Theatre boss in plea to save region's 'cultural ecosystem'
A theatre boss has warned that continued restrictions on live performances risk causing permanent damage to the region's "cultural ecosystem".
Boris Johnson has given theatres and concert halls the green light to reopen from July 4, although many are likely to remain closed as live shows will not be allowed.
It has left many of them facing an uncertain future, with a recent survey showing 97.5 per cent of venues saying they were facing permanent closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Birmingham Rep’s executive director Rachael Thomas says the sector must be protected if Britain is to preserve its status as a global leader in culture.
Speaking at an online creative and tech summit, she said: "One of the things that’s not very well understood about our sector is the interdependency of all its component parts and specifically what – or who – some of those component parts are.
"As Birmingham Rep we’re a venue and we employ quite a large number of permanent staff who work year round on our behalf. But we’re absolutely dependent on a hugely rich and diverse network of other players – be they actors, theatre makers, theatre companies, musicians, directors, designers, costume makers, prop makers, technicians, sound engineers, BSL interpreters, PR agents – it’s a very long list.
"Some of them are organised as companies – large and small – and some are individual artists/sole traders. The sector is a complex web of interrelated people organised in different ways.
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"More importantly, it’s an ecology and every part of that ecosystem is dependent on the survival of every other part.
"So all the companies and the individual artists and freelancers are a vital part of our survival as a venue – and we theirs.
"Very simplistically, without the venues, artists have nowhere to perform their work. Without the artists and freelancers, the venues have nothing to put on their stages.
"The whole sector has to be protected if we’re to protect our cherished status as a global leader in culture, and in the West Midlands that’s particularly important as we look to reap the benefits of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022."
Labour MP Jo Stevens, the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said the cultural sector in regions outside London needed "targeted intervention" to protect them as they were "far less resilient" than the nation's capital.
"The focus has to be on saving jobs, on saving infrastructure and supporting the retention of skills," she said.
"We don’t have to reinvent the wheel on this. Labour knows how important freelancers are to the economy and to this sector, but I’m not convinced that the Government does. We need to look at our European neighbours to see what they are doing. There are good examples of best practice that we can use."
Speaking in the Commons earlier this month, Birmingham MP Liam Byrne warned the city's cultural institutions were "on the verge of collapse", saying the Rep was "running a serious fiscal deficit".
