An Invitation

How can live performance flourish?    

If you love live performance and share my belief that the world makes more sense and is, quite simply, a better place as a result of good quality performance being a part of our lives, then this invitation is to you.  Register your free place at Made in Somerset.

So we’ve invited Seth Honnor, founder of the hugely successful Theatre Bristol, to facilitate an Open Space Event. He asked me – “Why do you want to hold an Open Space?” There are several answers.

Here we are two years on from that Made in Somerset debate and the arts sector is facing even more challenges than it was in 2009. If Somerset was deemed by some to be a cultural backwater then, it certainly could be seen as one now. This year, two of our local authorities have chosen to cut 100% of their arts development funding.

During the campaign last winter to 'save Somerset arts funding', several things happened.  I was overwhelmed by the number of people who simultaneously felt outraged by the proposed 100% cuts and yet also seemed resigned to the inevitability of it.  “It's not necessary and it’s not happening to this degree in other counties” we cried, and “It’s a clear message that our local politicians simply do not place any value whatsoever on the arts”.  Somerset arts organisations worked together and successfully gained public support in the form of 7,500 petition signatures. This felt like a great achievement.

Despite this, Somerset County Council and Mendip District Council both went ahead with the unprecedented 100% cuts. This is tragic and terribly depressing and local authority arts officers in neighbouring counties are warning that cuts could be coming in their areas too. Shortly after, in March this year, Arts Council England announced which organisations would be part of its National Portfolio. Another shock. I could not believe that only three arts organisations in Somerset were to be funded.

Working for Take Art, I had mixed feelings. I was relieved to be within the portfolio, of course, but I also felt intensely concerned about friends and colleagues across the county, including some within our own organisation where redundancies were already taking place. And I felt concerned for Somerset. I heard work colleagues saying, “Somerset’s had it, let’s head off and find work somewhere where the arts are still valued”.  As we go into the Autumn, I hear deeply depressing news from colleagues in arts organisations in Bridgwater and Frome, amongst many others across the whole SW region, who are worried about their immediate future.

And yet, through this adversity, new and exciting initiatives are still springing up. The beautiful little Lyric Theatre has opened in Bridport, the Bike Shed in Exeter has expanded, we are surrounded by great festivals, site specific and outdoor work is growing, productive international partnerships are developing and loads of exciting work continues to be made in Bristol.

Maybe you’re from a company, or you’re an artist that has never received revenue funding and have always existed on small amounts of project funding. How do you feel at this time?  Do you feel isolated and worried about a loss of livelihood or has nothing fundamentally shifted for you?  

The Somerset campaign demonstrated that venues have massive public support in their localities.  How can that support be harnessed to help contribute to keeping the venues open with vibrant programmes and a professional staff?

So to answer Seth's question: now feels like a good moment to move on, to come together with those who care about live performance, dance and theatre, to take inspiration from others and to look forwards, to ask the question: how can live performance flourish?    

And why Open Space? Well if you are unfamiliar with Open Space it is an interactive and inclusive way of structuring a meeting that allows you, the participant, to set the agenda. It is a very dynamic way of talking about complicated and difficult things. Everything that is said will be recorded and you will get a copy of that document. A strength of Open Space is its ability to unite groups of enormous diversity, to that end please help us to ensure this information reaches far and wide by passing this invitation on.

To get us all thinking and inspired, we’ve invited a few people to make short provocations at the start of the afternoon. These include some local artists and theatre makers as well as Andy Field from the wonderful Forest Fringe and Gavin Stride from Farnham Maltings - who tells me that he for one feels very optimistic about the future!

How can live performance flourish?   

Join us on Friday 7th October from 1.30-5pm at The Brewhouse, Taunton to answer this question. 

Although this is a Free Event to you, there are still costs for us.  So if you secure yourself a place, please make sure you turn up or tell us if you can’t.  We’ll provide the tea, coffee and delicious refreshments.  

Stay on and join us for the Sass Sessions featuring Probe Dance and the Women of Wondermentalist - all as part of the Made in Somerset Festival - full details and tickets for the evening Showcase are available at www.takeart.org or tel 01460 249450. 

If you want live performance to flourish please come.

See you on 7th if not before,

Sarah.

Sarah Peterkin is from Take Art and this invitation is on behalf of the Theatre Somerset Steering Group

Made in Somerset Open Space discussion tickets are FREE but you will need to register your place.  Only 60 possible spaces - register here.