demands on - public sector funding over this period, which have constrained the city s capacity to realise all of the objectives of the 1996 Strategy. The theatre sector has also had to contend with unprecedented challenges brought about by events in the wider world which have had negative financial impacts e.g. Foot & Mouth, September 11 and the Iraq war. Despite this, Edinburgh has successfully maintained its position as a global cultural city, in which theatre and theatrical life is pre-eminent. More, however, remains to be done in several areas, especially if Edinburgh is to withstand the challenge of other British cities with major cultural aspirations. Most particularly, as future sections of the present Strategy will argue, there is a continuing need for: Additional investment in the city s producing companies (large and small) Investment in the fabric of the King s Theatre and a re-investment in the programming budgets of the FCTT An integrated approach to the housing needs of smaller companies A collaborative approach to ticketing and box-office A strategic approach to increasing audiences and participation, particularly with regard to individuals and groups at risk of social exclusion, e.g. from culturally diverse communities or people with disabilities D: EDINBURGH S THEATRICAL CONSTITUENCIES Edinburgh contains a wide range of independent theatre companies and community arts projects as well as two concert halls, a network of receiving theatres, two building-based producing theatres, a smaller professional arts centre, a host of smaller, innovative non-building-based companies and a vibrant and varied voluntary theatre community containing over 40 companies. Taken as a whole, this rich environment contains an enormous variety of exciting and innovative theatre which includes straight drama, musicals, children s theatre, educational programmes, disability-related work, new plays, participatory projects and performance that spans a number of theatrical (and other artistic) disciplines. This range of work addresses 5

7 virtually every aspect of Edinburgh life, whether centred on residents or aimed at visitors. It includes the following theatrical organisations: Larger Professional Theatres The Playhouse (capacity 3,000), owned and managed by Clear Channel Entertainment, presenting large-scale touring shows The Festival Theatre (capacity 1,900) and the King s Theatre (capacity 1,300), both owned by the City of Edinburgh Council and managed by the Festival City Theatres Trust Ltd. (FCTT), presenting touring lyric theatre (mainly at the Festival Theatre) and plays (principally at the King s Theatre). FCTT is a significant member of both the Dance Consortium and the Major Venues Consortium, UK-wide networks for major (often international) tours which provide a gateway to Scotland for such work. The King s Theatre also hosts the annual pantomime and, very importantly, provides the main venue for Edinburgh s largest amateur societies Royal Lyceum Theatre Company (capacity 658) owned by the City of Edinburgh Council and managed by the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company Ltd. (RLTC), a producing theatre company undertaking a range of productions The Traverse Theatre (capacity seat studio), leased by the City of Edinburgh Council, fitted out with capital investment from the City of Edinburgh Council (in exchange for the theatre s old Grassmarket site) and managed by The Traverse Theatre Ltd.; since 2000, the Scottish Arts Council (SAC) has designated the theatre as a national new writing resource in recognition of its position as one of the most important homes for new writing in the Englishspeaking world Smaller Theatres Theatre Workshop (capacity 155 seats) owned by the City of Edinburgh Council and managed by Theatre Workshop Ltd., concentrating on inclusion and education through the creation of smaller-scale, community theatre. Theatre Workshop has been producing and/or presenting theatre in the city for over twenty years. It is the first professional producing theatre in Europe to focus on including disabled actors in all its productions The ChurchHill Theatre (CHT) owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council in partnership with the ChurchHill Forum. This is a 360-seat fully equipped venue with a 145-seat studio, which is heavily used by many of the city s voluntary groups. As a very important resource for this sector, The CHT requires refurbishment in order to meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act The Netherbow: Scottish Storytelling Centre, owned by the Church of Scotland and managed by the Scottish Storytelling Centre Executive Committeein association with the Scottish Storytelling Forum. The Netherbow, which is currently closed for a major capital redevelopment funded by, amongst others, the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Arts Council Lottery, Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh & Lothian (SEE&L) and City of Edinburgh Council capital funds, will reopen late 2005 to become the Scottish Storytelling Centre. The new centre will 6

8 focus on literature events whilst also presenting theatre for children and adults which relates to the literature and storytelling strands of the Centre s policy. The Netherbow, when re-opened will have a capacity of 100 St Bride s Centre, a 250 seat community education centre, housed within a City of Edinburgh Council Community Education Centre and owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council, presents a programme of theatre, dance, cinema, concerts, ceilidhs and arts based educational activities through the year. It also serves as an important base for youth theatre activity The Brunton (capacity 296), owned, and managed, by the East Lothian Council, which provides a varied programme of performances, activities and events throughout the year including drama, dance, music, theatre for children and young people, film and comedy. It also hosts a number of performing arts residencies and is the base for Catherine Wheels Theatre Company. Dance Base, Scotland s National Centre for Dance, located in the Grassmarket. This 6,900,000 centre opened in September 2001 and aims to cater for dancers of all ages and abilities, enabling over 2,500 people a week to experience the benefits of dance through an extensive public, professional and outreach programme. It also operates as a presenting venue for international dance in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and plays a key role in programming dance at the Traverse Theatre throughout the year. Although Dance Base is a very important strategic venue for the city, it is more appropriate that its role and future be considered as part of the Edinburgh Dance Strategy being developed in parallel with this study. The current document does not, therefore, consider Dance Base in detail The Ross Theatre, owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council, is an open-air venue for up to 2,000 people in Princes Street Gardens. This site, which is available for hire, attracts large numbers of visitors at various times of the year, particularly during the Summer and Winter Festival periods. It hosts the annual Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert in August, free Festival Fringe events and a range of other major events including non-professional events and rock concerts North Edinburgh Arts Centre (NEAC) owned and managed by North Edinburgh Arts Ltd. This 3 million new-build arts centre was made possible by Scottish Arts Council lottery and City of Edinburgh Council capital funds. NEAC opened in November 2002 and presents in its seat venue a diverse programme of small-scale, UK and international touring theatre, dance, film and live music. It also programmes a range of multi-arts events in its studio spaces, gallery, cafébar and garden. In just over a year, NEAC has very successfully become part of the national touring network, attracting audiences from across the city and beyond. NEAC has, in a short time, become an important venue with its particular emphasis on work for children, young people and family audiences and its capacity and willingness to co-produce with other companies. It is, accordingly, a key venue for the Children s International Theatre Festival and the Puppet Animation Festival 7

9 The Leith Theatre, owned by the City of Edinburgh Council, is a 1930s theatre and projection facility with a seating capacity of around 1100 that has been closed to public use since the late 1980s and is currently in a markedly dilapidated state. Given the very substantial sums required to re-instate the venue for theatre presentation, and given the current significant levels of provision across the city, the Council should consider selling the site. Any capital receipt should then be utilised to invest in the remaining theatre buildings infrastructure, as indicated in KSA 6 The Gateway Theatre owned by Queen Margaret University College (QMUC) and home to its acting and production courses. The Gateway Theatre contains two performance spaces and presents some public performances as well as being active during the Summer Festivals period. At the time of writing, QMUC was developing plans for an expansion of its facilities in order to accommodate growing student need. Negotiations are currently taking place to explore ways in which other sectors of Edinburgh s theatre community may be able to collaborate with QMUC in this expanded site to mutual benefit Wester Hailes Arts for Leisure and Education (WHALE) a community arts centre which carries out a programme of activities in different art forms. This resource, which was made possible by Scottish Arts Council Lottery and City of Edinburgh Council capital funds, was launched in October It is based in the WHALE Learning Centre which exists to facilitate urban regeneration and offer socially excluded Edinburgh citizens access to learning opportunities. WHALE has recently suffered from fire damage and at the time of writing, the extent of the damage is unclear The Gilded Balloon, homeless since a major fire in December 2002, but currently planning a new venue. One of the major Edinburgh Festival Fringe Venues for the past 18 years, Gilded Balloon has a reputation for nurturing new talent and delivering high quality entertainment across a full range of performance genres. The new Gilded Balloon is intended to be an all year round contemporary arts complex, including a number of state-of-the-art flexible performance spaces, exhibition areas, new offices, artist studios, and a café/bar. This may prove a very important resource for other theatre companies in Edinburgh (see 1.4.3; 2.3.2) The Drill Hall in Dalmeny Street Leith, owned and managed by Out of the Blue (q.v.) which is in the process of transforming the building from an exclusively military site in the heart of the Leith/Pilmeny community area into an inclusive participatory arts centre, for the benefit of the people of Leith and Edinburgh. Refurbishment funding is currently being sought to generate additional studio spaces, workshop, rehearsal and small scale (150 seat) performance space, gallery, café-bar and sculpture garden. There are already 46 artists working from The Drill Hall. The project is aiming to be exemplary with respect to environmental sensitivity, accessibility and artistic achievement. Partners include the Scottish Arts Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Triodos Bank, Social Investment Scotland and Communities Scotland. A number of other venues which are sometimes used for drama, particularly during the summer festivals period. These include the Assembly Rooms, the George Square Theatre, Craigmillar Arts Centre. The Pleasance, the Roxy Art 8

10 House, the Bedlam Theatre and a number of community halls e.g. at Portobello, Leith and South Queensferry The city also contains a wide range of non-building based producing companies, and community-based organisations who undertake arts activity. These are often less high-profile than the major theatres, but their value must not be underestimated. Independent companies and community-based arts offer a complementary stream of activity to that available in the big city-centre theatres. In 2004, this sector included the following companies and initiatives: Artlink supports the right of people who experience disability to access the arts. Working within a social context responding to specific situations, issues or individual circumstances, Artlink promotes an imaginative approach to addressing inequality, focusing on audience development, collaborative arts practice in community and healthcare contexts and research and investigation. It is the only audience development programme in the UK, which addresses the specific support needs of people with experience of disability to access arts venue and events. The Artlink Arts Access programme, unique in Scotland, arranges over 20 outings a week for individuals with disabilities to enjoy arts events in Edinburgh Boilerhouse is an award winning touring theatre company which creates unique site-specific performances, produces high-quality street theatre events and expands the environments in which live theatre is experienced. The company connects with audiences who do not normally enter theatre buildings and works with a variety of artists in the UK and further afield to create new artistic alliances Benchtours, created in 1991, aims to challenge, engage and entertain audiences with innovative touring and community projects. It presents its unique brand of visual theatre in venues and as part of festivals throughout the UK and mainland Europe. During the writing of this Strategy, it was announced that Benchtours will receive revenue subsidy from the Scottish Arts Council from 2004/05 Blue Boat creates theatre for children which mixes story-telling with highly visual elements such as puppets and video Catherine Wheels, based at the Brunton Theatre, aims to play a key role in the development of a vibrant children s theatre sector in Scotland. As well as producing work for children and young people, it is developing a range of education and outreach programmes to develop creativity and imagination Common Force Community Theatre, working in partnership with the Netherbow (q.v.) provides opportunities for participation in community theatre productions and related public education activity reflecting the lives and experiences of those living in the Old Town and Southside areas of the city. Cutting Edge, a recently established company, has evolved from touring Shakespeare productions to a range of venues and buildings including Scottish castles, to developing, producing and specialising in musical theatre 9

11 The Elements produces original dance/dramas with music and develops collaborative arts projects across art forms, communities and cultures. Since 1998, the group has worked with diverse communities and partners, focusing on the theme of justice in both Scotland and England Grassmarket Project has specialised, over the past 14 years, in developing biographical, devised theatre, film and documentary productions that are cocreated by the participants who are not trained actors, but instead act out their own life experiences in each production Grid Iron are nationally and internationally renowned for their award winning site-specific and touring theatre productions. They create exciting new ensemble work in a variety of spaces and locations with a special commitment to accessibility, entertainment and innovation Imaginate creates and produces Britain s largest performing arts festival for children, stages international productions for children across Scotland on tour and showcases Scottish work for children, artists and educationalists Lung Ha s Theatre Company provides opportunities for people with learning difficulties to become actively involved in the performing arts through workshops, training programmes and both large and small scale productions presented within mainstream theatres and in collaboration with the professional sector (e.g. the Traverse Theatre and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO)) Magnetic North tours to small and medium scale venues with new text-based work for theatre, exploring the boundaries between disciplines as a basis for theatrical storytelling Edinburgh Mela produces and presents theatre from its unique position as a festival rooted in the south Asian diaspora which maintains strong links to cultural professionals in the south Asian sub-continent. It is a festival for the mainstream, involving many world cultures in its programme and including professional, semi-professional and community artists. A developing community and schools programme feeds into the annual event. The Edinburgh Mela is based at QMUC s Gateway Theatre campus and is developing a range of plans including a Gateway/Mela/Imaginate sub-continent theatre collaboration, a joint approach for a new and accessible youth cultural space, a key Mela objective, a streettheatre related production project with a London-based south Asian company, a theatre product for UK melas involving collaboration between an Indian theatre company and an Edinburgh theatre company and a joint venture with Dhaka. In collaboration with TAB s Art Explorers programme, the Edinburgh Mela is also exposing young people from the south Asian communities to mainstream theatre attendance Out of the Blue (ootb) Arts and Education Trust is a participatory arts project which operates two venues the Drill Hall in Leith (q.v.) and the Bongo Club, a 200 seat multi-functional venue running a programme of theatre, live music, spoken word and film alongside exhibitions in its internet café and a variety of workshops and dance classes Prime Productions produces and tours a range of classical, modern and new theatre to venues across Scotland 10

12 Puppet Lab makes and performs puppetry in many styles for schools, theatres and halls across Scotland and elsewhere, as well as carrying out large-scale work for carnivals and parades. The company focuses particularly on taking projects to deprived rural and inner city areas Razor Octopus produces and presents cabaret that mixes visual elements with innovative performance mediums Stellar Quines facilitates the creative work of women in Scottish Theatre, discovering, nurturing, producing and promoting the work of women playwrights, directors, actors, designers and technicians and gives special attention to work which is of relevance to women Te POOKa creates small- and large-scale, highly visual non-traditional theatrical events in public places, including street arts, performance percussion and modern circus. It collaborates with artists to create multi-disciplinary works and aims to integrate community/audience participation into its events Wee Stories has established a reputation for quality in children's theatre with uniquely engaging shows that are rooted in story-telling, designed to be a family experience that everyone can enjoy. Set up in 1995, the award-winning company s target audience is families and it specialises in work for children under 12 years that tours to all sizes and type of venue throughout this country and beyond Craigmillar Community Arts primary purpose is to engage local community groups and the local Craigmillar community more widely in the practice and enjoyment of the arts. The organisation, based in The Arts Centre in Craigmillar, is rooted in the community through local management and has collaborated on work with most other local organisations as well as WHALE, NEAC, Arts South Edinburgh (ASE), the National Galleries, Scottish Opera and the Scottish Society of Arts The city contains two venues the Usher Hall and the Queen s Hall which are concert halls and so fall outside the remit of this study (with the exception of their need to be engaged in any future city-wide joint ticketing operation/network). The city is also host to a number of Festivals, as discussed in the Festivals Strategy and one national musical institution - the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. It also regularly plays host to three other musical or lyric national companies: Scottish Opera Scottish Ballet Royal Scottish National Orchestra Both Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet have played regularly at the Festival Theatre and thus have been an important part of the city s theatrical operating environment. 1 1 Although, at the time of writing, Scottish Opera s recent travails resulted in an element of uncertainty as to its future level of provision 11

13 E: THE CURRENT CONTEXT Since the 1996 Strategy, the context in which Edinburgh s theatres operate has changed in a number of ways. This section aims to provide a brief outline of some of those changes. E.1 Political Under the aegis of a different UK government in Westminster, the Scottish Parliament has been established. The Scottish Executive has drawn up the UK s first National Cultural Strategy and undertaken a National Cultural Review. As part of its Better Cities Initiative, the Executive has established the Cities Growth Fund, as an outcome of which the City of Edinburgh Council has created a Theatre Transformation Fund. The Executive has also agreed, and allocated two years funding, to establish the National Theatre of Scotland. Whilst these developments are very welcome, some contributors to this review expressed concern that Edinburgh s role as capital city might act as a double-edged sword: the status confers clear advantages, but it also carries the risk of some arguing that the city has enough and that other areas of Scotland should be a priority for investment by central government. The vision for theatre in Edinburgh, outlined in Section A, sets out the ambition of securing the city s position as one of the pre-eminent theatrical cities in the world. If it is do that, it is critically important that Edinburgh maintains its leading position as a capital city with an international reputation for culture. The City of Edinburgh Council should, accordingly, make the case to the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Arts Council that additional resources for theatre in Edinburgh will benefit not just the citizens of Edinburgh but the population and international standing of Scotland as a whole. Over recent years, the theatre (and the whole cultural sector) has been affected by new legislation in a number of fields including: The Disability Discrimination Act which will place obligations on employers and on public buildings. The City of Edinburgh Council should continue to work closely with its theatres and theatre companies to ensure that they develop their facilities and practice to comply with the letter and the spirit of the Act The European ruling on VAT-exemption which will affect many of Edinburgh s theatre companies. Most will probably benefit from its provisions; some, however may not. The City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Arts Council should monitor this situation carefully to ensure that no company does suffer financially. They should also ensure that any company that does gain significantly from the change in regulation is not penalised by a reduction in funding E.2 Environmental The centre of Edinburgh is witnessing a major regeneration programme. The city is economically buoyant with a 20,000 increase in its population anticipated in the next few years. It is seen as a booming, bustling European capital now talked about in the same breath as Paris, Barcelona and Berlin according to a Big City Survey 12

14 reported in The Scotsman 2. The health of Edinburgh s economy and of its tourist offer is manifest in the infrastructural developments that are planned at the airport and for transport links. However, it should be noted that this generally-perceived buoyancy is accompanied by continuing areas of deprivation. 3 The city s cultural scene contributes substantially to this vibrancy as was acknowledged in the Edinburgh s City Vision consultation paper of March 2003, which noted the cultural assets, which largely underpin the city s success in attracting visitors. The theatre sector is a significant element in this; the Theatre Strategy should therefore aim to secure the existing cultural assets whilst being open to other developing initiatives. A pro-active approach to this task will be vital in a world which provides ever more diverse leisure options and where theatre competes for the public s disposable income with a wide range of recreational activity including sport, eating out and home entertainment. E.3 Cultural As already noted, Edinburgh contains a vibrant theatre sector (both in buildings and non-building-based) which provides a year-round diet of varied and innovative theatre, culminating in the summer Festival season when the city becomes the cultural capital of the world. In this context, Edinburgh s theatres attract significantly larger audiences than might be expected given the size of the city. Despite this success, at the time of the last Strategy the theatre sector faced a number of challenges. Principally: The 1996 local government reorganisation had been accompanied by a budgetary settlement from central Government that produced severe cuts in third party grants and operating allocations across all departments. The City of Edinburgh Council s cultural grants budget for 1996/97 represented a reduction of about 400k in real terms over two years earlier The Edinburgh Festival Theatre and the King s Theatre were both experiencing severe financial difficulties. The Festival Theatre generated a deficit of over 650,000 in 1995/96 alone and, in the first two years after the Festival Theatre opened, the audience at the King s Theatre declined by one-third and its earned income by over 300,000 The 1996 Strategy concluded that the sector (including the concert halls) needed to grow its audience by c. 150,000 p.a. if it was to operate at maximum effectiveness and that the City of Edinburgh Council should instigate a strategic audience development initiative to achieve that target a recommendation that led to the establishment of TAB There was a need for capital investment in the civic venues in order to make them more attractive to visitors, and increased investment in the producing managements to enable them to maintain and enhance the quality of their work and, potentially, to generate additional product for the city s receiving theatres and other touring houses. Since that analysis, there has been substantial investment in the RLTC and the Usher Hall 2 24 June See also in E 4: social below 13

15 Since the 1996 Strategy, the City of Edinburgh Council s investment in the theatre sector has declined in real terms (see E.5.2 below) whilst the Scottish Arts Council s has increased (particularly in the last two years). The Festival Theatre and the King s Theatre (which do not receive core Scottish Arts Council funding) have been placed in a single trust in order to reduce their combined cost-base, enable complementary programming and reduce unhelpful competition. As was noted in Section C above, on merger, a revised funding package was agreed for the two theatres which resulted in a significant decline in the funds available for them (see E below). Despite this, the new company operated successfully for four years. Over time, however, external pressures on the two theatres have increased and. the funding package is now in urgent need of review. This financial difficulty has been exacerbated by the recent difficulties of Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet, which were both expected to provide a core element of the Festival theatre s programme. The difficulties faced over recent years by both these companies (which are a matter of public record) have resulted in their being unable to provide the originally anticipated audiences or income for the Festival Theatre. At the time of writing (Spring 2004) Scottish Opera are not offering the theatre any performances between June 2005 and June 2006 and the level of provision after that date remains unclear. Depending on the outcome of the current Scottish Opera review, this may be an issue to be raised at a senior level with the Scottish Arts Council and the Executive. In addition to these operating issues, the King s Theatre, in particular, remains in urgent need of capital investment. A number of other external changes have taken place in the cultural landscape which affect the theatre sector. Principal among these are: The creation of a cross-border touring fund jointly managed by the four UK Arts Councils. This fund was established to enable large scale lyric and drama companies to tour to appropriate theatres in other UK Arts Council territories. This joined-up approach also addresses the long-standing difficulties experienced by other funded companies which have, historically, been prohibited from applying their core subsidy outwith their home country. As a result of this initiative, English companies are now able to tour into Scotland and Scottish companies have the opportunity to play in England Arts Council England s theatre review in 2000 resulted in substantial uplifts in funding to many theatres from 2003 onwards. The consequence of this has been an increase in wages for artists and technicians working in English theatre as well as enhanced production budgets, larger casts and a greater emphasis on new work. Initial evaluations of the effects of this initiative indicate that the outcome has been a significant increase in audience numbers and box-office income. There was concern that this development might skew the national employment pattern by exacerbating a Southwards drift from Scotland to England. To date, this does not seem to have occurred to the degree feared; it does, however, remain an appreciable risk The Scottish Arts Council has developed a Theatre Strategy , which builds on the framework of the Scottish Executive s National Cultural Strategy, and aims for artistic excellence embedded in a diverse and inclusive Scottish society. Key objectives include: allowing forms to be developed that address the 14

16 aspirations of under-represented groups; providing a national support structure for new writing; encouraging and supporting artistic risk and opportunities for skills development; developing relationships with the TV, film and radio sectors; and ensuring that organisations increase and broaden attendances, identify their responsibilities for lifelong learning, collaborate with other arts organisations and have effective marketing and audience development plans. The Strategy also sets out the Scottish Arts Council s objective of establishing the National Theatre of Scotland The renewal, on a three-year basis, of the Scottish Arts Council s Stage One funding scheme. This is intended to enable specified large-scale venues to programme a diverse range of quality UK and international performing arts productions as part of creating greater opportunities for audiences and audience development. FCTT currently receives 100k p.a. from Stage One, to be matched by the City of Edinburgh Council. Stage One has recently been reviewed by the Scottish Arts Council Recent initiatives such as the Cultural Commission and the Scottish Executive s new Volunteering Strategy which may impact considerably on some areas of the city s theatrical life E.4 Social The issue of social inclusion has achieved a higher priority over recent years - both nationally and within Edinburgh. One of the City of Edinburgh Council s ten key objectives in its 1999 Cultural Policy was to enable all of Edinburgh s citizens and visitors to participate in, and enjoy, the widest cultural experience, including targeting initiatives to combat social exclusion. In addressing issues of social exclusion, Edinburgh has prioritised four geographical areas on the outskirts of the city, where the gap is manifest in terms of quality of life, life chances, economic, educational and social opportunities 4 In responding to the objective of social inclusion, a Theatre Strategy for the city must continue to seek to offer opportunities to all sectors of society, including those who are physically or financially disadvantaged. It should also recognise the evolving composition of the city s population. Black and Minority Ethnic communities, for example, currently make up only 4% of the city a figure that is very likely to rise over the next few years. The City of Edinburgh Council and the theatre sector - should adapt its approach to programming and planning to take account of evolving circumstances. In doing so, it should particularly recognise the needs of certain groups, including: Those from different cultures Those for whom access to the city centre is problematic People with disabilities Children and young people, who deserve high-quality work that will encourage them to become the audience of tomorrow In adopting this approach, the Theatre Strategy should recognise that all Edinburgh s citizens are entitled to share in the full range of the city s cultural activity and that, 4 Edinburgh Milestones, Capital City Partnership,

17 order for them to do so, disadvantaged communities should have the facility to explore cultural opportunities and individuals the chance to realise their creative potential, thereby establishing role models for future generations. The civic importance of the arts in general and theatre in particular - was emphasised in the 1996 process, and re-asserted emphatically during the research for the present Strategy, when several contributors pointed out that theatre is about community. It expresses Edinburgh to the world and the world to Edinburgh. It was also widely recognised that, by championing the arts, the City of Edinburgh Council adds to the quality of life of its citizens whilst contributing to the city s economic health. In order to maximise these dual benefits, the city s Theatre Strategy must continue to address the full range of theatrical activity from the large-scale city centre initiatives to grass-roots activity embedded in communities supporting existing activity and the development of new initiatives. E.5 Financial and Economic E.5.1 Theatre s Economic Profile Any analysis of the economic (and, indeed, the audience) profile of Edinburgh s theatre sector must be accompanied by a health warning. Despite the existence of TAB, the data on which such analysis is based is wholly dependent on the information supplied by the theatre sector. Theatres do not, however, collect information in consistent ways, many have destroyed old records and some data contains anomalies that the theatres are unable to explain. Given the growing need for public investment to be based on robust evidence, this is unfortunate. In future, the theatre sector should ensure that it is able to provide robust and verifiable data both for its own use and to enable the case for investment to be made more persuasively. The City of Edinburgh Council should work with the theatres and with TAB to ensure that, in future, consistent and reliable data is collated and tracked over time. This will require a benchmarking exercise in order to achieve more sophisticated key indicators on audience and economic profiles. Despite the above caveat, it is still clear that the theatre sector makes a considerable contribution to the city s economy. Any estimate of the size of this economy must, perforce, be approximate, given the commercially sensitive nature of much of the relevant data and the lack of consistently collected information. The 1996 Strategy observed that it would be useful for strategic planning purposes, to have more comprehensive data about the economic impact of all the city s arts providers and that the City of Edinburgh Council should consider commissioning a full study of the economic impact of the city s arts industry over the last few years. Although such a study has not been undertaken, extrapolations from information on some theatres box-office returns, combined with audience returns from others, allow for an orderof-magnitude estimate. 16

18 This exercise suggests that audiences in the five largest theatres 5 probably spent about 17.5m annually on site; when other theatres and halls are included 6 that figure rises to about 22m. The off-site spending of these audiences will, typically, amount to as much again. In addition to the money spent directly by audiences, the theatre economy has other constituent elements. Visiting performers, stage managers and technicians will be spending their wages and/or touring allowances in the city s shops, restaurants and hotels. That economic activity (outwith the summer Festival period) is likely to amount to between 600,000 and 1.2m p.a. The theatres themselves also spend with local suppliers; based on information furnished by the theatres, this probably amounts to at least another 2m. The voluntary sector probably adds at least another 1m to this. The total value of the theatre sector to Edinburgh s economy therefore, can be very conservatively estimated to be of the order of 50m annually (excluding the Festival period). When inflation is taken into account, this is slightly better than the figure identified in the 1996 Strategy. It appears, therefore, that in a society where the competition for leisure spend becomes more intense every year, Edinburgh s theatres are very creditably maintaining their market position year-round. This positive impression is reinforced by the fact that the City of Edinburgh Council conducted an analysis of the Royal Lyceum and the Traverse in 1999 which found that they delivered Best Value across a broad range of the services provided to the public. E.5.2 The Investment in Edinburgh s Professional Theatres The core revenue support from local authorities to the city s theatres and organisations has declined since 1995/96 when the Edinburgh District Council and Lothian Regional Council together gave revenue grants to its building-based producing theatres (RLTC, the Traverse and Theatre Workshop) amounting to 714,098 (c. 834k at 2002/03 prices). In 2002/03, the City of Edinburgh Council s grants to these three organisations totalled 529,590 7, a real-terms decline of 36.5% Over the same time, the City of Edinburgh Council s investment in its non-building based performing companies has been small; it is difficult to draw general conclusions in this field as the identities and level of activity of the funded companies have changed from year to year. However, it can be noted that in 1995/96, local authorities provided a total of c. 55,600 to three companies and in 2002/03 c 33,200 to five 8, a real-terms reduction of 49%. 5 The King s Theatre, the Festival Theatre, the Playhouse, the RLTC and the Traverse Theatre 6 Usher Hall, Queen s Hall, Theatre Workshop and the Assembly Rooms 7 There have been many changes to methods of accounting for these grants over the period in question, noted in following tables. Consequently, these figures cannot be regarded as wholly accurate reflections of the a total financial relationship between the Council and the theatres; nevertheless, they serve as a general indicator. 8 Excluding Imaginate and the Children s Theatre Festival 17