Funding art – nourishes a whole community

We were so grateful for the support from the Berattar Festival that allowed us to take Night Visit to Ljungby. I felt honored that they made such a huge investment in our performance: bringing us to Sweden; hiring equipment; giving us a lot of time and space in the theatre; and a brilliant technician – Anders. Such costs cannot be covered by the price of a reasonable ticket.

Meanwhile in the UK: the Arts Council is loosing even more of its funding: art subjects in schools are being cut; theatre companies and festivals have been forced to close; some theatres and museums are at risk of being shut; the many creative projects that flourished in schools and communities have vanished or been seriously curtailed. Arts organizations are all competing for the same limited business and state funding. Large organizations or famous names have a chance of attracting private sponsorship, but small companies and individual artists are really struggling.

 The arts are part of what gives a place its soul, this attracts visitors, and money. Ljungby believed that Night Visit would bring something different, challenging, and enriching to their festival and town. Their investment in turn, allowed our work to deepen and grow artistically.

Theatres in the UK need to have the resources to enable them to support non-commercial work, to take risks with their programming. By doing this they can develop new audiences, new ideas, new work, new artists. And perhaps even new forms of financial collaboration. But all this takes time. Cutting funding before anything has replaced it is leaving huge holes.  I can’t help wondering if they will ever be filled? And in the meantime, I am back in the UK, rehearsing my performances in my sitting room, unfunded, sending a big thank you to Ljungby!