In Battalions Delphi study

Results of an expert consultation on ways to protect risk-taking on new work for the stage in an age of austerity Published 29 January 2014

By Fin Kennedy and Helen Campbell Pickford

When sorrows come, they come not single spies But in battalions.
Hamlet, Act IV, scene 5

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Contents
Foreword by David Edgar Introduction by Fin Kennedy Research Methodology by Helen Campbell Pickford Executive summary Full list of participants Summary: Delphi Top Twenty Word cloud About the authors Appendix 1: Original Data Responses from Questionnaire Round 2 4 6 9 13 18 20 61 62 63

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Foreword
By David Edgar
I started writing plays professionally at a gloriously propitious time. In the late 50s, the golden generation of Royal Court playwrights Osborne, Wesker, Arden, Jellicoe had made the theatre a prime arena for debate about the central questions of the age. In 1968, the abolition of stage censorship enabled a further widening of subject matter, exposed theatre-makers to hitherto suppressed overseas inuences, and expanded theatre presentation beyond conventional buildings. Eagerly, my generation of playwrights forged by the student protests of the late 60s embraced the vastly increased opportunities provided by subsidy of the fringe. There were difculties for playwrights. Although the National Theatre and later the RSC opened up their large stages, most new work was conned to studio and other small auditoria. Dependent on percentage royalties for their earnings, writers were rottenly paid. And as women playwrights pointed out the overwhelming majority of produced new plays were by men. But the biggest challenge was a repertoire stubbornly dominated by revivals. Accordingly, playwrights spent the 70s and 80s not just writing but campaigning: for decent pay and conditions for playwrights (won by the Theatre Writers Union and Writers Guild in the 80s), and for more womens work (which increased massively in same decade); but also for the Arts Council to encourage its client companies to programme more new plays. In 1994, over 60 playwrights wrote to the Guardian insisting that all subsidized theatres present at least three new plays annually; a year later, the playwrights unions revived the idea of a dead writers levy to equalise the costs of new and old work. This idea was taken up ten years later by the Monsterist group of playwrights campaigning for new plays on large stages. By now, the work of British playwrights like Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill and Gregory Burke increasingly dominated the continent. At home, the situation had also changed. Inuenced by arguments that the theatre text as a whole was a dead concept, the Arts Council had stopped analysing the statistics it receives from its theatre clients. However, in 2009, it commissioned a study into what had happened to the English theatre repertoire between 2003 and 2008. Based on a survey of the 89 regularly funded theatre companies in England (to which 65 replied), Writ Large revealed that during the 00s new writing had risen from a little under 20% to over 40% of the repertoire. Furthermore, new writing had broken out of the small-space ghetto: over the period of the sample, nine out of ten tickets for new plays were sold for theatres with more than 200 seats (and three Monsterists David Eldridge, Moira Bufni and Richard Bean saw their work presented on the Nationals Oliver stage). No wonder that in 2012, when English Touring Theatre surveyed audiences for their all-time favourite plays, four of the top ten (and two of the top ve) were by living playwrights. Yes, postwar British drama has seen great classical productions, brilliant acting, spectacular innovation in design and performance. But the big story has been new plays. Its this huge success story which is currently threatened by government reductions in funding to the arts, which provoked playwright Fin Kennedy to challenge Culture Minister Ed Vaizeys claim that the cuts were having no effect on the development of new plays. Hence, in February last year, the publication of In Battalions, his and Helen Campbell Pickfords report on whats actually been happening in theatres up and down the land since the cuts kicked in nearly two years ago. As Fin reports, just over half of the respondents to his survey reported fewer commissions for writers, two fths were running plays for shorter periods, and many were cutting back on the writers development schemes, attachments and residencies that have become central to how new plays are developed. Hence, in the following months, a considerable press and online campaign for a response from Ed Vaizeys department, and in April a letter, predictably seeking to debunk In Battalions. But hence, too, the Chancellors autumn statement, announcing a consultation on offering tax breaks to theatre companies producing and touring new plays, which Ed Vaizey credited to his conversation with Fin Kennedy the year before. And hence, now, the results of a survey of 68 playwrights and other theatre practitioners, to harvest suggestions as to how to protect risk-taking on new plays. The resulting 36 proposals are wide-ranging and imaginative. Because the Delphi method invites responses, there is much debate on value and practicality: the most popular proposal (theatres giving space to small companies to develop new work) was

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notable for enjoying support among theatres themselves. Several popular proposals involved exploiting new technology, whether for databases or publishing playtexts. For me, the most exciting proposals involve linking building-based theatres with independent companies and with secondary and tertiary education, collaborating with drama schools and renewing the syllabus-based set text for the 21st century. And its worth noting that the ninth most popular suggestion tax breaks to private donors contributing to world premiere productions is a variant of what the government is currently considering. Id argue for complementary thinking about the supply side of new writing: playwrights need to develop, improve and enforce the minimum terms union agreements which protect playwrights incomes and rights, and keep good writers working for the stage rather than defecting to television. Playwrights and the theatres that produce them should defend the concept of the individually-written new play. After all, the old economic realities remain: living playwrights will always be in competition with the dead. Without a vibrant, collaborative new writing culture, we could end up like many continental theatres aridly dominated by the classical repertoire and the single directorial voice. For this reason, my number one vote would be for the proposal that the Arts Council should make new writing a national development priority. In fact, this is not a new idea but an old one. For over 60 years, in various ways, the Arts Council sought to encourage new play production. Along with the bravery of artistic directors and the persistence of playwrights themselves, Arts Council policy is responsible for the vibrant new writing theatre culture which this document seeks to protect. David Edgar is a playwright and member of the British Theatre Consortium. From 2007 to 2013 he was president of the Writers Guild. In Battalions 5

Introduction
By Fin Kennedy
In December 2012, I attended the Performers Alliance All-Party Parliamentary Group Reception, an annual event held in the Terrace Restaurant in the House of Commons, co-hosted by Equity, the Writers Guild and the Musicians Union. It was there that a conversation with UK Culture Minister Ed Vaizey took place, in which he said to me that Government cuts to Arts Council England were having no effect on the development of new plays and playwrights in this country. After debating this with him for a while, Mr Vaizey promised to look over any evidence to the contrary which I could send him. My reporting of this conversation on my blog1 led to an industry-wide response, in which I was deluged with theatre-makers from across the country all wanting to send Ed Vaizey their evidence on how the cuts were affecting them. I was fortunate to be put in touch with a DPhil research student at Oxford University, Helen Campbell Pickford, who helped me structure a questionnaire survey to produce data which the Arts Council would accept as valid evidence of impact. Helen also helped me interpret the results and express them in a written report. In total 26 theatres lled in a survey, with a further seven making written statements. Over 40 independent theatre professionals also made narrative submissions. Where most questionnaire surveys are lucky to get a 30% response, we had people emailing us to ask for a copy of the questionnaire to add their voices. Concern around this issue, we found, was not limited to playwrights; directors, producers, play publishers and theatremakers running devising companies (ensembles creating new work without a single author) also wanted to take part. Following consultation meetings with members of the Independent Theatre Council, the Writers Guild and the Antelopes playwrights group, the questionnaire was circulated among those who had directly experienced the effects of the cuts. Those who took part included luminaries such as West End producer Sonia Freidman, playwrights Laura Wade, Nick Payne and Steve Waters, directors Nick Hytner, Max Stafford Clark, James Grieve and Steven Atkinson, publishers Nick Hern Books, and even the head of BBC Radio Drama. Among theatre companies who completed a survey were large city playhouses, small scale touring companies, devising companies, young peoples companies, mid-scale regional venues, and a selection of those with specic ethnic or social remits. While the numbers were not huge, they were substantial, and representative of the expertise of a wide range of theatre companies and artists currently working in England. The report, christened In Battalions from Hamlet at the suggestion of an astute actress friend, ran to 22,500 words. It was published at the start of 2013.2 The results were shocking. It found that: Two-thirds of theatre companies completing a questionnaire said they had had to cancel one or more show since April 2012 for funding reasons Half said they were programming fewer new plays overall Half said they had experienced multiple funding cuts from Arts Council, local council, trusts and foundations, dwindling philanthropy and audiences with less to spend Two-fths had cut down on R and D, including measures such as putting new plays on for shorter runs, cutting back playwriting residencies and developmental readings, cancelling open access workshops for beginners, or curtailing education work or unsolicited play reading Regional theatres, writer development agencies, theatre for young people, and small scale touring were being disproportionately badly hit A correspondence about these ndings then ensued between myself and Ed Vaizey. These letters can be read online3, though sufce to say that for some time Mr Vaizey still did not appear to accept the reports ndings as evidence that a problem exists. This was a pity; Mr Vaizey has a history as a champion of our sector and we had all hoped for some more immediate positive engagement on this issue.

The original blog post can be read here: bit.ly/W4zcz9 The report is still available free online here: bit.ly/12WleC5 3 Links to them all can found via Fin Kennedys Scribd.com page here: bit.ly/1lQh4Dn
1 2

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Then, in December 2013, one year to the day since our rst meeting, something changed. At the Performers Alliance All-Party Parliamentary Group Reception 2013, Ed Vaizey made a speech in which he specically cited the conversation with me at the previous years event, and the study it led to, as an inuence on the announcement in the Chancellors 2013 Autumn Statement the week before to hold a consultation on offering tax breaks to theatre companies producing new plays, and for regional touring. This is a welcome step in the right direction, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Vaizey for using his inuence to help bring it about. Coincidentally, and as David Edgar points out in his foreword, a similar proposal appears in these pages (scoring number 9 in the Delphi rankings). I hope that there might be other ideas contained in this study which Mr Vaizey and his colleagues can also take forward on our behalf. In the meantime, In Battalions as a movement has taken on something of a life of its own. The report itself has had a reach far beyond anything Helen or I ever expected. At the time of writing, it has been downloaded over 24,000 times, featured in The Guardian, The Independent, The Stage, and the Equity and Writers Guild magazines, referred to at University conferences and industry AGMs throughout the year, and even had a question tabled in Parliament by Shadow Culture secretary Dan Jarvis.4 The net result has been that, throughout 2013, most of the British theatre industry, and many of our colleagues in radio, TV and lm, have been talking about how to protect risk-taking on new work for the stage, despite the greatest cut to the Arts Council for a generation. It is this groundswell of support and concern on which this follow-up study attempts to capitalise. It was

Helens suggestion to conduct a Delphi study. I have to admit I didnt know what one was. A full explanation is contained in the Methodology section, but essentially it is a specialist consultation process by which researchers seek to generate a shortlist of innovative solutions to a problem, sourced from and voted on by experts in their eld. I am hugely grateful to everyone who took part. Helen and I received 36 workable proposals to our research question about ways to protect risk-taking. We decided that it was not our place to decide unilaterally which ones did and did not make the long list, so long as they answered the question. But one side effect of this was that the voting process turned into quite a large job for respondents. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who gave up their Sunday, or several evenings, to give so generously of their knowledge and expertise. This document is really the sum total of their work, and Helen and I merely editors. This report is solution-focused, because as theatremakers we have no choice but to rise to the challenge set us by our Government. But make no mistake, there is no silver bullet contained within these pages. All those who took part have undertaken this study because British arts and culture are in emergency measures now. It has never been harder to get new work for the stage developed and produced, never mind sustain a career in it. While there are some excellent ideas which have been generated by this Delphi study, some of which I hope very much will take off, they are predominantly measures to alleviate temporarily an intolerable situation, until such time as that situation improves. This study is categorically not about the theatre industry permanently xing this problem on its own. Doing more with less is not the new

normal. On the contrary; we are trying to weather a storm which we all hope will pass. Although this report contains a lot of information, we have tried to make it as readable as we can. The section entitled Summary: Delphi Top Twenty is a prose summary of the range of responses we received to the top twenty highest scoring proposals, to make the arguments for and against each of them more easily readable. You can focus on the proposals of most interest to you by reading the Key Responses boxes rst. These highlight any additional advice from expert respondents, often already working with a similar idea, outlining suggestions for implementation as well as potential difculties. If you are interested in reading further, a fuller summary is then given. For reasons of the authors time and workload, we had to stop our summary at twenty. But there are valuable insights and arguments to be gleaned from the remaining sixteen proposals, and we would urge all but the most casual readers to read all of the experts proposals and arguments if possible, printed in full in Appendix 1: Original data. Some, like Proposal 32, about the Arts Council administering loans rather than grants, or Proposal 29, about allowing NPOs5 to apply to Grants for the Arts once again, are ideas which are already in circulation. The fact that they polled so low, and the reasons given by respondents, are as interesting as those given for the highest scoring proposals. Finally, these ideas also arent going to become a reality by themselves. It has been a privilege to be able to carve out some blue skies time for the sector, but neither Helen nor I are in a position to be able to take these ideas forward. We are just facilitators of a space in which

4 5

Links to all press coverage, and an overview of the campaign so far, can be found here: finkennedy.co.uk/In-Battalions National Portfolio Organisations, i.e. recipients of an annual grant from the Arts Council.

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they can be aired. If you do nd yourself inspired by any of the ideas contained in these pages, dont stay quiet: blog, tweet, email, network, discuss. Do what you can to nd like minds to take the idea forward. It is over to you now.6 At its best, I would like to think that In Battalions is not just a report, or even a political campaign, but a description of a community of theatre artists who want to do things differently, better, with more heart, more impact and more chances to recruit others to become artists alongside us. If we work together, the silver lining of this economic shake-up being forced upon us is that we might be able to nd new ways to apply the same creativity we deploy in our onstage work to the ways in which that work reaches the stage. Once conditions do improve, and funding increases, we will be in a strong position to show Governments of any political stripe just how valuable in every sense of the word we really are. Fin Kennedy is a playwright and co-Artistic Director of Tamasha.

A good first port of call might be the In Battalions Facebook group, accessible by request here: on.fb.me/10iVPzd

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Research Methodology
By Helen Campbell Pickford
Aims of the Research: Participation for Action It has become routine for researchers to claim that their work has been participatory, particularly where it is also claimed to be effective. We were aware from the outset of this project that our research could only be effective if it was truly participatory, as we wished to represent the current state of new playwriting and production in the theatre industry and to uncover what strategies and practices people working in the industry playwrights, directors, theatre managers, dramaturgs, and freelancers who often combined several roles are using to protect risk taking in their theatres, at a time when ticket sales were reduced and budgets cut. Moreover, with no funding for our research, it was clear that participation would necessarily be voluntary. Far from being a disadvantage, the self-selected group of people who responded were those who were prepared to give up their time and share their expertise motivated by a desire to protect the production of new work in the theatre. Our claim that our research was truly participatory therefore rests on how, by and for whom research is conceptualized and conducted (Cornwall and Jewkes, 1995: 1669). Our research question was determined after focus group discussions with members of the Independent Theatre Council, Antelopes Playwrights group and Literary Managers at the Writers Guild of Great Britains annual Literary Managers Forum. In order to avoid groupthink, after those present had been given the broad research problem to see if there were strategies being practiced to mitigate the effects of cuts to arts budgets on the production of new work participants worked in break out groups which presented their priorities at the end of each meeting. The question agreed upon after discussion was: In what ways can theatre-makers, theatres and the Arts Council work together to help protect risk-taking on new work and new talent, without creating signicant extra expense? In keeping with the aim of being participatory, throughout the research, the information generated has been made available via Fins website and blog7 and also via his publically-accessible Scribd account.8 No information has been withheld for exclusive use by the researchers. We both felt that our research only had value if we were mandated to represent the industry and share all our information with all of the participants. As we wished the information we shared to be expert knowledge based in practice, and ideas for innovations based on experience, we had to set some limits to contributors. Broadly, we limited those whose responses we analysed to theatre professionals, dened as those with a salaried position, regular freelance employment, an agent, published and/or performed work, and teachers and trainers of theatre professionals with experience of producing new work. The nature of careers in the theatre meant that those who listed themselves as (for example) directors would often have had wide experience in other areas of the industry, writing, designing, acting and devising work, and those teaching in colleges and universities had experience in the industry, often concurrent. By insisting on current professional engagement in the theatre we hoped to draw on this richness of experience while ensuring a high quality of response from those with detailed knowledge of the current situation. As the group was self-selected, we avoided any possibility of researcher bias in selection of the experts affecting the outcome (Hasson et al, 2000:1010). In order to maximise the available number of proposals, no limit was placed on how many each participant could make.

Qualitative Design and Data Generation Working with a self-selected, limited sample of experts drawing on complex knowledge and experience directed us to predominantly qualitative data generation methods (Robson, 2002). The initial focus group discussions led to the formulation of the research question, with risk problematized in a way that allowed risk taking to include new work by playwrights of all ages, as well as the young writers who garner much press attention. It also allowed us to include contributions from theatremakers more generally, including those creating work in

7 8

www.finkennedy.co.uk and www.finkennedy.blogspot.co.uk, respectively. www.scribd.com/finkennedyplaywright

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non-text-based formats, within devising ensembles, or where there is no single author. Our aim was thus to nd the ways in which originality, diversity and the continuing development of a wide range of theatre artists and the processes which support their work before, during and after their debut, was being protected by the industry. The research problem was therefore determined by the participants themselves. In order to generate data from a self-selected group of experts, I designed a Delphi study, having ensured in discussion with the Research Ofcer for Arts Council England that they would accept this as a valid research method. As we were asking people to give their time and expertise voluntarily, it was important to be able to assure them that their contributions would be generated and analysed in a way which would be considered valid by those to whom we intended to pass on the research. A Delphi study is a systematic method of collecting opinions from a group of experts through a series of questionnaires, in which feedback of the groups opinion distribution is provided (Helmer, 1972:15, cited in Wellington, 2000). In the rst phase, the expert group were asked to suggest proposals, based on their knowledge and experience, of strategies which would enable theatres to produce new (risky) work without signicant extra expense. This initial questionnaire had only one question on it: the research problem generated from the focus group discussions. The proposals generated were then organised into a second questionnaire for commentary where each group member could comment on all of the proposals made by all members, massively increasing the amount and level of expertise available to all members of the group. Participants were able to respond by email and Survey Monkey.

The rst phase produced 36 proposals on how risk taking on new work can be protected in theatres. In the second phase, 68 respondents voted on the long list, and provided 54,500 words of data developing the original 36 proposals. Of the proposals submitted in the rst phase, one was excluded as too vague, and one as not relevant to the research question. Hasson et al (2000: 1012) emphasise that for fair representation, the wording used by participants, with minor editing, should be used as much as possible. For this reason, and to maintain our neutrality, Fin and I did not edit the majority of proposals that were included, beyond separating them where a proposer had included several suggestions in one proposal; making sure duplicated proposals were included only once, in order to avoid dividing the vote between identical or near identical proposals; and anonymising the proposals. The Delphi thus did not propose one agenda or intervention from the researchers, but suggested proposals from experts across the industry for discussion. Neither Fin nor I voted. The proposals were anonymised in order to avoid any possibility that the expert group would be inuenced, even unconsciously, by knowing who had made each proposal. This was particularly necessary as Fin included proposals, and we did not want people to feel constrained in how they responded to them. Initially I intended that this would avoid any unintentional preference for proposals made by well-known practitioners or major companies, or marginalisation of the less well known; however, it had the unintended but (as it transpired) benecial effect that playwrights commented on proposals made by directors, managers

on proposals made by actors etc. in a way that considerably enriched the data. In order to structure the responses more rigorously than through comment alone, and to allow prioritisation in publishing the results, respondents were asked to vote on the proposals. As there were 36 proposals in the nal list, we did not ask participants to rank them; this would have been very time consuming and, worse, given a false equivalence of spacing within a ranked system. Instead, to give a more nely tuned response, each participant was given 360 points, to divide in any way they preferred between the proposals. Thus it was possible to give all 360 points to one proposal the participant wished to back strongly; 50 points to three proposals and smaller numbers to several other suggestions; or to give smaller sums to most or all of the proposals. The only limitation we specied was that participants should not give equal points to all proposals (i.e. ten points to each of the 36) as this would effectively cancel out their contribution. Although this system of distributing points was not familiar to the participants beforehand, it worked very well, with participants clearly considering carefully where they would distribute points. This has enabled us to publish the results of the discussion in a way that gives priority to the proposals seen as the most practical or effective, in a way that would have been impossible to quantify from comments alone. We hope that this will make our ndings easier to use by time-poor professionals, who can focus on the top ve or top ten if they do not have time to consider all 36 proposals. 9 While the voting system allowed prioritisation, the comments enriched the datas use as stimulation for consideration by professionals. Clearly there are no correct answers which will work for every company in

We are also in the process of exploring the offer of holding a conference on our studys findings, in which the top twenty highest-scoring proposals will be debated in break-out groups. For updates on when this will be held, and how to attend, please join the In Battalions mailing list by emailing: finkennedy@gmail.com

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every context, but the knowledge gathered from the experts will allow practitioners to see where proposals can be adapted to their situation. Rather than discussing the proposals in focus groups, which can lead to groupthink or domination by the senior members of the profession present, we believe that the Delphi method allowed genuine participation by members of the profession at all levels from those struggling to gain a foothold to the well-established. Vitally, it also allowed participants to comment on the generalizability of the proposals, considering where schemes would be able to transfer to different contexts, and what conditions would be necessary for this success in the new context (such as sites available for site-specic work, council support, changed use of existing spaces and resources). Some participants cited companies and projects already using the strategies similar to those suggested, including in other art forms. The Delphi method is sometimes used to aim at producing a single recommended outcome based on consensus between experts (Wellington, 2007: 124). As there is clearly no one strategy, nor any one correct answer to the question of how to enable risk taking in such a diverse range of contexts, we have aimed to make available the richness of the data to theatre professionals, condent that they have the expertise to interpret this material within their own contexts, rather than having it simplied for them. This is shown in our coding and categories, discussed below. The top ve proposals (those that received the largest number of votes) have been further discussed in one-toone interviews with key practitioners, proving a unied insight into the issues raised by the 68 respondents. These ndings are reported within the main text of Fins Summary: Delphi Top 20 section, while the full data is included as Appendix 1.

Coding and Generating Categories for Analysis In order to maximise the validity of our interpretation, Fin and I analysed the responses from the Delphi study completely separately, without consultation, before checking where we had formed similar or different conclusions. We both aimed to analyse the data in a way that made the ndings available and useful to practitioners. The results are published in this document. Fins summaries bring together similar perspectives on each issue, providing the relevant detail and ensuring ownership of the knowledge contributed by each participant by assigning quotations (where anonymity was not requested see Ethical Issues below.) From initially considering responses as crudely positive or negative, I developed categories which I hope will be more useful to practitioners additional advice which develops the original proposal (often on practical implementation) and potential problems potential because they will not apply in all cases. It is important to note that these problems do not represent general reservations about the proposal, but were often suggested by only one out of 68 respondents, or as arising in particular circumstances. We used the voting system to prioritise the proposals considered by respondents as most likely to be effective in reporting our ndings to time-poor professionals.

anonymised; those commenting on them did not know who had proposed each, and therefore could not be biased, even unconsciously, by knowing who had suggested each proposal. However, to ensure ownership of responses, we encouraged participants to give their names and job titles with their suggestions to develop each proposal. By naming participants, we also wanted to make clear to readers outside the theatre industry that this study is based on the expertise of named practitioners. We have therefore given both the name and the job title of contributors with direct quotations, where permission was granted. Where respondents preferred to make their individual contributions anonymous, we have acknowledged their contribution by including them in the list of participants, but without attributed quotations. We acknowledge our very great gratitude to contributors who gave freely of their time and expertise. We have aimed throughout to make our data available freely, as it was freely contributed. The original 54,500 words of responses are therefore reproduced in full, in table format, in the nal 200 pages of this document (see Appendix 1).

Limitations Inevitably, in a study run by volunteers, the group of respondents is not a representative sample of the entire theatre industry. However, it does, we believe, contain a remarkably diverse representation of those most passionately concerned with the protection of new work in the theatre, and most knowledgeable about how to achieve this. Professional researchers will be aware of the issues around generalizability or even transferability

Ethical Issues As we wanted to ensure ownership of the data by the participants, but without biasing responses or inuencing voting, the key ethical issue was anonymity versus recognition of contributors. In order to ensure this, the proposals included in the Delphi longlist were

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of ndings from qualitative data. We recognise that not all of the proposals in this study will be applicable to every practitioner. However, we hope we have provided enough expert knowledge to enable practitioners to consider where, and how, the proposals made here would be adaptable to their own contexts. This report, and my outline of the methodology, have been written for the general reader and theatre practitioners rather than professional researchers. Those interested in more detail of the research methodology should contact helen.campbellpickford@sant.ox.ac.uk

References Cornwall A. and Jewkes, R. (1995) What is Participatory Research? In Social Science and Medicine. Vol.41 no. 12, pp. 1667 1676. Hasson, F., Keeney, S. and McKenna, H. (2000) Research Guidelines for the Delphi survey technique. In Journal of Advanced Nursing Vol 32 no. 4, pp. 1008 1015. Helmer, O. (1972) On the Future State of the Union. Report 12 27. Menlo Park, Calif: Institute for the Future. Cited in Wellington, J. (2000) Educational Research: Contemporary Issues and Practical Approaches. London: Continuum. Robson, C. (2002) Real World Research: a resource for social scientists and practitioner-researchers. 2nd edn. Oxford: Blackwell.

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Executive summary
The research question: In what ways can theatres, theatre-makers and the Arts Council work together to protect risk-taking on new work and new talent, without creating signicant extra expense? Key stats Phase One: Longlist Proposals 17 people made written submissions in response to the research question Submissions were tested for clarity, and further submissions were sourced orally from a meeting of the Writers Guild Literary Managers Forum on 10 May 2013, an annual event of approx. 50 literary managers and playwrights from around the country Proposers were anonymised from their proposals prior to the voting phase; however all are included in the list of participants in the study at the end of this section. (See Research Methodology) The number of proposals each respondent could make was not limited, and some made several 36 proposals went forward to the Delphi study longlist for voting Where very similar proposals were received, these were amalgamated into one proposal for the purposes of the voting phase. This was the case for no more than 5 proposals Two proposals were excluded from the longlist; one on the grounds of clarity, the other on the grounds of expense Phase Two: Voting 68 people took the survey 33 identied as playwrights or writer as all or part of their chosen job title 5 identied as director or theatre director 5 identied as actor or actress Others included: 4 dramaturgs, one co-operative member, one translator and one independent theatre professional Theatre employees included: - 3 identifying as Chief Executive or Executive Director - 3 identifying as Literary Manager, Literary Associate or New Writing Associate - 11 identifying as Artistic Director, Joint Artistic Director, Co-Artistic Director or Associate Director - There was one Associate Producer 41 women and 27 men took the survey 23 out of 68 respondents chose to have their contributions anonymised. (However, all agreed to be named as participants in the study; see below for the full list)

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Delphi results quick summary table Delphi ranking (by points) 1 Original proposal number in the survey #1 Proposal (summarised) Points polled 10 11 #3 #27 A branded curtain-raiser programme. A consortium of theatres and playwrights to approach the owners of www.doollee.com about collaborating to make it a central online database for all new British plays. Risk Club a way of gaining audiences for risky new work. Arts Council Showcase. A consortium of professional playwrights who are published lobby exam boards for more new plays to be put on the syllabus for English Literature A level and Drama or Theatre Studies. Digital Publishing to allow theatres to publish a wider range of their commissioned work. A consortium of professional playwrights offer their services to the Department for Education, to get a Playwriting option included in Drama G.C.S.E. and Theatre Studies A Level Literary managers team playwrights/devisors up with their fundraising department. Theatre artists supported by Job Seekers create their own small companie. Create a system that attaches a reliable indication of quality and some production funding directly to a non-commissioned script. 779 771

Ask theatres to make under-utilised space available for rehearsal and performance of new work. ACE to ring-fence some Lottery money to support Community Residencies. Theatres work with drama schools to jointly commission new work. ACE to create a national network of Associate Playwrights in the regional reps. A scheme twinning larger organisations with smaller ones. Approach business heads and economists to make the case to government for continued public investment. Theatres work with writers and their local council to produce site specic new writing. Divide up the artistic leadership of larger theatres. Lobby the Treasury to offer extra tax breaks to private donors contributing funds for the production of a world premiere.

1763 12 1470 1267 1257 15 1039 16 921 #14 #28 13 14 #5 #20 #15

768 745 730

2 3 4 5 6

#30 #6 #21 #2 #18

714 654

7 8 9

#8 #9 #34

879 862 784

17 18 19

#12 #10 #13

593 576 551

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Delphi results quick summary table (Continued) Delphi ranking (by points) 20 21 22 Original proposal number in the survey #23 #7 #11 Proposal (summarised) Points polled 29 #22 ACE to change the rule about National Portfolio Organisations not being allowed to apply to Grants for the Arts. An agency to help artists develop better business models. Invite pop-up eateries to supply pre-show/ interval catering. Arts Council England (or a devolved agency) to administer small soft loans for individual artists. A database of new/early career writers and playwrights who are willing to work for a limited fee. Theatres and writers to work with BBC Writersroom to create audio and/or visual recordings of all new writing. Parking. NCP approached to give out a number of free parking spaces that can only be used to attend new work and development events. A collective of theatres and practitioners, supported by ACE, collaborating on a nationwide festival of work that is anywhere from 6 minutes down to 6 seconds long. 470

30 ACE to make new theatre writing a national development priority. Theatres develop new work with writer-led organisations. Emerging artists nominate the established companies or artists which have helped them most. Theatres set up writers network groups. ACE to administer small soft loans for organizations. Ask existing philanthropists, companies and individuals, to act as advocates to encourage others. ACE to administer an award recognizing excellence in regional and local theatres. Local organisations pledge 1% for the arts approach. Theatres work with writers to create plays that explore the challenges facing their town/city. ACE to change its operating model to include a commercial/income-generating strand. 546 31 546 32 525 33 495 494 34 479 35 476 472

#29 #36 #19

433 396 370

#25

364

23 24 25

#4 #32 #17

#26

350

#35

268

26 27

#24 #31

36

#16

250

28

#33

471

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Delphi study Top 5s by respondent type 1st Aggregated Playwrights Theatre employees Freelancers Academics Male respondents Female respondents #1 #6 #30 #1 #1 #30 #1 2nd #30 #21 #2 #9 #34 #6 #30 3rd #21 #1 #6 #2 #8 #21 #21 4th #6 #20 #1 #28 #21 #1 #6 5th #2 #30 #15 #30 #6 #2 #2 6th #3 #21 #18 #34 #9 7th #8 #3 #8 Analysis The most popular proposals in aggregate across all respondents were: for theatres to make under-utilised space available for free, and for ACE to ring fence some money for community residencies. The most popular proposals with playwrights were: for theatres to work with drama schools to jointly commission new plays, and for ACE to create a network of Associate Playwrights in the regional reps. The most popular proposals with theatre employees (including Associate Directors, Artistic Directors, Executive Directors, Literary Managers and other salaried staff members) were: ACE to ring fence money for community residencies, and a scheme twinning larger organisations with smaller ones. The most popular proposals with freelancers (including actors, freelance directors, freelance dramaturgs but not freelance playwrights) were: for theatres to make underutilised space available for free, and to divide up the artistic leadership of larger theatres. 8th Notes Numbers (#) refer to the random position the proposal held in the original Delphi survey. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc refer to the position polled in the voting, arranged in aggregate and by various respondent categories. Results polling in 6th, 7th and 8th places are only included where the points scored were very close.

Key #1 Ask theatres to make under-utilised space available for rehearsal and performance of new work. #2 A scheme twinning larger organisations with smaller ones. #3 A branded curtain-raiser programme. #6 Theatres work with drama schools to jointly commission new work. #8 Theatres work with writers and their local council to produce site specic new writing. #9 Divide up the artistic leadership of larger theatres. #15 A consortium of professional playwrights who are published lobby exam boards for more new plays to be put on the syllabus for English Literature A level and Drama or Theatre Studies. #18 Approach business heads and economists to make the case to government for continued public investment. #20 Arts Council Showcase. #21 ACE to create a national network of Associate Playwrights in the regional reps. #28 Digital Publishing to allow theatres to publish a wider range of their commissioned work. #30 ACE to ring-fence some Lottery money to support Community Residencies. #34 Lobby the Treasury to offer extra tax breaks to private donors contributing funds for the production of a world premiere.

In Battalions 16

The most popular proposals with academics were: for theatres to make under-utilised space available for free, and to lobby the Treasury to offer extra tax breaks to private donors contributing funds for the production of a world premiere. The most popular proposals with male respondents were: for ACE to ring fence some money for community residencies, and for theatres to work with drama schools to jointly commission new plays. The most popular proposals with female respondents were: for theatres to make under-utilised space available for free, and for ACE to ring fence some money for community residencies. Interpretation Please note: These inferences were drawn from a small number of respondents so, while anecdotally interesting, they are not statistically signicant. However, they may be interesting to explore further, either via subsequent study or at a conference. There was a remarkable consistency to the most popular proposals across respondent demographics. Where there are variations, some have a degree of predictability (though are no less valid or insightful for being so) such as playwrights expressing a preference for proposal 21 (ACE to create a national network of Associate Playwrights in the regional reps). Despite some respondents pointing out that versions of this proposal already exist, clearly they do not go far enough for many of the playwrights responding to this survey.

There still appears to be an appetite among playwrights to be able to tackle large cast plays more regularly reected in their tendency to vote for proposal 6 (Theatres work with drama schools to jointly commission new work). In the 1990s and early 2000s, a consortium of playwrights, The Monsterists, came together to lobby for more early and mid-career playwrights to be commissioned to write plays for larger stages. After some success, the group is now disbanded but it is possible that the recession has once again sparked frustration among playwrights with an emphasis on small cast plays (which are cheaper to produce). It is notable that male respondents also tended to vote for this proposal. It is interesting that there was a tendency for salaried theatre employees to vote for proposal 2 (A scheme twinning larger organisations with smaller ones). Clearly, those in smaller companies would seem to be the most obvious beneciaries of such an idea, but the support it enjoyed among those working for larger institutions suggest that there might be an appetite for such a scheme among those theatre companies too. Freelance directors tended to vote for proposal 1 (Theatres to make under-utilised space available for rehearsal and performance of new work), a reection perhaps of the ongoing cost and lack of availability of space to those not working in house for a theatre company. Freelance directors were also among those who most wanted to see proposal 9 enacted (Divide up the artistic leadership of larger theatres) perhaps reecting a frustration among freelancers of the length of tenure of those at the top. Interestingly, there was also a slight tendency among female respondents to vote

for this proposal, perhaps suggesting a frustration with a lack of women in these top jobs. The fact that academics were among a minority who tended to vote for proposal 34 (Lobby the Treasury to offer extra tax breaks to private donors) suggests that there might be some mileage in asking a consortium of them to take this idea on, on behalf of the sector, or indeed to offer to assist the government in implementing the similar proposal which featured in the 2013 Autumn Statement10 , and to which Culture Minister Ed Vaizey has acknowledged the original In Battalions report contributed.11 It is notable that the most popular proposal across almost all respondent types was proposal 30 (ACE to ring-fence some Lottery money to support Community Residencies). Although this report intends to be more discursive than to offer a selection of recommendations to the Arts Council, there may indeed be some mileage in setting up a working group to at least look at this idea, given the widespread report it received.

10 11

A news report about this in The Stage can be read here: bit.ly/1h9mDfQ See Introduction by Fin Kennedy.

In Battalions 17

Full list of participants

Playwrights Penny Black Patricia Cumper Allison Davies Stella Duffy Samantha Ellis Ben Ellis Lisa Evans Duncan Gates James Graham Ella Hickson Susan Hodgetts Judith Johnson Fin Kennedy Hannah Khalil Dominic Leggett Frank McCabe German Munoz Ben Musgrave Lizzie Nunnery Freelance directors Ellie Jones Christopher Gorry Carolina Ortega Ria Parry Sarah Punshon Esther Richardson Will Wollen Arzhang Pezhman Phil Porter Becky Prestwich Morna Regan Annie Siddons Hannah Silva David Varela Amanda Whittington Roy Williams Ben Yeoh Literary Managers/Associates, Associate Directors or Dramaturgs Suzanne Bell, Literary Manager, Manchester Royal Exchange Alex Chisholm, Literary Manager, West Yorkshire Playhouse Rob Drummer, Associate Dramaturg, Bush Theatre Uschi Gatward, dramaturg Neil Grutcheld, New Writing Manager, Synergy Theatre Project Mary Ann Hushlak, Co-president, dramaturgs network Elizabeth Newman, Associate Director, Bolton Octagon Nika Obydzinski, Literary Manager, Kings Head Theatre James Peries, Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Lindsay Rodden, Literary Associate, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse

In Battalions 18

Artistic Directors Steven Atkinson, HighTide Danny Braverman, Bread and Circuses Sudha Bhuchar, Tamasha Rod Dixon, Red Ladder Theatre Company Elizabeth Freestone, Pentabus David Jubb, Battersea Arts Centre Ria Parry, Iron Shoes Jonathan Petherbridge, London Bubble Liz Posthlethwaite, Small Things Tassos Stevens, Coney Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder, Box of Tricks Theatre Natalie Wilson, Theatre Centre David Woods, Ridiculusmus Dorian Kelly, Guerilla Shakespeare Co.

Actors Micha Colombo Katrina Cooke Helen Millar Brodie Ross Esther Ruth Elliott

Academics Scott Anderson, Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh John Ginman, former Convenor, MA Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths College Pamela McQueen, PHD Researcher into site specic theatre, York St John University Jonathan Meth, Convenor, MA Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths College Barbara Norden, Senior Lecturer, MA Creative Writing (Plays and Screenplays), City University Kim Wiltshire, Senior Lecturer in Scriptwriting, Edge Hill University

Executive Directors or Producers Jim Beirne, Live Theatre Newcastle Caroline Dyott, English Touring Theatre Sophie Eustace, Fevered Sleep Katy Lipson, Aria Entertainment Annabel Turpin, ARC Stockton

Others (miscellaneous or job title not specied) Olivia Amory, Communications Co-ordinator, The Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Jessica Beck, The Bike Shed Theatre Louisah Martin, The Dry Run Cooperative Jenifer Toksvig, The Copenhagen Interpretation

In Battalions 19

Summary: Delphi Top Twenty

This section is a prose summary of responses to the top 20 highest-scoring proposals. It is intended as a readable digest of the arguments for and against each idea. Proposals are listed in order of voting with those polling most points rst. The full text of the proposal is printed as it appeared in the survey, below which there is a short table of Key Responses for quick reference, followed by a more detailed summary of the main arguments. (The full responses can be read in the long form tables in the next section.) Please note that where difculties are outlined, these are not general, but typically suggested by one respondent out of the many who replied, and might be relevant only to a particular company or area. However, as they represent expertise from lived experiences, we offer them for others who might adopt the idea to anticipate whether these problems would affect them. In several cases, a potential problem suggested by one respondent is directly contradicted by another; for example, in Proposal #18, which polled at 6th place, some respondents felt that business people would make a more convincing case for the economic contribution of the arts; others that artists should be represented through their work. As there obviously isnt a correct answer, we include both, so that the reader can consider how this issue would work in his/her own context. The Top 5 highest-scoring proposals are followed by some additional material sourced from experts working for new writing theatres, subsequent to the results of the main study coming in. Responses to the lowest-scoring 16 proposals have not been summarised here. However, there is still valuable material to be gleaned in the reactions to these proposals; the debates and criticisms they generated can be read in full in the tables section as can the responses to all the proposals summarised here.

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Delphi Top 20 1. Ask theatres to make under-utilised space available for rehearsal and performance of new work, scratch nights etc on a free basis. These spaces would be listed on a national register, arranged by region, of support and resources available for creative Research and Development. The register would give room dimensions and a check list of amenities (e.g numbers of tables and chairs, access to power points, a kitchen etc). It could also list if the company was prepared to donate other support, such as staff time, or advice on fundraising, or if they would be prepared to negotiate other arrangements such as a box ofce split. The register would include contact details for a nominated room booker. Only free space to be included, no rentals. (We could ask Arts Council England to administer this as a page on their website.)

Key Responses Total Votes Additional Advice 1763 Access to spaces builds partnerships Would introduce artists to new, inspiring spaces Widen to asking Councils, colleges etc for empty spaces Could help publicly funded, building based theatres put local arts development at the heart of their ethos Would take much nancial strain off early stages of development/rehearsal Maximises the nancial value of the building to artists A noise free rehearsal space is much better than cafes and living rooms Rehearsing in a theatre gives an energy that other spaces dont Need to organise insurance, health and safety stafng costs? Could be more efciently managed regionally List would need regular updating Spaces may only be available at short notice (keep a waiting list) If props and set are left in the rehearsal space, it can feel sacred Artists risk attachment to one venue

Potential Difculties

The studys highest scoring proposal received widespread support from a range of respondents playwrights, devising groups, dramaturgs, actors and directors all awarded signicant amounts of points. Finding suitable space in which to rehearse was frequently spoken of as an ongoing logistical and nancial burden for many smaller companies and independent freelance theatremakers, and a real barrier to their creative progression. As one member of a devising ensemble commented: Implementing a culture in which unfunded performance makers are able to utilise spaces out of hours will have a dramatic and positive effect of the quality and range and depth of practices. The same respondent awarded this idea the full 360 points. One anonymous regionallybased writer and academic remarked This would take huge amounts of nancial strain off new work being created and awarded it 70 points. Playwright Frank McCabe asserted This would help emerging artists/ companies more than anything else in this survey and awarded it 50. Artistic director of Theatre Centre, Natalie Wilson commented Free space is key to developing new writing while another anonymous freelancer said it would help level the playing eld for those without extensive contacts. It also seemed important to some that the act of creating new work took place in an actual theatre. Playwright Arzhang Pezhman remarked rehearsing in a space in a theatre gives the process an energy and generates inspiration in ways that other spaces cannot. But space was also valued as the arena in which theatre itself the live act of performers engaging with an In Battalions 21

audience actually takes place. Awarding the idea 100 points, director Christopher Gorry remarked It would be important for this proposal to focus on the opportunity for subsidised performance opportunities over R&D. There was a strong appetite among many respondents for larger, better funded venues who control such spaces to offer them out more regularly, more generously, and as part of their responsibilities to the wider sector and the next generation of talent. Sometimes the reasons for this were philosophical, almost moral. Theatre buildings particularly that receive public subsidy should opt for putting Artistic development at the heart of their ethos commented one actress, going on to cite Bristol Old Vic and West Yorkshire Playhouse as examples of good practice in this respect. Playwright Phil Porter backed this up: The means of production are in the hands of too small a number of people. Freelance director Esther Richardson also felt this proposal was about culture and ethos as much as practicalities: Maybe the rst step is to (somehow) create a culture nationally, where it is absolutely normal and expected for publicly funded organisations (and buildings in particular) to demonstrate commitment to enabling the emerging and independent artists on their doorstep she said. But sometimes the reasons were more pragmatic. Venues of calibre and central location can be instrumental in getting industry experts to see new work stated actress Helen Millar. Phil Porter concurred: Companies might also commit to attending the performances that go on in their buildings in this way.

But as several people pointed out, in an industry which is all about creative relationships, this is not an entirely unselsh act on the part of the theatres. Will give each theatre a lease of life and excitement remarked one anonymous writer, while director Ellie Jones argued such a move would create relationships between artists and venues. Some, like playwright Morna Regan, suggested the artists could be clearer about what they are offering in return (Bar sales, buzz, rst refusal [on new play ideas] etc). Criticisms of this idea were mostly to do with theatres capacity to make such offers at a time of funding cuts, citing the fact that these spaces generate important commercial income for venues, as well as being needed to develop their own work. Space is at a premium, remarked one literary manager, and we often have to access space in an emergency (if, for example, rehearsal requirements change). One anonymous playwright commented: Rehearsal space is often a source of income for theatres ... Asking them to forgo this doesnt seem realistic adding Getting councils and private renters to offer unused space seems like a better idea. Many observed that theatres were doing this anyway, and that most of them used the offer strategically. [Its] important for theatres to be fully in control of which artists/companies they choose to have a relationship with, said director Ria Parry. (The Bush Theatre also backed this up in their response to the Delphi Top 5 see below). Freelance director Esther Richardson observed that regionally many do offer varying levels of support to companies and individuals on an ad-hoc basis, depending on their passion to encourage specic groups or people. But a London based freelancer stated that Some formalisation of this process would help. There was also the issue that such a move would not be without a cost to venues, such as insurance and security and staff costs. Playwright Ella Hickson remarked: The

issues of insurance, responsibility and administration would be huge with this. Most venue are dark because they cant afford to be open, these free spaces would need stafng for health and safety at least to some degree and this stafng would cost the venue. I cant see that its nancially viable. Some freelancers pointed out that large venues and small scale theatre companies operate on very different timings. The Young Vic offer space, but it is in small amounts and last minute said Artistic Associate Jessica Beck, not useful if you need to plan a proper rehearsal process. Freelance writer and performer Hannah Silva agreed: Theatres do currently offer up space but it tends to be on their terms, she wrote, therefore is not useful to those who plan projects in advance. However, freelancer Will Wollen thought that some small companies would be prepared to trade certainty for cheap or free space. Companies could use them at reduced rate on the understanding that any paid bookings would take precedence and would be prepared to shift in an instant. There was also scepticism about establishing a centralised database as the best way to implement this idea. Playwright Annie Siddons doubted the efcacy of registers as no one ever updates them and observing that real-time relationships work better in theatre. Artistic Director of HighTide Steven Atkinson agreed that the human element was important: artists requesting space connected to a theatre really want a human relationship with an employee of that theatre he remarked. The anonymous devising ensemble who awarded the idea 360 points also thought relationships were key: Having spaces choose limited groups and creating long term relationships of trust is what we should aim for, they suggested, adding ACE has the power to encourage this idea to become a norm! Questions arose around the practicalities of administering such a system. Who maintains it? asked one writer, In Battalions 22

and How often would companies have to update availability and how far in advance would they have to offer space? asked a producer. Quite a mega undertaking observed one artistic director, would need to think about how to manage so venue isnt inundated. Playwright James Graham raised a question about the value of scratch nights at all, always nervous there are no channels/systems to turn scratch nights into productions he mused. One possible variation on this idea which emerged from several respondents independently was it was focused via region. Could it be done more simply regionally and locally? asked freelance director Esther Richardson. A strong idea that will work regionally said Christopher Gorry. Theatre-maker Jenifer Toksvig was more specic: Theatre companies and individual practitioners could be asked to apply to be on a register, she suggested, with preferential booking given to practitioners who are local to each venue. That way, venues would know more about who theyre getting, that theyre actually supporting risk-taking in new work, and it wouldnt necessarily be a bun ght to book space. There was some suggestion that the idea could be widened out from just focusing on theatre spaces. Local businesses could be encouraged to collaborate too said Jenifer Toksvig, echoing the previously quoted idea above that councils and private landlords could also be approached. At a recent event held by BBC Writersroom, attended by one of the authors of this report (Fin Kennedy), a similar idea was mooted that the BBC might offer out its numerous spaces after hours in support of theatre groups.

Commenting on this proposal as part of their responses to this studys Top 5, Associate Dramaturg at Londons Bush Theatre, Rob Drummer said: Our priority is to use the time and space we have to drive forward our own producing work. We also have existing groups who dont pay us much, for example community groups or smaller arts companies during the day, and we wouldnt want to push them out. We also need to hold some space back for R and D of our own. Its about relationships with artists too. These things work better if theyre not cold approaches. Alex Chisholm, Literary Manager at West Yorkshire Playhouse said: West Yorkshire Playhouse already offers free space for rehearsals, development and scratch nights. Some of this is offered through schemes such as Summer Sub-lets and the Playground and some on an ad-hoc basis e.g Script Yorkshire hold workshops here for free. My comments on this would be that the register should also hold details of such schemes, where they exist, not just the spaces available so that people understand the context. Also there may be certain criteria attached for example regional theatre may well favour companies and artists from within their own region. Lindsay Rodden, Literary Associate, on behalf of Liverpool Everyman, said: This would be our fourth choice out of the Top 5. Sharing space is a good idea but I think in practice every buildings resources are so different Im not sure how a national register would work. David Jubb, Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre, said: Good idea. Do you know about www.somewhereto.com? Could that same system be used for artists, rather than create another admin system? In Battalions 23

2. Ask ACE to ring-fence some Lottery money (in the way they did to encourage digital arts in 2011 or the Catalyst fund in 2012) to support Community Residencies, e.g. playwrights, actors, puppeteers, spoken word artists etc to work part-time in a school, hospital, social services dept, community centre etc. This work already goes on but it is ad hoc. A dedicated funding pot would get more artists doing it, foregrounding the social role we play, and building up public support for our work through direct engagement. The artists would apply directly, to raise their own fee.

Key Responses Total Votes Additional Advice 1470 Builds live interaction between writers, collaborators and potential audiences Gives artists a more visible role and greater relevance in communities Builds larger and more diverse audiences, wider social inclusion Would create research opportunities for artists Artists can respond directly to the needs of the community Would demonstrate the Arts Councils recognition of the value of arts to the community All publicly funded artists should do community work Already happening in some places, so needs joined up thinking to formalise a scheme, rather than piecemeal development, ideally with a gurehead Will suit some artists better than others Need to consider how artists would be chosen Ring fencing reduces exibility and risks losses elsewhere

This proposal enjoyed widespread and impassioned support. Comments such as Love this!, Great idea, FANTASTIC, This is my favourite idea and Yes. Yes. were not uncommon. Supporters seemed excited by the idea of taking theatre to them [new audiences] instead of waiting for them to come to you as well as by the notion implicit within it of theatre-makers push[ing] the importance of the social role [theatre] plays even if the people in authority dont always put equal value to it. Director Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder said the proposal would highlight the incredibly important role in emotional and social development which the arts play, with one London-based director/producer even remarking I think every artist should do community work and that it should be a compulsory part of them receiving ACE funding. Playwright Lisa Evans concurred, Links practitioners to people and their concerns, she remarked. Others, such as Hannah Silva, valued the onus to be proactive which such an idea placed onto artists, Im a believer in artists raising their own fees. Others noted the over-supply of theatre-makers, compared to venues, which this proposal sought to make use of. Writer, translator and dramaturg Penny Black remarked there are only so many theatres in the UK and even if they did all do new work, there is not enough for the writers about, so we need to nd alternatives. The idea attracted two lots of three-gure points, one anonymous London-based writer/director gave it 260 points, while Jonathan Petherbridge of London Bubble awarded it 230, stating In this direct engagement lies the way to enthuse more tax payers to support the arts

in general. Director and dramaturg Sarah Punshon awarded 75 points and praised an idea that thinks about audience engagement and public support, adding, (one of the very few ideas on here [the survey] that does). Writer Becky Prestwich, awarding 50, speculated that it might open up a two-way street and inspire new playwrights from communities currently under-represented in theatre. Some were excited by the types of work such a proposal might generate. Lizzie Nunnery was interested in the research opportunities of placing writers within communities, while Becky Prestwich thought it would create exciting, outward looking new plays encouraging writers to look beyond their own worlds and experiences. Others, like an anonymous London literary manager, were keen on the audience development aspect, and the virtuous circle this might lead to: creates an audience that will want to come to the theatre ... which will in turn encourage creation of yet more theatre. Director Natalie Wilson felt it could do both, Great for building up an advocacy base and generating relevant new work. The proposals critics mostly objected either on technical grounds, on the basis that strictly speaking the idea did not protect risk-taking on new work and new talent, or because of the potentially bureaucratic nature of the funding and administration of the scheme. Not more rules and ring fences said Will Wollen, Flexibility and fun. One anonymous playwright argued that I dont think trying to inuence ACEs priorities is the best way to go about improving the lot of new writing, and

Potential Difculties

In Battalions 24

worried that Theatres gain would be another artforms loss. Others, like dramaturg Mary Ann Hushlak, merely chose to reserve their points for other proposals; Worthwhile, she commented, but in terms of these choices, not a priority. One critic thought the idea was too big even for ACE. Needs government-wide joined up thinking wrote James Peries of Bristol Old Vic, not just a scheme run by ACE. Some, like Hannah Khalil, were worried about how it would be administered how playwrights would be chosen. Some playwrights, like Duncan Gates, just didnt think working in this way would suit them, while others like Ben Musgrave thought the money better spent ... on plays the writers want to write. Other objections included issues around artistic freedom or even Artists ... under-cutting each other to get the contracts. One anonymous respondent pointed out that A lot of this work already happens through councils, arts and health organisations and bridging organisations like Curious Minds and that there was no point reinventing the wheel though others, such as Fevered Sleeps Executive Director Sophie Eustace thought that A more formalised scheme to encourage interaction between artists and the community seems excellent ... potentially securing funds and raising the prole of this work and its impact. Hannah Silva agreed that It might be useful to do this more ofcially. Commenting on this proposal as part of their responses to this studys Top 5, Associate Dramaturg at Londons Bush Theatre, Rob Drummer said: The International Development fund at the Arts Council is an example of this. Pushing ring-fenced pots is absolutely desirable and important. And connecting performing arts to education, kids and families is really important. I would have a question around what the residency is about, and what its allowing the artist to create. And is there a way of going further, for example

extending it to whole arts organisations rather than just individual artists? But how the artist is being developed is also an important detail. What, precisely, are they getting and giving back? Is there a piece of work which is intended to come out of it? How these three artists, arts organisations and communities work together is the important question. Alex Chisholm, Literary Manager at West Yorkshire Playhouse said: This is a great idea. My comment would be that the application should come from a partnership of artist and institution/organisation so that both sides are clearly signed up and committed to it before funding is given. Lindsay Rodden, Literary Associate, on behalf of Liverpool Everyman, said: This is our number one choice of the Top 5. Funding artists to become embedded in building-based companies is really important, and likewise within communities. Really exciting work responding to our time and place, to our social context, coupled with an understanding of the theatre building, the company, the artistic vision, the nancial position, the wants and needs of people and place, audiences this is key. Its already a big priority for us put crudely, money for artists, and support, whatever that might be, to work not in isolation. David Jubb, Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre, said: Good idea. Anything to encourage a civic role for the arts (and the perception of a civic role) is productive. I would suggest that any funding scheme should be matched by investment (whether cash or in-kind) by the civic partner/s. In other words, its not just about the Arts Council investing in this area, it is about how civic institutions value the role of artists too. I think the idea of funding going straight to artists is good. But there should be some link drawn with a partner arts

organisation. Artists (rightly) move around and (good) organisations have a long-term commitment to communities: how could a scheme like this further (existing and new) connections between arts organisations and other civic institutions?

In Battalions 25

3. Theatres work with drama schools to jointly commission new work, especially large cast plays. There would be a potential professional training opportunity if theatres could negotiate with Equity a joint approach to producing. This would enable playwrights to write the plays they want to write and receive a professional commission. This approach would save the theatre money (commissioning and some actor fees) and would open up a new approach to the training of actors.

Key Responses Total Votes Additional Advice 1267 Would bridge the gap between drama schools and theatres Extend to drama departments in universities and colleges and develop links with more established actors so cast not only in their early 20s Would increase the number of interesting female roles Would increase students exposure to the industry Premieres attract industry audiences. Large casts attract large paying audiences Need to consider who would lead the artistic vision playwright or commissioning school? Who would own it? It might be difcult for writers to write parts for everyone Would students effectively be unpaid actors? If there are objections from Equity, one solution could be that a theatre company that has created a minimum number of jobs in a time period could then recruit students What drama students need to develop is not always what writers need to develop Drama schools would be taking a risk

This proposal excited many, though it would appear that the devil would be in the detail. Generally, respondents left much lengthier comments, full of pros, cons and caveats. There was some recurring disquiet around asking actors, even student actors, to work for free, as well concerns around the delicate nature of their relationship to professional actors. Interestingly, playwrights were broadly supportive of this proposal, perhaps reecting an appetite to tackle larger casts on bigger stages. Samantha Ellis, who has experience developing such shows for LAMDA, awarded 100 points, stating Currently some amazing plays are written for drama schools ... but they dont ever go beyond the drama schools and citing LAMDAs Long Project as a longstanding exception and a wonderful model. Bristol Old Vic commented that they also do this already ... and its a relationship that could benet writers and theatre greatly elsewhere. Steven Atkinson, director of HighTide, also awarded 100 points, though anticipated that The work here will be to convince drama schools ... a scheme such as this will require an opening up of students work. But he was optimistic about the prospect: I wouldnt have a problem with this and Id posit neither would students. One London based playwright saw no need for theatres to be involved at all and in awarding 120 points remarked commissions could be funded by ACE directly in return for drama schools agreeing to produce the play. Playwright Hannah Khalil awarded 65 points and pointed out that there are often more women in drama schools than men [so] it would create a wealth of new interesting female parts. Jonathan Meth of Goldsmiths awarded 50 and pointed out that similar arrangements In Battalions 26

had worked well for theatremakers Phyllida Lloyd and Mark Ravenhill. A London literary manager gave a more recent example of RADA and Jessica Swales Blue Stockings (which went further aeld when it played at the Globe). Others valued the professional development opportunity for students. Superb opportunity for students to learn from a real live writer in the rehearsal room commented PhD student Pamela McQueen, and cited something similar already taking place between the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and Gaiety School of Acting. An anonymous actor, writer and producer agreed that it would get students working in the way they will be expected to when they nish training. However critics of the idea were similarly forthright. Who is commissioning the work, choosing the playwright, leading on the artistic vision of the piece and the development and support for that playwright? asked one regional literary manager, adding it isnt necessarily a cost-saving initiative and needs not to be a one-off but part of a longer, larger strategy. One freelancer with insider experience at the Arts Council acknowledged that playwrights who naturally write big plays ... are at a disadvantage in the system as it stands but decided to award zero points, adding its the hybrid of professional and non-professional that I feel uncomfortable with here, and the sense of undercutting professional wages/rights. This respondent was not alone. Director Will Wollen stated baldy that This isnt training actors, this is using actors on the cheap at the expense of actors who

Potential Difculties

could be paid and questioned the point of any such arrangement at all, in terms of its benetting writers: There is nothing to stop writers getting commissions from drama schools at the moment. He also added that youth theatres were a better bet for this sort of play, and less professionally questionable. Artistic Associate Jessica Beck commented ask some of the LAMDA students about their participation in projects like this. Theres a ne line between training and exploitation though neither did she rule the idea out. It is absolutely a good idea, but with the fees people are paying for education it would just have to be employed delicately and added that a link with actors union Equity might well guard against these concerns. Dramaturg Mary Ann Hushlak pointed out a potential creative limitation: My proviso would be to be sure that the plays are not only for a cast in their early 20s though she went on to posit a possible solution: Perhaps there could be partnership links with more established actors, thereby not only creating large cast plays but also a kind of tutoring-in-practice system. Stella Duffy also foresaw difculties sadly, it wouldnt allow playwrights to write the work they wanted AND have the best, most experienced casts possible. Playwright (and former actress) Morna Regan agreed, Surely the playwrights wouldnt be able to write the plays they want to write, she said, theyd have to write plays with an average of 10 twenty year olds. One anonymous London-based actor with experience within Equity said that Drama students cannot be professional and their training is a delicate thing. Dont like the idea of them working with professionals. However director Esther Richardson, while understanding of Equitys need to ensure that professional roles do not go to amateurs, voiced some frustration around the unions previous history on this matter. The situation with Equity sometimes shutting down projects which

have a largish professional cast and then a community or student ensemble is frustrating. Their position is also foggy as some projects seem to be allowed to go ahead and others blocked it would be great for clarity around this area ... the rigidity of this position often means that tonnes of fantastic plays (with casts of over 15) are impossible to revive ... It just seems mad that when theres no company outside of the National and RSC who can afford to have 20 to 30 professional artists on stage in a regular slot, there cant be more exibility. Others worried about the possible side effects of such a move as this. One actress remarked I would be very careful about coming from the angle of saving money through doing shows with drama school students. Its hard enough getting paid work for professional actors while playwright James Graham said Important, yes though it better not DIScourage theatre from employing large professional casts. Theatre-maker Jenifer Toksvig anticipated a potential conict of interests between writers and student actors. Drama students are not just cheaper actors, and this model should be very careful to ensure that it is serving them and their needs as much as facilitating risk for the writers, she wrote, what actors need in development is frequently not what writing needs in development. Playwright Ben Musgrave voiced similar concerns. The objective of writing for a large cast isnt the same as writing a good play, he said, theres something fundamentally distracting about having to write parts for everyone though he did also say that so long as the objectives of both parties were clear this could be great, and awarded 30 points. Yet others foresaw conicts between theatres and drama schools. The problem I see here is that theatres tend to commission within their particular tastes, Hannah Silva wrote, and cited a commission she had

received from a drama school directly. If this had been a commission partnered with a theatre I wouldnt have received it. In my experience, the drama teacher at the school was far more risk-taking and open to innovative, non-naturalistic work than the theatres are. Director and dramaturg Sarah Punshon didnt think this idea contained anything new. This is something that already happens, she wrote Is the suggestion that drama school students perform the plays at the professional theatre also? before raising a question about audiences, If so, need to think more about why audiences would want to come. One anonymous director and producer, who went to RADA, pointed out I think they [drama schools] look for plays already written for large casts rather than commissioning ... If anyone can persuade them to spend the money on paying the writer that would be fantastic but Im not sure that it would save the theatre any money as they [the drama school] already tend to work with all their students, who are performing as part of their course. Actress Helen Millar was most scathing in her objections: Another way not to pay actors? But the writer gets paid? Commenting on this proposal as part of their responses to this studys Top 5, Associate Dramaturg at Londons Bush Theatre, Rob Drummer said: New work is a vital part of actor training. Bespoke work is important for diversity Black and minority ethnic actors are not easily exposed to characters that represent their cultural background. I can imagine this proposal being quite successful, especially if the costs of development were shared by the drama school. The play could be presented at both the school and the theatre. I could really see that happening.

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Alex Chisholm, Literary Manager at West Yorkshire Playhouse said: I can see the attraction of this but also potential pitfalls. Will theatres really be able to programme large new plays on their stages even if some of the actors are in training & free? Will the plays that suit the drama schools also suit the theatre? The same production may not do both jobs. It happens already that playwrights are trying out new plays in the LAMDA or RADA long project that are then modied and recast for professional production. Im not sure combining those things helps. Id rather see subsidy for actors in training for a year or more at theatres which then enables theatres to commission and produce the 7 or 8 hander rather than the 5 or 6 hander plays. Lindsay Rodden, Literary Associate, on behalf of Liverpool Everyman, said: This would be our fth if we were ranking the Top 5. It is a great opportunity for writers to write big, ambitious plays, but Im a bit unclear about how it would help theatres produce them. David Jubb, Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre, said: Not sure. We dont work in this area: commissioning playwrights and producing plays. We are not funded as a producing theatre. When we are able to co-produce (because of successful project fundraising) we make sure that pay levels meet industry standards: so I am slightly cautious of producing equating to getting a student to do it for less. I know that is not the intention of the idea but I think the values behind this proposal could be subject to abuse. Having said that, developing stronger connections between theatres and Higher Education is a strong principle. There are already some brilliant examples out there like Warwicks This Is Tomorrow programme. So principle good I just think the proposed idea is a bit narrow.

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4. ACE to create a national network of Associate Playwrights in the regional reps, who are not only commissioned to write a play but are physically based in the theatre and proactively involved in the artistic life of the company. Creating more Associate Playwrights would raise the prole and status of contemporary writers and writing; it would demonstrate the industrys strong commitment to new work and to professional opportunities for writers; and it could enable working playwrights to have a strategic voice in artistic programming.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 1257 Associates should change regularly, e.g. once a year, to avoid entrenchment Widen to Associate Artists/ Theatremakers (including designers, directors, composers) as well as writers particularly in non-text focused, devising companies Increases the writers visibility, and might offer opportunities to be involved in other ways as well as writing Would help mid-career as well as emerging playwrights by creating positions for them in theatres Consider full time and part time posts Advertise publicly for anyone who wants to apply Should be run by the theatres themselves, rather than ACE?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this idea was widely supported by most playwright respondents, with those in theatres voicing concerns around cost. Playwright Sam Ellis awarded it 100 points and voiced a longstanding gripe among writers that why shouldnt playwrights be associates, not just directors? and adding It would also be a great opportunity for playwrights to share their process and works in progress and be part of the life of theatres. Another London based playwright remarked This is the most important of the[se Delphi] proposals, going on to opine that many NPOs are funded with the caveat that they are new writing theatres and yet have no playwrights on staff in either part- or full-time capacity [which] is a poor outcome. Another anonymous writer awarded it 120 though added that it was Important that all these jobs are publicly advertised and open to anyone who wants to apply. Most other writers gave double gure scores of 20 or above. The proposal also enjoyed noticeable support among freelance directors and those running smaller companies. Director Ellie Jones remarked Great opportunity for new writers to establish in the industry while Will Wollen awarded 50. An anonymous director of a small regional company welcomed Putting writers back into the heart of communities and organisations. Freelance actor, writer and theatre-maker Micha Colombo saw benets of collaborative working leading to a greater understanding of process when he commented getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of their industry will help Playwrights craft plays with an inherent sense of the

potentials and pitfalls that their creative collaborators might face. Esther Richardson remarked Residencies is an old idea but one that has always been effective in my view. Interestingly, a couple of regional venues also awarded high marks, one giving 40 and another 75, and adding Yes this would be brilliant. Associates should change regularly though. Questions were inevitably asked about the funding of such a scheme. How many days per month are you paying for them to be in your theatre, are you covering their travel and accommodation, what about their other commitments? asked one regional literary manager. Theatre Centres Natalie Wilson liked the idea but thought it could be quite expensive while HighTide Steven Atkinson pointed out that in reality the creation of this [scheme] would mean a cut elsewhere. He also though that Theatres can already chose whether or not to fund resident playwrights. Steven was among several respondents who referenced the Pearson Playwrights Scheme, which awards bursaries for playwrights to be attached to theatres for one year. A handful of others questioned the value of involving playwrights in theatre companies programming and administration at all; Fevered Sleeps Sophie Eustace said Not convinced playwrights need more of a voice while dramaturg Mary Ann Hushlak remarked not sure that playwrights in strategic artistic programming is the best way forward though both declined to elaborate. Several respondents suggested the idea should be Associate Artists rather than Associate Playwrights, so that opportunities could be created for other

Potential Difculties

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theatre-makers not just writers as Esther Richardson put it. Writer/theatremaker Hannah Silva also suggested Associate Artists, saying There are many writers who would not describe themselves as playwrights. I think putting a ring around playwrights is trying to turn back the clock. If the idea is to raise the status of contemporary writers and writing it would need to embrace spoken word artists, performance writers etc. Stella Duffy concurred, and suggested Associate Theatremakers would be a better title, admitting that she would have give[n] this idea more currency if it wasnt again! purely playwright-based and going on to reect that if we are still tying ourselves solely into old models, then we stand no chance at all. Several respondents questioned whether ACE was the best organisation to lead on implementing this idea. Perhaps a consortium of interested reps instead? asked one anonymous freelancer. Why do we need ACE to do this? added Will Wollen. If theatres have the money to produce then new work happens. Jenifer Toksvig strongly disagreed, rstly questioning what theatres we have left which t the description of regional reps before condemning the sector in no uncertain terms. The industry HAS no strong commitment to new work. It hates new work. New work is hard to sell. She also foresaw a conict with Artistic Directors; the voice of a playwright is a different concoction to the voice of an Artistic Director in a regional theatre. A London-based director/producer said the same: you are assuming that all venues want to have new work on and the truth is that there are more venues who dont. One anonymous actor also worried that running it as a scheme would risk imposing it on artistic directors.

Commenting on this proposal as part of their responses to this studys Top 5, Associate Dramaturg at Londons Bush Theatre, Rob Drummer said: Versions of this exist in almost every new writing theatre the Pearson and Channel 4 schemes for example. At Liverpool Everyman they run an attachment programme with different writers every year. The Escalator programme at HighTide gives writers input into a festival. I have one at the Bush already. So the question around this proposal for me is are we talking about quantity or type (i.e. do we want more of these, or a different version?) The BBC Performing Arts fund (which is about directors but doesnt have to be) involves the Bush and the Lyric theatres. Its a one year job based in two organisations. Other writer opportunities are national, e.g. West Yorkshire Playhouse, Liverpool Everyman and Live Theatre Newcastle regularly club together to offer opportunities to writers. So if these sorts of schemes were to go, then yes this idea would be needed. Id also want to know what were talking about here is it a commission and a salary, or work outside of a commission? Which is more important? Theatres already tell an interesting story for their writers. Who those writers are is the more interesting question. For example, could a change of context help say if a London writer was to go on an attachment to Leeds, or vice versa? Alex Chisholm, Literary Manager at West Yorkshire Playhouse said: Lots of theatre do have Associate Playwrights or Associate Artists independently or as part of schemes. Would this be to pay for a new set of Associate Playwrights or to network the ones that already exist? Is a working playwright going to take on representing the interests of writers or artists within an organisation? That isnt going to suit everyone. I wonder whether the better way of going about this is to require that each NPO producing theatre (building based) has a practising artist on the board. In Battalions 30

Lindsay Rodden, Literary Associate, on behalf of Liverpool Everyman, said: This is our number two choice of the Top 5, for the same reasons as our top choice above (Community Residencies). Funding artists to become embedded in building-based companies is really important, and likewise within communities. Really exciting work responding to our time and place, to our social context, coupled with an understanding of the theatre building, the company, the artistic vision, the nancial position, the wants and needs of people and place, audiences this is key. Its already a big priority for us put crudely, money for artists, and support, whatever that might be, to work not in isolation. David Jubb, Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre, said: Worst idea. I think it would be much more interesting to attach playwrights to theatres who specialise in devising and collaborative practice. And attach theatre-makers and devisers to repertory theatres who produce plays in more traditional ways. We need to shake things up, not encourage existing models to calcify.

5. A scheme twinning larger organisations with smaller ones. This would involve the larger organisations agreeing to a package of resources with that smaller organisation specically tied to support for new, risky, emerging artists/work. This might be an offer of equipment, space, marketing and commissioning funds. This could be paid for by all National Portfolio Organisations funded over 500,000 ring-fencing 1% of their budgets for these mutually benecial supportprogrammes.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 1039 Could help address London/regional gaps Would change can we support smaller companies? into which one shall we support? Offers opportunities for skills and experience sharing. Big companies would keep in touch with emerging talent and new work in the area Would need to be time limited. Once the smaller company had matured, a new partnership should be formed Offers a clear example of career progression to the small companies A newsletter from a big company advertising the work with, or of a smaller company attracts a wider audience Could create administration costs 1% is too low Too few NPOs this size to sponsor enough small companies Could lead to big companies cherry picking talent from smaller ones Possibly a risk of small companies coming to resemble larger ones, rather than developing their own voices

Although making it into the Top 5 highest scoring proposals, this was another in which the devil was in the detail. Much of the debate was around how such a scheme would work, whether it would be forced on companies, and the fact that informally, many such arrangements already exist. One regional literary manager pointed out that it is a stipulation of NPO status for larger building-based organisations to offer support to smaller companies in their area. Others questioned the need for the proposed 1% ring-fence. Several case studies were mentioned, which might warrant further study. Pamela McQueen cited the production hubs model of the Irish Arts Council, while Fevered Sleep offered its own experience as an associate company of Londons Young Vic, saying The in kind support offered through this relationship has enabled the company to take risks with our programme and plough precious resources in the making of new work rather than overheads. Jenifer Toksvig offered her companys experience of being supported by the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. I write youth shows for them, for free. They get nice new shows to put on, and we get dramaturgy, A-to-Z development, and the chance to invite a publisher to a full production ... Together, we have learnt and honed our storytelling craft writing for ages 8-21. So maybe this is an opportunity to engage with youth departments she suggested. One anonymous respondent cited the example of supported artist status offered by BAC to many emerging devising and non-text-based companies. Esther Richardson offered a lengthy and detailed response in which she compared a similar arrangement In Battalions 31

which was in place via the (now defunct) Theatre Writing Partnership in the East Midlands, which she used to head. Larger organisations in the East Mids were given money via ACE that they had to sign over to us for us to be able to deliver our work (discovering, developing and producing new writing), Esther wrote. It was basically a way of enforcing a collaborative relationship (because the fact the money came via the theatres meant that we had to report to them jointly at quarterly meetings). Mostly this approach had good results in terms of forging strong partnerships and a huge turnover of work. However, it wasnt always plain-sailing with every organisation, and the effectiveness of it for the larger organisation depended entirely on how committed they were to the vision of the project. However, she concluded Im not sure this kind of intervention would work everywhere and only awarded the proposal 5 points. Others felt an element of enforcement was desirable. Good idea offered one London freelancer, formalizes what NPOs should be doing anyway (but not all do) and makes them accountable for it (and therefore more invested in the process). Ria Parry, director of a small company which benet from such a scheme said Ofcially having to ring-fence and deliver on this would take away the decision of can we support smaller companies, and make it which one shall we support? A much better question. Director Christopher Gorry awarded 120 points, this proposals highest score, and stated: This will force the larger organisations to engage with the smaller ones in there region. This will enable a ladder of engagement ... both organisations need to be working proactively at each level of the community they serve.

Potential Difculties

Some respondents saw the strategic benets for the larger organisation. It is in their own interests and helps build their own brand value and secure their potential future talent, suggested Micha Colombo. This is a great opportunity for larger organisations to make links with more experimental emerging artists and their work agreed Lizzie Nunnery. It would keep larger companies in touch with new work that was being created in its area, argued Ella Hickson. Others objected to the enforced 1%. Not feasible said Theatre Centres Natalie Wilson. Good idea but wrong mechanism said Bristol Old Vics James Peries. Cloud cuckooland said director Will Wollen. One London based playwright asked simply How is this better than supporting the small organisations directly? More than one respondent thought the bureaucracy of such a centralised scheme would outweigh any benets. Time spent organising/administering these twinnings would be disproportionate to the benets said Hannah Khalil. A bit time consuming as a proposal for not much return thought Esther Richardson. Some were more unequivocally dismissive. Patronising assumption that will lead to more resources going to large organisations and everyone thinking weve solved it, said Jonathan Petherbridge of London Bubble. Commenting on this proposal as part of their responses to this studys Top 5, Associate Dramaturg at Londons Bush Theatre, Rob Drummer said: We have six associate artists and companies here at the Bush. How would this proposal be different? Our Associates receive support from our development team, as well as marketing and producing training and various opportunities to present work. Its not cash support always but skills which can be quite hard for smaller

companies to get hold of. We work with companies we share an outlook with, rather than being a general advice agency. We like it to be a two-way street for example by looking for companies who are closer to the ground with certain communities. We work with smaller companies who may not be able to afford to commission but who can nd interesting writers with us. Alex Chisholm, Literary Manager at West Yorkshire Playhouse said: West Yorkshire Playhouse already does this. Our two resident companies are Unlimited and Rash Dash who have ofce space, administrative support and creative relationships. It is a very positive and productive arrangement and one more and more theatres are doing, with the strong encouragement of ACE. Will ACE have the ability to make this a requirement of funding over a certain level rather than an expectation? Lindsay Rodden, Literary Associate, on behalf of Liverpool Everyman, said: This is our third of the Top 5. We think the big organisations can learn so much from the smaller ones too, their particular skills and expertise. Thats been our experience of using the Playhouse Studio as a development space for other companies. David Jubb, Artistic Director of Battersea Arts Centre, said: Probably unworkable but this is a terric provocation. Arts organisations everywhere rely on smaller, often more eet of foot organisations to come up with new ideas, artists and directions. Fifteen years ago it might take an artist three or ve years to progress from a venue like Battersea Arts Centre to somewhere like the Barbican or National Theatre. Now, it can be as little as 6 or 12 months. The same is true for Battersea Arts Centre that picks up artists and shows from a cadre of unfunded and brilliant fringe venues. The point is that we need to

encourage a more generous ecology and number 5 could be a great way of enabling that to happen. But tricky for ACE to administer.

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6. Approach business heads and economists to make the case to government for continued public investment. The economic argument has been made repeatedly but it doesnt get through when it is artists speaking.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 921 Should be in conjunction with artists, rather than instead of them Worthwhile if increases media attention The arts contribute hugely economically we should think of data as our friend Rich business men are the only people the government might listen to You cant outsource advocacy Artists must learn to make their own case; artists speak best through their work Previous governments have ignored frequent economic reports on the contribution of the arts If people in government wont listen to people in the industry, why would they listen to people outside it? The government attack on the arts is ideological, not economic, so business representation wont help

(We need to get them to support the arts rst...) to outright optimism (If we can win this argument nally, the rest should follow, right?). The question pitched directors against directors and playwrights against playwrights. Fundamental to a Govt rethink said Ellie Jones. Has to be an idea dreamt up by non-artists said Will Wollen, Stop listening to them! Many felt despairing that even if we were to success in recruiting economists and business heads to make our case, that this government would listen. bear in mind that the government resolutely ignored many of our best economists advice on the current crisis, remarked Esther Richardson. The argument has been presented time and again by people who work in the arts, argued Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder, why would the government listen to the same argument coming from people with no concrete experience of the industry? One anonymous respondent made the case that This governments attack on the arts is ideological not economic not sure anyone would change their thinking. Steven Atkinson of HighTide thought efforts would be better spent trying to get the public on side: The work ahead isnt just the economic case its giving voice to the public enabling them to say that they want culture to be subsidised. One anonymous actress referenced (favourably) an Equity campaign which prove[d] how much [money] the Arts generate and added The argument for the value of arts for social welfare is a just one but it isnt one that seems to resonate with governments in the same way that prots for our economy do. Some thought there was value in trying to recruit others to our cause. We need to hear more from people who seem without vested interest, said playwright Phil Porter,

and awarded it 60 points. I ought to give this 360 points commented director Dorian Kelly (he gave it 34). Jenifer Toksvig thought such an idea was inherently selfdefeating. When its business people speaking, she said, the logical response is that they should become philanthropists if they think it such a good opportunity for investment. Two respondents cited favourably the infographic which Soho Theatre had produced, which visualised their economic return compared to investment, and which was widely circulated online earlier this year. More graphs like the one by Soho Theatre would help said one anonymous producer, before adding but sadly our government is currently busy make us thinking that we are competing for funds against each other whilst they give it to corporations. Others, such as Hannah Silva, thought the focus on economics was fundamentally misplaced, arguing The economic argument is not the right argument to be making, Theatre isnt particularly important for the economy, it is important to all of us as human beings. Dramaturg Mary Ann Hushlak thought there might be value in artists and economists joining forces: My view is it should be business heads/economics AND artists speaking as partners with them, she said. It is incredibly important that we as artists know how to make our case. Others disagreed. Economists are economists, wrote one. Artists speak through their work best. Possibly useful but doesnt feel like the best use of the energy from this campaign, remarked another.

Potential Difculties

Despite coming sixth in the Delphi scoring, this idea seemed to split respondents very equally down the middle. People were for or against, with little middle ground. Responses ranged from downright cynicism

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7. Theatres work with writers and their local council to produce site specic new writing, nancially supported by the council and local businesses. The writers will choose their own sites from the list the council provides of locations that are in need of activity. This new writing will nd a home and of course inspiration from the spaces that meet each councils criteria. Such criteria could include: A site considered a local treasure but due to cuts in other areas of the council cannot be open to the public any longer. Or a problematic area of the community due to the lack of activity (night or day) because of the economic challenges facing the area, e.g. shops closing.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 879 Could focus on areas of deprivation, developing the connection between arts and regeneration Good way to engage the community in new work written for them Has the potential to join up multiple agency interests Widen from writers to other art forms Creates interesting artistic challenges Raises the value of the spaces where it takes place Avoid simply biographical explorations of the venue Insurance, health and safety What is the legacy beyond an initial impact? How do you publicise the new venue? Can be restrictive, depending on the nature of the site Relies heavily on Council willingness to engage with arts

This proposal was another which tended to split respondents down the middle. This time, the split seemed to be between freelance writers, directors and actors, whose imaginations it seemed to re, and those working for organisations, who anticipated numerous practical challenges, most commonly health and safety issues, and marketing. Being subject to the cooperation and creative input of councils was also an issue for some, while for others the mere fact of most councils experiencing their own swingeing cuts rendered this idea a non-starter. However, it also seemed to be an idea which was already taking place in numerous guises, and the amount of existing examples offered by respondents was greater for this proposal than for any others. Organisations who were quoted as doing something similar (not independently veried by the authors of this report) included: Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, Slung Low, Alligator Club, Wild Works, Bristol Council, Anu Productions, The Other Way Works, Black Country Touring, SPID, Dot Dot Dot and the Town Centres Initiative. Something we are already exploring [and] interesting if led by playwrights, said one regional literary manager, adding but it can be very expensive ... we have to be fully insured, technically staffed, ensure health and safety etc. One London based freelancer noted that visual art was a lot more advanced in this area than theatre, concluding it would be good to see braver, more ambitious theatre commissions ... (encouraged by ACE?). In Battalions 34

Director Esther Richardson thought the idea had strong audience appeal, especially outside London, where site specic theatre is still relatively rare. She also thought it would attract investment in a way that regular shows dont because businesses get excited and buy into the uniqueness of the event. Simultaneously, she argued, getting writers more engaged in creating site specic work was a progressive and effective way to revive and re-energise the new writing culture outside of London. Director Ellie Jones also saw the proposal as a way of drawing communities and local organisations together; Has the potential to penetrate every community and join up multi-agency interest. Executive Director Sophie Eustace agreed that collaboration between organisations/artists and their locality are crucial particularly in the current climate though thought that the idea should be not just about new writing but new creative projects in a range of potential forms. But the idea did enjoy broad support among playwrights and actors. [Gives] the place where the piece is performed [a] dimension that otherwise it wouldnt have said one. Gives councils an actual stake in creating good work that engages the community said another. Would be fantastic to harness empty spaces , get councils involved and also inspire local audiences to think a play might have been written for/ about them said a third. However, those who were sceptical were quite deeply sceptical. Cost was a factor for many, as was the potential within this proposal for projects to be led by council priorities rather than artistic ideas.

Potential Difculties

I would prefer to focus on schemes that leave playwrights free to write said playwright Sam Ellis. Could lead to creativity being restricted by council requirements remarked Hannah Tyrell-Pinder. Theatremaker Hannah Silva offered some direct experience: Ive worked as writer-in-residence with a council and Im aware the restrictions ... do not foster creativity she wrote, though did not elaborate. Logistics and marketing were also concerns. Staging performances in found spaces is challenging said Steven Atkinson of HighTide. Knowledge of how to do this safely and legally is a specic skill. Admin and safety a nightmare commented dramaturg Penny Black. Big marketing costs thought playwright Phil Porter. Creating audiences for temporary spaces is notoriously difcult observed playwright Ella Hickson. The ght is to get local audiences to their local theatres rst, thought playwright James Graham, let alone an out of town run-down car park. Director and dramaturg Sarah Punshon thought a team of theatremakers would work better than a sole writer. Theyd need designers/ directors/performers to help them think about the particular challenges of site specic work from quite an early stage in development she wrote. Others were sceptical about the likely interest from councils. You have greater faith in councils than I do in this climate said one anonymous writer/director. This needs more thinking as its over-reliant on councils who often dont have capacity said convenor of the Goldsmiths MA Playwriting Jonathan Meth. Though he went on to add But the idea of community local generated impetus is good, and the playwright making art in public/civic spaces is great. Another anonymous director/producer had similarly mixed feelings, saying the idea was asking too much of two institutions [councils and theatre companies] who are already understaffed and overworked but adding the sentiment of this idea is the right one but the execution needs re-thinking.

Artistic Associate Jessica Beck was less optimistic. Can councils really afford to nancially support art? she asked, citing the example of her local council, Lambeth, [they] cant justify funding many arts projects when so many people are in need. However she did see some potential in councils offering in-kind support: Wouldnt giving unused spaces ... count as backing? and cited Lambeth again who had given local arts organisation Omnibus reduced rent rather than selling their property to private developers. I think we need to engage councils in those ways, and get local businesses to provide the cash nancial support. Hannah Silva echoed a similar sentiment. We (creative people), she wrote, dont seem to have found a way to work with businesses and private funding effectively yet ... maybe needs an initiative in itself. Freelancer Micha Colombo saw a middle ground: Feels like an area where a social enterprise rather than local council would be best to lead activity. Some, like writer Hannah Khalil, had concerns around the artistic content of such projects. I would hope thered be an artistic person on the commissioning side, she said, to guide the project away from simply biographical explorations of a venue.

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8. Divide up the artistic leadership of large spaces e.g. have three Artistic Directors for the National Theatre, one for each space, so that a wider range of work is commissioned, more practitioners experience programming and curating, and fresh voices can be heard. For ACE supported spaces, make Artistic Directors reapply every ve years and defend their proposed programme. Keep the artistic vision of the sector fresh so new ideas and artists can come through. Let the money trickle down.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 862 Would create more potential opportunities for women and artists who have families Could increase diversity Offer guest director seasons or associate directorships rather than permanent separate posts Five years is too short, especially for major buildings. There is a need for unied, long term leadership Directors have to defend themselves to funders anyway Competition between mini-venues or mini-companies is unhelpful Could be expensive to administrate, and salary might have to be split

This was a controversial proposal which provoked strong responses both for and against. Interestingly, it seemed to nd most favour among freelancers, and in particular female respondents, who broadly agreed that the leadership of our agship theatre companies was disproportionately male dominated, and that artistic directors tended to stay in post for longer than was desirable. This is crucial thought playwright Annie Siddons. Stops cronyism, cliquiness etc and has immediate effects. I agree we need more diversity of artistic leadership said one (female) chief executive, though added not sure forcing it is right. More voices involved in programming is important agreed Artistic Director Ria Parry, Artistic Directors needing to reassess (rather than reapply) every 5 years is useful. I have felt (and argued) for years and years that there should be a ve year term for Artistic Directorships said freelancer Esther Richardson. Instigating something like this would change our theatre culture overnight ... [it would create much greater opportunity for artists who have families and I think it would help to get more women involved in the running of buildings. Playwrights Amanda Whittington and Lisa Evans both echoed this; I would support a re-examination of the model of artistic leadership in this country said Whittington. Feel like this would address the in crowd aspect of large theatre companies with limited vision argued Evans. Can we have a focus on allowing women in to these roles? asked actress Helen Millar. Introduce an Equal Ops policy so that not every Artistic Director

is White/Male/Oxbridge educated, wrote another anonymous (female) respondent, so that we can have ... a different kind of work commissioned! Seriously, please do this wrote Jenifer Toksvig. This would be the best thing for the National Theatre and its audiences said Jessica Beck, Lets do it now and awarded 50 points. However the largest amount of points, 130, came from a male director, Christopher Gorry. A great idea in my opinion, he wrote, It will force those in positions that arent achieving what they should be achieving to reconsider their approach and redene their programming to match the society that they need to be serving. Another male respondent, Micha Colombo, while awarding zero points on the grounds that multiple Artistic Directors ... would lead to a diluted vision also added that I do however massively agree with the Artistic Directors of ACE supported spaces needing to periodically reapply ... in the same way as our elected MPs. However, opposition to this idea was widespread and vociferous. Audiences develop a long term relationship of trust with organisations pointed out one regional literary manager. Its important for audiences to feel safe agreed Becky Prestwich. Could provoke change for changes sake and may bias the bright young thing rather than protect quality argued director Ellie Jones. More than one person is always involved in commissioning anyway felt playwright Sam Ellis, adding what feels more pressing is to look at what happens to plays commissioned under one ADs regime when they leave ... playwrights are continually nding their

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commissions dropped when a new artistic director comes in. This was a point echoed by playwright Phil Porter: So many commissions come to nothing because of regime change. However, playwright James Graham felt moved to defend the National Theatre, which was singled out by this proposal. A consistent artistic vision for the season, led by one team, doesnt necessarily mean a limited range of work, Graham wrote. I love that you can have London Road in the Cott[esloe[, Othello in the Oli[vier[, and a Bennett in the Lytt[leton[, and Non Zero [One[ doing some site specic on the roof that feels pretty diverse? Also, the collegiate atmosphere of the National is what makes it so fruitful to work there everyone is in it together, the spaces arent competing. I think the NT idea just reduces the NT to three theatres (three awkward spaces, actually) agreed one anonymous (female) freelancer, [which] would be more limiting for each AD, and make the NT less than the sum of its parts. This respondent also acknowledged the long lead-in time for artistic programmes at this level to really come to fruition. In a large space youd be following your predecessors programme for the rst 18 months, and some ambitious projects can take two-three years to develop. Add to that any inherited problems you need to resolve (declining audiences, nancial problems which advise risk aversion) and ve years in you might just be hitting your stride. However she did add: I do like the values behind these ideas though the concept of a shake-up of power. Others were more forthright. Utter nonsense, wrote director Will Wollen, motivated by bitterness of the I could do that type. ADs defend their proposed programme every day. Are we seriously suggesting that the artistic directors are externally controlled by ACE bureaucrats? ... How can an AD concentrate on art if his whole organisation is up for grabs every 5 years?

One anonymous actor gave a more concrete example. I worked at the Royal Exchange in Manchester under 3 artistic directors and felt it was in danger of making the theatre irrelevant. The danger is an overall vision cannot be achieved. At the exchange, programming basically turned into what each one wanted to do. There was no leadership. The suggestion has a punitive feel to it wrote dramaturg Mary Ann Hushlak. Seems to be weighted as anti-AD agreed AD Natalie Wilson. We should trust that boards, executive and artistic directors understand their audiences, wrote Hannah TyrrellPinder, without imposing a formal structure wherein programming must be publically defended. Yet another AD pointed out that reapplying for the ACE funding [every 3 years] means defending your programme anyway. Not sure we want to ght this ght at the moment wrote one playwright. Divide and conquer? wrote another. Could backre. Defensive artistic directors are not what writers and co-workers need! said another. Associate directors are the answers argued one producer. Associates is what brings diversity to programmes agreed another. A good Artistic Director should be appointing great creative minds, listening to their staff and programming quality work outside their specic taste wrote playwright Lizzie Nunnery, adding Im not sure theres a successful way to police that without breaking down the creative condence that hopefully exists in a successful theatre company. Playwright Ella Hickson concurred; I believe you need to give people autonomy in order to facilitate the bravest work. To be constantly justifying yourself I think would feed into the box-ticking culture that we are already suffering from. Kill this idea at birth it is ridiculous wrote lecturer Scott Anderson. In Battalions 37

More practically, several respondents quite fairly pointed out that this idea would presumably mean tripling the amount spent on Artistic Director salaries, making it immediately unaffordable.

9. Lobby the Treasury to offer extra tax breaks to private donors contributing funds for the production of a world premiere.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 784 Widen to include other premieres, not just world premieres Add extra tax breaks for donating to non-London organisations High impact for comparatively little input Tax breaks would appeal to donors Donors need to consider their relationship with the theatre and what kind of return they expect Most theatre philanthropy is not production-specic Could encourage a fat cats funding musicals culture

Responses to this proposal were as pithy as the proposal itself. A small majority of respondents were in fact against it, but a few high scores (of 70, 60, 52, 45, 40 and a couple of 30s) propelled the idea into the top ten. Those in favour argued that the idea was simple but effective and would speak language politicians can understand [and] be an easy win for them too or that it would increase incentives for supporting riskier work and have a massive impact on our sector for considerably less work than many of the [Delphi] proposals. But those against, such as Hannah Tyrell-Pinder, conversely argued that the whole culture of philanthropic giving in the UK needs to be examined rst who gives, why do they give, how much and how often before introducing initiatives to make it easier. Playwright Phil Porter objected on the grounds that most theatre philanthropy is not production-specic. Playwright Ella Hickson foresaw it creating a fat cats funding musicals culture. Others felt the motivation for giving would be distorted with such a centralised scheme. I think its to be applauded if its not for tax reasons, but because they have an absolute connection or passion for the piece, wrote one anonymous actress.

While a literary manager pointed out that such acts of philanthropy were more often about the relationship the donor has with the theatre than any nancial rewards. Director and dramaturg Sarah Punshon thought the beneciary was misplaced, suggesting instead that it would be Much more useful to lobby for extra tax breaks for donating to non-London organisations, arguing that Philanthropy is hugely biased towards London and that If this idea had been on this list Id have given it 100 points. (She gave it zero). One respondent queried the proposals understanding of the tax system. I dont understand where the tax break comes in, in this context. Theres no taxable income involved for the donor that I can see (unless its an investment which expects a return which could be tax exempt, yes is that what you mean?) Assuming its [a] ... true donation rather than investment, I cant see where the tax break would come in. Charitable donations are already tax exempt. Others, such as one anonymous actor, were cynical that the Treasury would take up such a proposal anyway. An inspired Treasury would say yes. I hold out little hope with the current administration.

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10. A branded curtain-raiser programme that allows newer artists from smaller venues to present their work before bigger shows in larger venues in order to grow their prole and audience.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 779 Audience development as well as greater opportunities for, and awareness of, new artists Must be treated as a trailer rather than a warm up act Works well for artists whose work has a broad appeal and makes a point quickly. Less suited to work which unfolds gently or is designed for a studio space An alternative: have a separate strand of new work running alongside bigger productions, with ticket deals Artistic Directors would need to explain why they were presenting works in this way thematically, or as two separate projects etc Could help prevent latecomers! Would need to be performed with no set, main show set, or require a very fast turnaround Could place pressure on technical and FOH staff labour intensive Could detract from the main show, or make the evening too long, making FOH staff and audiences miss the bus home The writer of the main piece may want control of the evenings experience There are already more opportunities to show short pieces than long ones

This proposal only scored 5 points lower than the proposal above, and attracted considerably more debate and enthusiasm, especially from smaller venues and less established theatre artists. The audience development element of this idea could work very well thought one regional Chief Exec. Fabulous idea thought one London literary manager. Love, love, love this idea wrote playwright Susan Hodgetts. An exciting way to start to develop audiences for new work thought north-west based playwright Becky Prestwich. This would signicantly help smaller companies build their audiences argued Hannah Silva. Inspired stated playwright Morna Regan, adding I can imagine it being very attractive to larger organisations who get to make their audiences theatre going experience more thrilling and also get to be seen to be philanthropic. Simple idea that benets everyone wrote theatremaker Micha Colombo, audiences, venues, rising talent, a brand sponsor. Lovely idea, said playwright Hannah Khalil, though it would need to be in lots of venues. Several respondents noted the similarity of the idea to short lms screened before the main feature in some cinemas. However, those running venues of a scale which might play host to such a scheme pointed out various logistical challenges. Interesting idea said one regional literary manager, but it does have cost implications technical costs, front of house costs, box ofce costs. Playwright Samantha Ellis also saw a cost issue and worried that the scheme might not result in a future life for the short works, which would be very labour intensive to make. For one freelancer, the devil was in the detail. Im not opposed to this but I need more information, she wrote, I can see how it might work for live art, cabaret

etc but not specically for new writing. Would the pieces be extracts? Whats the business model? Would the brand produce the work and take a proportion of the overall ticket yield at each venue? The idea of a trailer could work, agreed dramaturg Mary Ann Hushlak. My only concern would be how the balance of initiative would work what would be offered, who would curate it. An anonymous actress asked something similar: Would the theatres housing the newer artists just be able to choose who they liked or would it be part of a bigger application process? Playwright Ella Hickson asked the same: The admin involved in this would need to be managed by a whole separate company who selects the shows? Does the AD get to decide what show precedes her/his show? Who pays for the rehearsals/production of the shorts or are the smaller companies performing for free? PhD researcher Pamela McQueen argued that Its a question of timing for programming; many large venues program up to two years in advance. Small companies, due to erratic funding, dont always have that long term ability to commit. Others foresaw more everyday complications, such as the shorts having to play on top of an existing set, extended shifts for front-of-house and technical staff, or audiences missing transport home. Audience experience was an issue for several respondents. Would audiences go for this? asked Jessica Beck. In this day and age, people get grumpy if its a full length show. Would they really want to come early to see bits of work from people they havent heard of? Playwright Arzhang Pehzman had similar concerns. Some people want to know exactly what theyre

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getting, and its not what they asked for then it may put them off, he suggested, adding Having said this, Id hope most people would see it as a bonus. Director Esther Richardson had a concrete example. We did it at TWP [Theatre Writing Partnership] in the early noughties at Nottingham Playhouse, the old Leicester Haymarket and Royal Northampton, she wrote. Satin n Steel by Amanda Whittington is an example of a fulllength play that began as a curtain-raiser but was fully commissioned on the basis of its reception as a short extract in exactly this context. Its a good idea and it works especially well for artists whose work has a broad appeal i.e. that can make an immediate connection in a larger space in just a few minutes. This kind of scheme is much less effective for quieter, more subtle work that is possibly better placed in a studio, or that because of the gentle way the narrative unfolds, better suited to a lengthier slot. Joint-AD Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder thought it would possibly be more valuable to have a separate strand or season of new work running alongside bigger scale productions, with attendant ticket deals and incentives for audiences. Playwright James Graham had reservations about the implications for the creators of the main show. If I were the artist of the bigger piece, the whole experience of the evening is important, and Id lose control of that, he wrote. Jonathan Petherbridge of London Bubble simply wrote Yuk.

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11. A consortium of theatres and playwrights to approach the owners of the Doollee website (www.doollee.com) about collaborating to make it work for the sector as the central online database for all new British plays. This will be with a view to encouraging second and subsequent professional, amateur, international and school productions (thereby generating new income streams for writers from existing work). The consortium would work with Doollee to: create engaging writer prole pages; re-skin the front of the website design (and data pages if possible) to give writers an attractive shop window online; acquire a second more descriptive domain name additional to the name Doollee (e.g ndaplay.co.uk); and promote and publicise its benets. We could seek to involve local libraries as managers of printed script sets, now that they are part of ACE; and make scripts available for paid download (with the usual free-ofcharge preview segments).

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 771 Takes the guess work out of shopping Develops an existing resource Similar resource at the British Library could also be developed Doollee could be more like Spotlight rely on individuals updating their own pages to reduce administrative load Charge an annual fee or base rate subscription to cover costs digital rebranding would connect to a new online playwrights platform Add an associative algorithm if you like this, you might like this Could compromise later publication over-emphasis on digital scripts will take money away from published scripts already struggling Instead, encourage playwrights to self-publish on Kindle

For those unfamiliar with www.doollee.com, it is a free online database of British plays, searchable by title, writer, cast size and gender breakdown. It is fairly commonly used by education professionals and amateur groups looking for plays to perform for their own quite specic groups. However, it is not a professional site but the project of an enthusiastic amateur HTML-coder. As such it has been criticised for its somewhat dated layout and interface, as well as the fact that any play at all seems to be uploadable, leading to shortlists of unpublished, amateur or unperformed works which are of limited value to users looking for readily-available quality plays. Supporters of this proposal argued that it would take the guesswork out of it for schools, amateur companies, regional theatres etc and that too many new plays only have one performance before languishing. While there were some objections to the workload involved in creating and maintaining such a large database, one director though that the workload could be delegated to users with an interest in keeping their own pages updated like Spotlight (the actors casting database) and even suggesting that a fee could be charged for this service. Writer and dramaturg Penny Black suggested that this idea would attract the support of play publishers, and playwright Ben Musgrave pointed out that many are already doing something similar. Others, like playwright James Graham, thought it was important to get the word out to schools, theatre companies [and] amateur groups.

Artistic Director Elizabeth Freestone said a decent, centralised online database was needed, while director Sarah Punshon thought it very sensible and writer Becky Prestwich a great resource especially leading to second productions which of course would mean more royalties for writers from existing works. Most objections to this proposal seemed to be to do with taking on www.doollee.com itself, which was variously described as reliable but dull, outdated, need[ing] an overhaul and with one playwright asking do we want to give it [doollee] all that control? Another said the idea sound[s] like a hostile takeover ... we could just start a new one. Some questioned the efcacy of a database in stimulating interest in second and subsequent productions at all. Databases act as an aide memoire said Goldsmiths Jonathan Meth, they dont precipitate creative decisionmaking. Several respondents drew a parallel, unfavourably, with the Bush Theatres script database system Bushgreen, which was widely seen as having opped. One respondent, Sophie Eustace, said that she had voted instead for Delphi proposal 28 (number 15 in the scoring), which was about digital publishing. Artistic Associate Jessica Beck said something similar when she argued Why dont we encourage them [playwrights] to self-publish on Kindle, in a forum that will be more accessible to the public?

Potential Difculties

This was another proposal which was very close in score to the previous two above, with just 8 points in it. It generated broad support and many double gure scores at the lower end of the scale, suggesting it is an idea which a consortium might wish to take on.

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12. Risk Club a way of gaining audiences for risky new work. For a small annual subscription club members join a mailing list and gain access to the riskier work at a consortium of venues, either free of charge (covered by the annual subscription) or at a discounted charge. There could be Risk Club Night during the run of each piece to strengthen the social aspect of the club it could include a post-show discussion, meet the artists, etc. Members of Risk Club would get to see great, ground-breaking work, would provide an audience for the work on the nights they are there and would help spread the word about that artist and their work, helping the company to begin to build a local audience.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 768 A club is a good idea the social aspect could make it work Could appeal to young people as part of a mixed arts event Could work with targeted marketing, or as a one-off to try something new before full membership Already happening under different names Scratch Night, Drywrite, Dirty Protest, Word of Warning Would need the right Artistic Director Its not helpful to categorise work as safe or risky, or to assume new work is always risky could be off putting could become contrived/conceited/ elitist Would artists have to travel miles for an audience of two people? The people who would sign up are those who would go to this kind of work anyway

This unusual proposal generated a considerable amount of debate, and another close score to the three proposals above, just 3 points below number 11 above, making it part of a cluster of four very similar-scoring proposals numbering 9-12 in the Delphi rankings. Responses to this one were quite polarised, mostly a mixture of zeros set against high scores of 30 or above. Freelance playwrights and directors tended to award low or no marks, with the highest scores coming from those who described themselves as theatremakers, or as writer/performers, with the odd academic, producer, literary manager and a couple of playwrights in the mix of supporters. Such supporters argued that it takes the long established subscription model from literature and applies it to theatre and that it should be applied on a national basis. Others referenced Battersea Arts Centres scratch nights, or theatre company Fuels Fuelfests as similar models of support for this kind of innovative work, arguing that such measures are crucial in building new audiences for risky work. Others referenced companies DryWrite, Dirty Protest and Manchester-based Word of Warning. Writer Lizzie Nunnery thought the idea would appeal to younger audiences who might feel more comfortable at a gig or cross arts event than in a theatre. Several respondents took the idea and ran with it. Micha Colombo praised its commercial innovation and thought there was massive potential for it to thrill

audiences, before going on to suggest brand sponsorship for Risk Club dinner parties and Risk Club nights at restaurants where new dishes are trialled. Theatremaker Jenifer Toksvig was hesitant about a Risk Club as such, but suggested instead a Risk Night ... include[d] into any run of performances in which the company of that show perform something risky, maybe lot of small risky things. However, objections were numerous. Most involved wrangles around the denition and usefulness of the term risk. How do you dene what shows are a risk? asked one literary manager, [and are] there negative connotations around the word? She also questioned whether it would truly broaden audiences; for the most part, the people who join this kind of initiative, are the kind of people who would tend to come anyway. Director Ellie Jones agreed: Doesnt expand beyond established theatregoers/practitioners she wrote. Director Sarah Punshon also required more detail about whom its targeting ... Is this regular theatre-goers who normally go to conventional main-house work, being encouraged to see more unusual work? before observing that, even so, the proposal Doesnt solve the problem of where or how this riskier work is programmed. However, our original literary manager speculated that the idea might work as a one-off to encourage people to try something new. Others were more succinct. I dont agree new work is risky and labelling it so

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doesnt help stated one regional Chief Exec. Would it mean artists travelling for miles for an audience of 2 people, not being paid and having the theatre keep the subscription? asked actress Helen Millar. Dramaturg Mary Ann Hushlak argued that risk is in the eye of the beholder. What is risk, who curates, who decides what is riskier she asked. Is it what is risky for a particular venue or what is risky in terms of ground-breaking theatre? My caveat would be is this just a trendy, branding means of saying new work? However she did express curiosity about the idea and said that her organisation, the Dramaturgs Network (dn) would love to ... do a dn cafe on the dramaturgy of a Risk Club. Director Esther Richardson left a characteristically detailed response. I dont think its helpful to categorise theatre/art in this way for most audiences she wrote. I think that most theatre-makers are trying hard to take risks whether they are working on a new piece or not. I also think its usually a big mistake to market new work as risky because that could/can put (some) people off seeing something that if described differently they might enjoy. What I think is needed is for us nationally to create a broader, deeper enthusiasm for culture and arts attendance in general, and for a greater understanding of how rewarding and necessary cultural engagement is ... nurturing wide participation and excitement across all art-forms. Fellow director Hannah Tyrell-Pinder concurred: I dont think its helpful to separate theatre into risky and safe categories, as it will inevitably lead to audiences separating themselves into those who would take a risk and those who opt for the safer option, she argued. Surely all theatre should aim to appeal to the broadest audience possible, encouraging people to try something new, without a sense of risk?

Ghettoizes audiences agreed HighTides Steven Atkinson, adding that if the risky work is a one-nighter, is probably already risky, and if its a full run, then the production needs a larger audiences than can be afforded from a niche club. Others worried about the audience experience. audiences would be put off by not really knowing what they are going to see opined one actor/writer/producer. Sounds like asking people to pay for crap said one playwright. While some anticipated a cannibalising effect on smaller experimental companies who were already putting on this kind of work anyway. Does that mean my work for the main stage is not risky? asked playwright James Graham. In an ideal world, theatres should be taking these risks anyway added Susan Hodgetts. Its hard enough to get audiences to the safe stuff wrote Jessica Beck. Playwright Beck Prestwich worried that such a move would lead to a kind of elitism. I think there are lots of audiences who wouldnt describe themselves as risktakers, she wrote, but who have an appetite for new and exciting work. How would we ensure that the work was truly risk taking not just low on ticket sales? asked writer/ theatremaker Hannah Silva, though added that it was a fantastic idea which would hopefully bust the myths about the conservatism of theatre audiences and awarded it 45 points. One anonymous London-based director and producer identied the problem as a wider one related to the public perception of new writing in general. YES but please do not call it RISK anything! she wrote. Ive worked as a producer with lots of companies and have really struggled to book tours of new shows for this reason (unless its for children or families) we need

to nd a way to make people understand that new writing isnt risky and I dont think that most audiences understand that their Coronation Street/Eastenders writers all come from theatre. If we advertised that a bit more (like the West End does to attract audiences that would not otherwise put a foot in a theatre) we might have a better chance to clean the name of new writing. Ella Hickson seemed to be similarly minded when she wrote Im not sure there is a natural correlation between risk and new audiences audiences I think are more often broadened by mainstream work. Writer Hannah Khalil worried about the mechanism being proposed. I dont think you can ask audiences for a subscription to something and then charge them again, even a small amount. Theatre companies themselves were equally divided. Good idea but a lot of details to be worked out said Bristol Old Vic. Further fetishisation of risk said London Bubble. Not sure this is enough of a priority for us said one regional Chief Exec.

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13. Arts Council Showcase. Every year, a number of playwrights and other theatre-makers are successful in Grants for the Arts funding for time to write/devise a new play. ACE could make a modest amount of discretionary funding available each year to showcase extracts from these plays at an annual event, to which literary managers and artistic directors are invited, with a view to shopping for new plays, in which risk on the early stages of development has already been taken.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 745 The risk of early work has been taken already A selection process would be necessary and who would pick? Its easier to see the potential of a piece from performance than from reading it Allow actors to invite industry contacts People could see their tax pounds at work; industry could see what ACE is funding Raises the question of the role of ACE ACE should fund it but not host it Doesnt take into account the relationships artists build with theatres over time Similar to Edinburgh festival Must not become a cattle market or X Factor

This proposal was less controversial than some of those above, and attracted a fair amount of small points awards across the board, with a slight tendency for freelance writers to vote for it, and freelance directors or those working for companies to vote against. Playwrights Morna Regan and Samantha Ellis awarded the highest points, of 40 and 100 respectively. The most common objection was that literary managers and Artistic Directors dont go shopping for plays in the way that the proposal presupposes. The most common argument in favour was around transparency of what work Grants for the Arts money was funding, which respondents felt would be useful for the sector, but also for the public especially if the showcase was open to general audience members to attend. One regional Chief Exec awarded 26 and suggested that The Lowry in Salford have pioneered something similar which has been very effective, though gave no further details. Other respondents referenced the British Council showcase (though sometimes disparagingly), and Steven Atkinson at HighTide mentioned the Escalator talent development programme in the Eastern region. Exec Director Sophie Eustace made reference to the Caravan showcase, which is part of the Brighton Festival. Playwright Sam Ellis thought the idea would make grants for the arts go further and have greater impact while an anonymous peer wrote that it would be a brilliant platform for emerging artists and people could see their tax pounds at work. An anonymous actress concurred that It would be good for us all who have attempted Grants for the Arts funding to bear witness to

who has got these grants and so I would want to see a transparency of information in this Showcase, hopefully with a public element to this so that it doesnt become some in-house shopping spree adding Id like to know what the trends are and what is being produced and have the chance to witness it. She also felt it would particularly help emerging artists and companies, who tend to apply for GfA, and for which the only alternative to showcase their work was to self-fund an often prohibitively expensive trip to Edinburgh. Theatremaker Jenifer Toksvig referenced a similar scheme from the USA, in the world of musical theatre: Fits the NAMT model in New York: The National Alliance of Musical Theatre has member organisations who are theatre venues and companies through the States. Theres an annual showcase of musicals that have reached a certain stage of development. Works very well. Membership fees cover costs. Writers are given massive, amazing, free support. Her fellow theatremaker Hannah Silva agreed: This is a great idea, I think that sometimes arts council funded plays/productions do not get the exposure they deserve and this would help. Moreover, Silva observed a disparity between funding and exposure; Ive certainly found it easier to raise funding than to get my work seen by literary managers and artistic directors. Morna Regan, an actor-turnedplaywright, saw a parallel with actors showcases, and also anticipated strong audience interest: Genius. Im sure audiences would pay too in their droves. I would. Actors showcases are generally very successful I cant imagine why this wouldnt be too. While playwright Ella Hickson felt the transparency around ACE funding would

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be the greatest advantage: Great idea we could also see what sort of plays that ACE are funding. Having them in one showing like this would create a clear picture of the kind of work that ACE is backing. Objections were raised around the level of demand for a service such as this among the named target buyers theatre companies. Doesnt take into account the relationships that theatres build with artists over a length of time, argued one regional literary manager. Not sure theatres want to do shopping of work they havent initiated said AD Natalie Wilson. Others agreed. Playwright Hannah Khalil wrote that I just dont think theatres would buy plays in this way if they cant commit to it from what is on the page then I think they are unlikely to be interested from a showcase. But conversely, AD Ria Parry felt that sometimes it is easier to see the potential of a piece up on its feet/ being heard. Others objected to the format proposed; Extracts are a bad way of showcasing plays said one anonymous writer, while another had concerns around a closed shop emerging, something echoed by an anonymous artistic director too: who would judge which ones to showcase? she asked. Needs further thought though she still awarded 13 points. Jonathan Meth of Goldsmiths said Lovely idea in principle, but in practice LMs and ASDs make their own decisions and choices and dont go shopping. But he did add: HOWEVER, if this idea were adapted to international programmers, then it might be worth pursuing (as they DO go shopping). (Caps in original). One London freelancer with insider experience at the Arts Council argued that To an extent this happens already (with specically targeted showcases such as decibel and its legacy, and on an individual basis via the playwrights themselves organizing industry readings), but its an interesting idea. However, this respondent also foresaw a large investment of time and money and

the need [for] industry buy-in (perhaps investment from a large consortium of theatres) as well as A selection/ sifting process ... the number of new plays written with ACE funding is quite large. A few respondents supported the idea in principle but voiced doubts around whether ACE was best-placed to organise it. Im not sure the arts council itself should house this, wrote one anonymous actor. It should fund it, but not do it. Director Esther Richardson agreed, I just dont think its practical or feasible in this climate to expect ACE to create/run it, she wrote. However Im all for artists setting up something like this. Actor/writer/director Micha Colombo felt the idea was inefcient to be run at ACE level. Should be venue-led. Playwright James Graham started out unconvinced then seemed to change his mind. My most productive work has been in creating work with theatres and companies, where weve all had a shared ownership, he wrote. An X-Factor cattle auction over snippets of work, where writers have to pimp their wares out to the highest bidder, seems a bit hmm... Dunno. Could be persuaded.

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14. A consortium of professional playwrights who are published lobby exam boards for more new plays to be put on the syllabus for English Literature A level and Drama or Theatre Studies, and offer to draw up a longlist of suitable ones, complete with synopses, reviews and casting requirements. This would aid the commissioning of second or subsequent performances of new work as school parties would book to see new work which they were studying. Plays on a new drama syllabus would be more likely to get productions because there is more of a guaranteed audience.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 730 A lot of peoples perception of theatre is dened at school There should be a set percentage of plays (or other material) written within the last ten years, updated each year Link to prizes for playwriting Gives young people work which resonates with their own lives A new generation of potential writers would see the possibilities diversifying syllabi always good Could it be extended to non-text work? Raises the status of plays as literature Why privilege new writing over classic drama? Who will select? (Drama teachers) Would promote only a few plays GCSE and A Levels already undergoing too many changes Syllabi need to be approved years in advance Makes children a forced audience

Strangely, this proposal attracted widespread support in the comments boxes which didnt necessarily translate into high scores in points. But very few respondents had a bad word to say about it, and the level of positive reception from theatremakers and companies across a wide cross section suggests that, like point 11 above (a searchable database of plays), it might be a proposal worth exploring via consortium. Regional venues were particularly supportive. YES! Please, please can young people study new work that has some resonance with their own lives wrote one Chief Exec, who awarded 30 points (caps in original). It would be good to see more contemporary plays on the syllabus said another, going on to suggest that There should be a set percentage of plays written in the last ten years. However, he did also ask, How does this sit with drama being dropped from the syllabus?. Interesting idea said a regional literary manager, would also be good to plan in the long-term so perhaps theatres could programme productions of the work they know is being studied in majority of their schools. Actors, who often have experience of schools audiences, were also broadly in support. Extremely important said one, and much more likely to turn students on that Caucasian Chalk Circle. Brilliant. This makes total sense said another, A great way to build future audiences and let students have rst-hand experience of how theatre can change their lives! Great way of raising the prole of new work and inspiring students said Helen Millar. Its a relatively simple idea to put into practice thought an anonymous freelancer, and

an idea which has potentially far reaching benets for individuals and for the sector as a whole. Artistic Directors were also keen. Drama teachers we work with would support this wrote Elizabeth Freestone, they are hungry for more relevant contemporary work to be on the curriculum for their students. An overhaul of the plays studied is long overdue. Natalie Wilson of Theatre Centre awarded 50 points and remarked Creating a new audience and demand for the work by making it educationally valuable. A strong proposal agreed Hannah TyrrellPinder, a lot of peoples perception of theatre is dened by their experiences at school, if the syllabus was expanded to include a wider range of work it would inevitably result in increased audiences. And while Executive Director Sophie Eustace said she Would like to see if its possible to extend this to non script focused work she also agreed that Any attempt to diversify the syllabus seems positive. Writers too were mostly enthusiastic, with some expressing frustration at what school students currently get to study. A fabulous idea wrote Arzhang Pezhman, adding that When talking to some drama teachers, there seems to be a gap where their knowledge of new work should be. Most plays on the curriculum are over fty years old, and although outstanding pieces, there is no knowledge of new writing in theatre [among teachers]. Another suggested that There is no good reason why there couldnt be a way to combine new writing awards with new writing for theatre in the syllabus. It could lead to, say, 5 amazing new plays

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per year with guaranteed multiple productions and audiences that would reect both the vitality of society and the vitality of theatre. The objections which were raised tended to be around the scope and efcacy of this idea. So few plays could be put on the syllabus wrote Sam Ellis that this could only benet a few plays per year ... Im not sure it would create bigger audiences for theatre in general. One anonymous producer asked Why should education privilege new writing over classic drama? New plays should be on syllabus and are already though did not give any examples. However one actor/director did mention that he was part of getting Tunde Ikolis Scrape Off The Black onto a syllabus and urged that any such move make[s] sure the plays are diverse voices. A couple of writers disliked this idea, some on personal grounds (Education isnt an area Im particularly passionate about) and some on the basis of the side effect of weighting the dice in this way. I dont know that future commissioning SHOULD be on the ground that your play has, for whatever reason (perhaps because of its relevance) got on a school syllabus, wrote Ben Musgrave. Wouldnt this lead to more school-focused plays being commissioned? he asked, adding that this isnt a good thing. However, he did award ten points and said the idea was worth a pop. For playwright Duncan Gates the question was Who picks the plays and how impartial is the process? Others pointed out more practical obstacles. Most new plays are only on for 4 weeks in one location and probably would be published and on the syllabus years after that, wrote one writer/producer, so by denition they would not be new work anymore. However she did have an alternative suggestion that itd be best to lobby schools (and drama schools too) to actually encourage students to attend work at the fringe or new writing venues.

Some, like actor/writer/theatremaker Micha Colombo, foresaw problems with the bureaucracy of exam boards. Dont syllabuses need to be approved years in advance? she asked, And the amount of consensus that would surely be needed for a play to be signed off as a set text might mean that the best stuff didnt necessarily get through. She added that this Would probably only help already successful contemporary playwrights, which would be great, but not relevant to this particular study I dont feel. Others objected on the grounds that the proposal would create a forced audience or that it could only work if there was a big changing pool of new plays. Some felt the current Department of Education would not be receptive; [Education Secretary Michael] Gove is so mercurial that anything strategic is a waste of time opined Goldsmiths Jonathan Meth.

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15. Digital Publishing. Theatres could take greater advantage of digital publishing to give the work they commission a broader audience and increase the likelihood of second and third productions. Systems like iBooks are relatively simple to use, ensure that the writer still receives royalties, and do not require the theatre to invest in expensive print runs. The ease of digital publishing would also allow theatres to publish a wider range of their commissioned work. Plays written for young people or community performers could be published alongside work commissioned for professional performance.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 714 Validates work if its available as a script in a public domain Would make education and youth work more accessible Online access would encourage more reading Writers need advice on digital publishing Offer as web PDFs for a limited time on company archives Could encourage second and subsequent productions Publishing is a very small proportion of theatre related costs

This proposal enjoyed general support, though scored on the lower side, perhaps reecting a consensus that it was a supplementary measure, worth pursuing, but by no means a silver bullet to protecting risk-taking. There was a feeling among several respondents that theatre publishing tended to lag behind ction publishing in respect of taking advantage of technology in this way perhaps having been insulated somewhat by theatres liveness, and the fact that the play script is not the nished product in the way that a novel is. Those objecting mostly did so on the grounds that they would miss the tactile nature of published play scripts, or that writers would earn lower royalties from digital publishing. Director Will Wollen awarded the highest score (70) though merely remarked Straightforward in support. One regional Chief Exec, awarding 26, felt digital publishing would make playscripts available more quickly, and would also make education/youth theatre work more accessible these texts are rarely if ever published. A regional literary manager agreed that digitally publishing such plays would perhaps [be] accessed by schools though also said but honestly dont believe it will lead to more second productions in theatres. Several others also saw the potential for young peoples work in particular: Anything that gets younger people reading plays and engaging then great and the world of theatre has to keep up with the developments of the digital age in the sense of documenting, transmitting work argued one anonymous actress. it would be good to make more plays for young people/community

performers available, said playwright Phil Porter, going on to reference www,playsforyoungaudiences.org in the US. Director Ellie Jones thought that it would be a good source of ongoing income for writers and denitely worth a shot. Other directors agreed. Esther Richardson though it was a Great idea which should have happened ages ago while Natalie Wilson added that there was Potential in the idea though felt that a lot of marketing for wide use would be required. Bristol Old Vic literary associate James Peries said that he would need more detail but that guiding writers to understand digital publishing can only be a good thing. Sophie Eustace of Fevered Sleep also supported the idea, but had a question around how this might be applied to work that is not purely text-based. Interestingly, some respondents left supportive comments such as fantastic or not much money to lose and something to gain and yet left zero points a reection perhaps that they were in support yet saved their points for other, more immediately pressing proposals. Playwrights too were also broadly in favour. Important one this said one. Sounds like a no-brainer added another, though going on to say that Theatre[s] would need to promote this during runs. Some asked how does it encourage risk-taking? but others, like Amanda Whittington argued that digital publishing generally offered many new opportunities for plays and playwrights which we ought to explore. Stella Duffy thought that digital publishing was cheap, fast and easy yet worried that it cuts the writers income

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enormously, a point echoed by Susan Hodgetts in reference to novelists and the Kindle. But Lisa Evans thought this is the way the world of print is going. Get on board and Moran Regan that this is so obvious and so obviously the way forward ... it just needs more of a push from us [playwrights/theatremakers]. Hannah Silva also thought that this could become a writer/ theatremaker-led initiative, remarking Writers can suggest this to theatres themselves, and do most of the work, that way theatres would only need to help when it comes to publicity, though, citing Bushgreen, she also sounded a word of warning. Theres so much online that its easy for work to get lost, but a central place to access plays digitally would be useful. Actor/writer Micha Colombo agreed that such a move could Bring our industry into the modern age, and help us connect with global audiences. Critics of the proposal were few, but playwright Samantha Ellis remarked that I love programme playtexts and would be sad to see these replaced by e-books though in fairness to the proposal it did not suggest either/or. Steven Atkinson of HighTide thought there would be issues around copyright and royalties and cited BushGreen as an example of the sorts of challenges involved. Phil Porter, while otherwise supportive, pointed out that most professionally produced plays are published not at the theatres expense, a point echoed by an anonymous freelancer when she said theres nothing to stop an enterprising publishing company offering its services sector-wide. One anonymous playwright suggested we could set up a new company to do this, adding that Its not hard and voicing a note of frustration: [It] doesnt require us to come up with a policy to ght for it. But theatremaker Jenifer Toksvig said I would rather have my work published by a house that already has an established system and reputation for publishing work, than by a theatre as a sideline to their main work of producing,

though she went on to wonder whether Putting video[s] on YouTube ... or going transmedia might be worth exploring. Goldsmiths Jonathan Meth thought it more of a matter of supply and demand. Publishing is a very small proportion of overall theatre related costs, he pointed out, and digital printing that is just in time is almost affordable anyway. The hidden questions are who knows about this, who wants it and what are the demands (and how is demand created) This is less clear. One anonymous respondent suggested that moves of this nature were afoot among play publishers anyway, and specically cited Oberon. An anonymous writer and lecturer remarked that she had already begun buying plays on my Kindle, though didnt give specic examples. Director and dramaturg Sarah Punshon though there was potential in this if carefully linked to idea 27 about adapting www.doollee.com into a more modern searchable database of plays (Proposal 11 in the Delphi rankings).

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16. A consortium of professional playwrights offer their services to the Department for Education, and the relevant exam boards, to get a Playwriting option included in Drama G.C.S.E. and Theatre Studies A Level and ask Ed Vaizey to champion this on our behalf.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 654 New writing should be recognised in education and given legitimacy Widen to writing for performance spoken word etc Catch the talent young Will get pupils to read plays like they read books and think of drama as more than acting Playwriting is about structure, which could be taught would also help with analysing existing texts Would encourage grass roots playwriting Would have very low take up Could create more playwrights for whom there is no follow-through tweaking the supply side Playwrights end up teaching more than writing Might make writing academic rather than instinctual Playwrights need life experience rst

Although bearing a resemblance to Proposal 14 in the Delphi rankings (#15 in the original survey), about a consortium of playwrights offering their services to exam boards, this proposal differed subtly in that its focus was on lobbying central Government and trying to inuence the National Curriculum to include practical playwriting units within specic subject areas, rather than getting new plays into the curriculum for academic and analytical study. As an idea, it fairly evenly split respondents, with a small majority in favour, though with scores on the lower side, perhaps reecting its perception as a worthy aim in general but less impactful than other ideas on the Delphi longlist. The inclusion of Ed Vaizey as a potential champion of this idea produced some wry comments. Director Will Wollen awarded 50 points, though added Good luck with Ed Vaizey. One regional Chief Exec awarded 30 points and remarked Yes, need to get new writing recognised within the education sector. One anonymous playwright gave 15, and said the proposal would get pupils reading plays as much as they read books. Director Ria Parry thought the proposal more practical, that it would encourage young people to think of drama as more than just acting. A London literary manager also thought it was a great idea that would get the playwrights and audiences of tomorrow while theyre young. One actor wondered How can this not already be the case?! The truth is that there is no compulsory Playwriting module on any of the GCSE or A-Level Drama, Performing Arts or Theatre Studies curricula; certain devising modules require group playwriting by default, but only students performances are examined. Playwright and teacher Judith Johnson acknowledged

that many students are already doing this on an ad hoc basis [ie. extra-curricular] and agreed that this proposal would do more to consolidate that and raise the prole of playwrighting. Johnson suggested it could be part of the new Creative Writing A-level offered by exam board AQA. (One of this reports authors, Fin Kennedy, has some familiarity with this syllabus and can attest that Playwriting is included but as an optional module for both schools to offer and students to take, leaving it subject to the schools priorities and availability of the teaching specialism.) Directors Esther Richardson and Natalie Wilson were both in favour, with the latter suggesting that More recognition in this area will create demand and sustainability [for new plays]. Even Sophie Eustace of non-text-based company Fevered Sleep said the idea feels crucial in terms of nurturing future talent. Writer and theatremaker Hannah Silva suggested reconceiving the idea as a writing for performance module to open up spoken word [and] experimental writing for the theatre ... its important to open up ideas of what a play might be. Playwright Arzhang Pezhman came out strongly in favour. This is one of the most important proposals he said, Playwriting is about structure ... The problem with a lot of devised pieces in GCSE and even A level drama is that they dont have a strong enough structure to hold up the pupils initial exciting ideas. Learning about playwriting would not only help them to analyse existing texts in more detail, but would also give the pupils a greater insight into the strengths and weaknesses of their own, devised performances. Playwright Susan Hodgetts concurred, and reected on her own time

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at school, recalling It would have helped me to have realised playwriting was even an option during my formal education, and perhaps would have offered the encouragement and knowledge that I lacked. This lack was felt even at higher education level, with writer and playwriting tutor Lizzie Nunnery observing I teach playwriting at university level and so many students enter their creative writing degrees with minimal knowledge in this area. One actress thought the proposal would help shift students awareness away from the focus on dead writers and promote the notion that playwrights are alive and kicking. Playwright Ella Hickson said simply I think this is a brilliant idea. Those coming out against did so largely on the grounds that the idea did not immediately help protect risktaking in the theatre industry, in the way outlined in the research question, or on the basis of the perceived impact to effort ratio. A couple of respondents felt existing education provision was adequate. Others worried about creating yet more young writers for whom there is no meaningful professional outlet to sustain a career. Playwright James Graham, while broadly in favour (8 points) expressed the caveat Needs to be handled soooo carefully though. Bad experiences that early on could destroy future potential adding, Most pupils hate creative writing. Goldsmiths Jonathan Meths objection was more practical. We cannot make change simply by tweaking the supply side, he wrote. No demand evidenced, let alone understanding of how D of E [Department of Education] or Exam Boards work. Jessica Becks objection alluded to the much-maligned elision of playwriting and youth: Perhaps ... but dont playwrights need to learn a bit about life rst? This was expanded upon more fully by one anonymous Londonbased director and producer, who left the longest response against. I think at GCSE level it would be

more useful to have theatre studies than playwriting, she wrote. You need to love theatre and know it rst, and theres already way too many playwriting programmes that are exclusive to young people ... theres a lot of ageism in theatre opportunities at the moment and I feel this is to be blamed for the huge amount of plays produced by 19 yr old playwrights straight from the Royal Court who have nothing to say (and quite frankly I think are partly responsible for creating a fear of new writing amongst audiences. Writer Becky Prestwich worried that this [proposal] risk[s] playwrights spending more time teaching playwrighting and less time writing. Playwright Hannah Khalil felt that institutionalising the craft in this way was antithetical; teaching playwrighting early on might damage the way new writers approach the work from an academic rather than instinctual one, she wrote. Writer Morna Regan felt that with all the current changes to the arts and education, the time simply wasnt right: Sadly I think there would be too much opposition to the idea in the current climate.

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17. Literary managers team playwrights/devisors up with their fundraising department, to work together on putting in a Grants for the Arts application to fund residencies, workshops, writers groups etc an application which, on paper at least, would come from the playwrights themselves.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 593 Sharing expertise is always good. Playwrights need knowledge of G4A process Unlock the resources of big companies with professional fundraisers to help small companies and individuals Where a theatre has a relationship with an artist they will usually help all they can anyway Playwrights should get their hands dirty and need a dialogue with fundraisers Some good artists are terrible at lling in forms Playwrights appreciate feeling supported it shows the theatres condence in them Try speed dating fundraisers and artists It would be better for ACE to improve G4A so playwrights can apply more easily The playwright can become too involved in fundraising waste writing time on paperwork Implications for staff time If you can write a play, you can ll in a form!

This idea attracted quite a few low double-gure scores, though just as many zeros. The main objection was that it is, or ought to be, happening already and the implications for staff time. The main argument in favour was around empowering artists with these skills and bringing them together with theatre companies admin staff. This already happens if the theatre has a relationship with an artist or organisation, they will endeavour to support them in any way they can, wrote one regional literary manager, though added but we only have the capacity to do this with artists we wish to support and do not have the capacity to be an open service. Another regional Chief Exec admitted that his theatre had completed funding applications on behalf of writers in the past and thought extending this was a good idea although it might add a great deal to the work of the fundraiser. Lets go a stage further and just get the playwrights to write the application, wrote director Will Wollen, they will be cheaper than fundraisers and then we wouldnt need to waste so much money on people who arent artists anyway. Others thought that bringing together administrators and creatives would be of benet in and of itself. Playwrights/devisors should get their hands dirty in raising funds, wrote one anonymous playwright, its probably good training to learn from professionals on how to ll out a funding application he added, and awarded 30 points. A director of a small regional company awarded 25 and said Great less passive playwrights! Expert help to make ideas happen. Writer/director Stella Duffy concurred: Anything that is about teaming rather than struggling on alone is of

value, awarding 15. Playwright Phil Porter awarded the highest points, giving 50. Playwright Ben Musgrave awarded a lot less (5) but agreed that It would be good for playwrights to have a dialogue with fundraising departments because sometimes Im not sure theyre speaking the same language. Writers Morna Regan, Becky Prestwich and Hannah Silva all came out in favour, adding variously: this would denitely be valuable to me as a theatre-maker at the early stage of my career, Are they not doing this already? Probably not, which is shocking really and writers [being] involved in this process ... is a direct route to information and skills ... as well as a way of isolated writers learning about the arts world beyond their desk. One London-based actress pointed out that playwrights were the ones who were good with words as well as having created the work to start off with, all of which would strengthen any application of this kind. Directors Elizabeth Freestone and Esther Richardson agreed. Closer involvement with artists at all levels of an organisations work can only be good wrote Freestone. Surely this still happens as a matter of course? asked Richardson. Certainly it was how we got things going at TWP. Not a new idea but essential in terms of empowering writers to make the most of the GFA Scheme and have time to pursue their own work. The strongest opposition to this proposal came from a creative freelancer with insider experience at ACE, who argued that it was effectively cheating the system, adding If the company wants the writer they should pay for her/him not use the writer to lever in more funding! She also pointed out that getting paid to run writers workshops at a theatre was what should be

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happening anyway, and that any ACE assessor would spot this a mile off. GftA ... grants are there for writers to propose and carry out their own projects not someone elses. Others were less sympathetic to the difculties many writers reported experiencing around funding applications. GftA applications are not rocket science wrote London Bubble. Theatre artists need to get a grip on writing funding applications, wrote playwright Annie Siddons, its part of the job. Anyone can write a funding application wrote another anonymous contributor, they do not need the help of a person in a fundraising department. Others were less certain the idea wouldnt take writers away from their core work, writing plays. Grant application writing is vastly time consuming and a skill in itself, wrote academic Pamela McQueen, A waste of playwrights talent and ability unless they have a personal reason to want to learn grant writing. Artistic Associate Jessica Beck thought that too much time ... is spent on preparing an application when we should be in the rehearsal room. Artists arent always the best grant writers. It would be nice if ACE acknowledged that. Actor and writer Micha Colombo called it a waste of time and likened the process to making doctors do more management work in the NHS. Some thought a better solution was for ACE to hold more regular surgeries and workshops. might it not be more relevant to ... offer workshops about how to come to grips with the thinking for GFA and other applications? asked dramaturg Mary Ann Hushlak. Someone else praised the support already on offer: ACE offer a lot of advice on the phone and I have to say that they are friendly, patient and very helpful ... this is one thing where ACE have really worked very hard to make it easy and accessible to everyone.

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18. Theatre artists supported by Job Seekers create their own small companies with the same advice, support and grants given to those who opt into setting up their own business. The advice and support would need to be tailored to the art and the risk inherent in any creative work would have to be acknowledged. This would mean individual artists, Black and minority ethnic practitioners and new companies would stand a chance of weathering the current conditions. To keep the art fresh, we need to maintain diversity and risk taking and this is one way using a system that already exists.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 576 Would be valuable to artists getting started or transitioning from other work Artists would need advice on company law and tax law, but setting up a company is very empowering There is currently no support for writers to set up creative businesses, particularly if youre not a young person Being seen as a business would help people understand artists are hard workers, not running a hobby Could be expensive to implement Contravenes JSA rules on availability for work We need to work from business, not welfare models (but) Theatres dont work like most protdriven businesses Prot projection is very difcult I can imagine the Daily Mail headline now

This proposal attracted a roughly 50-50 split for and against, with several comparisons drawn to the 1980s and the role of the dole in unofcially subsidising artists who went on to fame and fortune. Objections were mostly to do with lack of clarity in the proposal itself, and precisely how such a scheme might work and be administered. Some objected to treating theatres like businesses, on the grounds that their operating models are not alike, but others welcomed the idea of presenting small scale theatre companies as organisations of social and nancial worth, eligible for the same support as small businesses. Director Esther Richardson awarded the joint highest points (40) stating: Great idea ... it would really help the young in particular get started on a career in the arts. An anonymous regional Chief Exec awarded the second-highest points (30) saying More should be done with Job Seekers, but adding dont underestimate the task. A London literary manager concurred, and said that I worry that being a theatre artist will not be seen as a proper business, even though we all know theatre is a business like any other. Artistic director Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder disagreed. The creative industries cannot easily be compared with other businesses, she wrote. If the cost of a theatre ticket reected the actual costs involved in staging a performance, prices would be prohibitively high. Arts requires public subsidy to survive and grow, thus attempts to compare it to other business sectors would be viewing it in an inappropriate context. A London playwright agreed; Small scale theatre doesnt work

like your average business. It either loses money, or is subsidised through practitioners time. This was echoed by playwright Amanda Whittington, Businesses have to be protable, she said. Would a small theatre company be able to achieve that on this level? I would rather ght for the subsidised sector than turn art into business. James Peries of Bristol Old Vic felt that, on the contrary, New business support is very important, as is the ability to name artists as legitimate business entities able to benet from Job Seeker initiatives, benet allowances, and business guidance. Artistic Director Elizabeth Freestone agreed; Arts companies having the same status as small businesses is vital she wrote, awarding 30. She was supported by several other practitioners. It would create a lot of valuable work for a range of practitioners (writer Morna Regan); Would help people understand that artists are workers ... rather than the current perception that we are just having some kind of hobby (anonymous director/producer); Yes. Although I can imagine the Daily Mail headline now (playwright James Graham). Some were cynical about whether such a scheme as proposed here would even work. This would almost certainly end up being tokenistic, wrote playwright Judith Johnson, and would probably be used for government propaganda purposes, referencing, disparagingly, the Enterprise Allowance scheme and Community Programme scheme set up by the Thatcher government in the 1980s. Johnson was also one of a few respondents who felt

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it was offensive for this proposal to link joblessness to Black and minority ethnic theatre artists. One London-based actor offered some personal experience against such this proposal. I dont like the condition of being on job seekers allowance, he wrote, I dont know one actor or director who is on job seekers allowance. Its such a tiny amount of money to survive on, ironically I think its rare in our industry ... this needs to include artists who are working 60 hours a week on the minimum wage just to pay rent and bills. He went on to question who, precisely, was going to provide the funding and support. The local authority? Easier to provide it to small business with the allure of it contributing economic growth ... unrealistic in current climate. Several others requested more detail of this kind, and indicated that the proposals vagueness had affected the points they had awarded. Other objections were more practical. Wont work on a formal basis wrote one freelancer, because it contravenes the JSA rules on availability for work. Unless you mean that a separate enterprise allowance be created to allow artists to set up companies whilst drawing benets? going on to point out that Actually, the existing schemes of this nature do accept artists as long as they have a sound business plan. Others agreed. This is not impossible at the moment wrote director Will Wollen. There are opportunities for this mentorship out there already, wrote artistic director Natalie Wilson. There is nothing currently to stop artists who want to self produce, wrote Steven Atkinson of HighTide, and ACE GftA [Grants for the Arts} is set up to support this. Self-employed artists are about to feel the wrath of Universal Tax Credit wrote one actress, though without expanding on the precise nature of this threat. If you can get anyone in government to offer any

sort of advice, support to Jobseekers about setting up companies then good luck but itll be tough, she added.

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19. Create a system that attaches a reliable indication of quality and some production funding directly to a non-commissioned script, that playwrights can then use to negotiate a production. This would either replace, or be in addition to, the new writing part of Grants for the Arts funding. This system would be run by ACE (or subcontracted to some partner organisation). Scripts would be submitted and read anonymously to ensure fairness. Readers would be experienced playwrights. Scripts would be assessed only on quality and originality, not on suitability for any particular theatre. Playwrights would be given an opportunity to respond to the assessments of their scripts before the nal award process. Funding would then be offered conditional on production part to be delivered on the rst day of rehearsal, part on the rst day of performance. This funding (and the indication of quality that the award represents) could either be used to negotiate a co-production between the playwright and an existing funded organisation, or to produce the work independently.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 551 Could work like a peer review artistically democratic Could give non-commissioned writers a leg up Writers would already have backing when approaching producers It would require the majority of new writing theatres across the country to cooperate to work Subjective. Would more than one person read each play? If it is anonymous, is there a level of professionalism required, eg fewer than 3 professional productions? Would need to consider how many writers/plays would be selected and whether annually and as a competition? Would a budget be needed? Might reward normative well made plays Producers are not interested in homogenous grades. Most new writing is not just good or bad, but right or wrong for a Potential Difculties (Cont.) particular opportunity Centralised script reading will not work for varied national arts organisations The reviewing process is unaccountable Few directors/producers would consider a rating more reliable than their own judgement Objections were far more numerous. The most common observations were that objectivity around artistic quality was impossible, that cost and administrative burden of such a scheme would be prohibitive, as well as questions surrounding how this idea differed from anonymous playwriting competitions such as the Royal Exchange Theatres Bruntwood prize. Some thought the proposal undervalued the importance of ongoing professional relationships between theatres and theatre-makers. I dont believe that theatres would be happy to produce plays they had not commissioned or chosen commented playwright Samantha Ellis. Prefer individual relationships with writers wrote one regional Chief Exec. A quality stamp in art seems dangerous to me observed an anonymous actor, going on to acknowledge the motivation for the proposal; it must be hard for playwrights if they feel their scripts are not being read. The best new work is a collaboration, offered director Esther Richardson. Dont believe centralised script reading will work for such varied national arts organisations opined Elizabeth Freestone. Ive yet to nd a reader who can ... assess only on quality and originality remarked Hannah Silva. What makes a play quality? asked Micha Colombo. Im not sure many programmers/artistic directors/producers would accept such a rating as more telling than their own judgement agreed Sarah Punshon.

Potential Difculties

Respondents were overwhelmingly against this idea. It made the top 20 due to one vote of 120 points, without which it would have come 31st, with 431 points. However, its supporters included playwright Annie Siddons, director Ellie Jones, Communications Coordinator at ITC Olivia Amory, and a couple of other actors and writers. Those in favour argued that the idea was artistically democratic, offered a level playing eld, was a great way for playwrights to get their work considered and have some backing when approaching [producers], provided a greater opportunity for [non-commissioned] pieces to be produced. London Bubble thought the idea was worth piloting.

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I have serious concerns about putting a score on a script ... even with a group of writers doing the script reading thought writer Lizzie Nunnery. Although she was intrigued by the model of the Arts Council allocate[ing] funding before a production is secured, she also worr[ied] about this amount of creative power given to a funding organisation. Sounds like it would add to the development hell problem, argued playwright Ella Hickson, pointing out that ADs [artistic directors] would still need to agree to the script being produced in their theatre ...which is exactly the system that currently exists.

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20. ACE to make new theatre writing a national development priority, in the same way as Turning Point (visual arts investment) and the Cultural Olympiad were previous national priorities. This would not increase the sum of money available within ACE, but would focus ACEs investment on an area which currently needs it. In effect, this would mean new writing applications (e.g. for touring a new play, or writing time for a playwright) would receive an extra weighting within the assessment process, and would therefore be more likely to be funded than an equally good application from an area of lesser priority. However, theatres gain would of course be another art forms loss.

Key Responses Total Points Additional Advice 546 New writing is a core strength of the arts in the UK and should be sustained Priorities could change regularly to avoid detracting from other art forms Expand to theatre making not just script based writing ACE funding would help new plays nd venues Target in the regions, not just London To pit art forms against each other would reduce cross-media thinking There should not be weighting the best projects in any art form should get funded

This proposal fairly evenly split respondents, with a small majority against, though with several suggesting the variation that making new writing a priority for a limited time could work, to make up for damage done to the sector by recent cuts. Several playwrights were honest about their own bias when voting for this idea, though just as many voiced disquiet around the potential side effect of impoverishing another art form, or the sense of divide and rule inherent within the idea. An anonymous London freelancer, with insider experience at ACE, in fact awarded the highest points (90), stating One of the simplest ideas to put in place, and potentially high impact. Essentially it asks ACE to prioritize new writing and theatres and other organizations will follow the money... Director Ria Parry awarded the second-highest marks (30), arguing New plays can be tricky for venues to programme, especially if they dont have a core new work audience, and it is impossible for a small company to underwrite a tour. ACE could help by supporting the risk associated with making and touring new work and fresh important voices. Several playwrights made awards of 20 or 25, though also stated that they would want more information about how precisely this proposal would work in practice. One London literary manager suggested that she would have given more points if the proposal had stated that it would be for a limited time, so as not to detract from other art forms. The risk of resentment from these other art forms seemed to underpin most of the objections to this

proposal. How do you argue the case for this compared to another art forms? asked playwright Annie Siddons. To pit art forms against each other would reduce crossmedia thinking argued dramaturg Mary Ann Hushlak. This amounts to positive discrimination said director Natalie Wilson, adding [it] does not necessarily mean that there will be a quality benchmark to gain the extra weighting. Not sure we agree with extra weighting agreed other artistic director, priorities need to be reach/engagement/digital these ideas, not new writing vs. circus vs. dance vs. physical concluding pitting these against each other isnt right. From our perspective new writing receives a considerable chunk of funding and attention, said Sophie Eustace on behalf of devising company Fevered Sleep. Wed like to see performative work in its widest sense championed and supported by ACE. Would agree if wording was new theatre making rather than writing agreed the director of one small regional company, writing is only one process. Playwright James Graham drew a distinction between London and elsewhere, We dont really have a problem with a dearth of new writing in London, do we? To the rest of the world were a Mecca. If anything we lack the space to put them all on. But regionally, I agree, there needs to be a stimulus, and thats really important. Targeted? he suggested. Director Esther Richardson also thought this proposal might be better re-framed to target regional theatres, and indeed non-London arts work in general. If only

Potential Difculties

In Battalions 58

this question had been framed slightly differently, and you had said a commitment to risk-taking then I would have awarded much higher points, she wrote. But I think what you propose is too limited and specic a category. In general I think the Arts outside of London should be made a national development priority. However, theatre-maker Jenifer Toksvig felt that theatre was still feeling the draining effect of the Olympics, and that some redress was in order. The Cultural Olympiad has already been theatres loss, one way and another, she argued, Id like a period of time in which new writing is promoted. Playwright Ben Musgrave agreed. New Writing is a really core strength of the arts in the UK and that strength needs to be sustained. Writer Frank McCabe concurred when he voiced a sense that Theatre could actually do with catching up to some extent with funding levels for things like dance and static art though admitted that he didnt have the statistics to hand. Theatre-maker Hannah Silva disagreed. I believe that playwrights just need to get better at writing G4A applications and apply more often she argued. Todays culture is different. Just writing a good script is not enough. Playwrights need to learn how to be producers, how to collaborate and how to apply for funding. We shouldnt ask the ACE to value one way of making theatre above another. This concludes the summary of the top 20 highest scoring Delphi study proposals. The responses to the remaining 16 lowest scoring proposals are included in table form later in this document for those who would like to browse them. However, there was one further section which is worth summarising, the comments received in the Any other comments box at the end.

Any other comments In many ways, this feels quite a London-centric survey which doesnt fully understand or appreciate the way in which regional theatres work, support artists, engage with new work, collaborate and make work remarked one regional literary manager. Many of the comments regarding the regions refer to touring or second productions which does not take into consideration the fact that we are making our own work, for our own city or region, we have a dialogue with our audiences and artists and unique spaces. There are almost too many good ideas here, added one London-based freelancer. In some cases I have awarded zero not because the action outlined wont help but because it isnt targeted enough to make a direct impact (on risk-taking in new writing). In some other cases the ideas do address the issue but wont have a sector-wide impact (unless a consortium approach is taken). And there were a couple of ideas that I simply didnt understand (in terms of their real-world application). Feel like banging pencils into my nose now, wrote director Will Wollen. Can only congratulate you on the amount of work youve put in, but I think all of these strategies miss the point and involve kow-towing to the Arts Council. The problem is lack of money and I believe its largely caused by an industry and ecology that siphons huge amounts of money off to non-artists before it even gets near art and audiences. The systems and barriers involved in getting funding are enough to put off all but the most bureaucratically minded. And they shouldnt be getting the money. I dont think we talk enough about audiences in these kinds of studies and that always puzzles me, added director Esther Richardson.

Quite a few of the ideas rely on ACEs resources/ capacity which we know is very stretched at the moment, wrote an anonymous London artistic director. ACE may not necessarily be best placed to do everything e.g. network of associate playwrights no reason why this couldnt be led by someone else. Some great ideas and innovative thinking! I nd it sad that many of the proposals are based on 1 writer, 1 director, a group of actors, traditional model, aid theatre-maker Stella Duffy. Not only do devising companies (and many others) not work in this way, but so many more traditional companies dont either. If we dont stop thinking of ourselves as stuck in a 1950s/60s model, we are NEVER going to move forward, not only into new ways of funding ourselves, but also into new ways of working TOGETHER to do so. Lots of interesting ideas here but they do seem to be solving a number of different problems! stated one London-based producer. Are they addressing funding, new writing, theatre, audience engagement... Or all of the above? Huge amount of food for thought and few ideas (32 [soft loans] and 34 [tax breaks for a world premiere] have been in my mind for a while) which could be real game changers. For me, there are three areas that stand out amongst these proposals, wrote theatre-maker Jenifer Toksvig. The rst is ways in which big theatre companies can join up with smaller ones: offering space and other support (#1), taking advantage of existing youth and community connections to give production opportunity (#2) and encouraging writers to form supportive collectives that can then act as production partners (#7). These could go hand-in-hand with things like Job Seekers support for small business (#10), collaboration on GFA applications (#12) and smaller things like awards for companies who have supported others in these

In Battalions 59

ways (#11). If we could blend all of these ideas into one proposal, it would be my rst choice for the best possible solution to encouraging risk-taking in new work. The second area is the broadening of opportunities within which to stage smaller, riskier work that takes less time to make from start to nish: the curtain-raiser programme (#3) and Risk Nights (#5) accommodating small shows and plays (#16). Again, these are elements that could be added into the collaboration of large and small companies. The third area is opportunities to get more from existing infrastructure: councils supporting local, site-specic theatre (#8); the division of artistic leadership in existing large theatre spaces (#9); ACE showcases of new work (#20), providing lottery money for community residencies (#30) and making money out of money (#33); a Playwriting GCSE and A Level (#14). Several playwrights, mostly at the start of their careers, left personal observations. For me the focus has to be on the chasm between the page and the stage, wrote Frank McCabe. Writers will emerge whatever the environmental restrictions (a bit like Japanese knotweed). Its what HAPPENS to their work thats the issue. For me, the strongest ideas are those which are outward looking, wrote Becky Prestwich. I think to make new writing sustainable, it is key to make new, exciting theatre available to people who wouldnt necessarily come into a big theatre building. The more theatre and new writing become part of the fabric of peoples lives, the easier it will become for theatremakers to argue the value of their work. Many of the ideas that I gave zero or low points to are still in my mind great improvements on the current situation, wrote Morna Regan. However I felt that it would be better to more fully back a lesser number of ideas. In general the ideas that appealed to me the most

were those that were the most simple and elegant and seemed to offer most return for less work. I still think that [the] suggestion to Lobby so that a % of the tax from the West End box ofces is invested in new writing (as per the French cinema model) which would make up for the current cuts and would make sure that money that is generated in theatre goes back to theatre, wrote one anonymous producer. Its nancially viable and makes sense. The Arts Council needs to fund strategic centres with the correct facilities that will host projects for an initial laboratory run, opined lecturer Scott Anderson. And also nurture and support emerging companies in different ways. These centres should be manned by the right staff with exhaustive experience and a will to nurture emerging practitioners and companies.

In Battalions 60

Word cloud
Visual representation of the most commonly occurring words in the Delphi survey results

In Battalions 61

About the authors

Fin Kennedy Fin Kennedy is an award-winning playwright and producer, and since 2013 the new Co-Artistic Director of Tamasha theatre company. In the UK, he has written for Soho Theatre, Shefeld Crucible, Southwark Playhouse, Half Moon Theatre, The Red Room, Birmingham Rep, Bristol Old Vic and BBC Radio 4. Fin also has many years experience teaching playwriting in schools, youth clubs, and universities. Since 2007 he has been writer-inresidence at Mulberry School in East London, for whom he has co-founded a theatre company and written six new plays, three of which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He is an acclaimed project manager and in 2013 launched Schoolwrights, the UKs rst annual rolling playwrights-in-schools training scheme. He is a visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths College and Central St Martins, a member of the Writers Guild Theatre Committee and an occasional contributor to The Guardian. www.nkennedy.co.uk www.tamasha.org.uk Twitter: @nkennedy Both authors undertook this report in their own time, without payment. Please note that in some printed paper editions of this document, this is the nal page. The full PDF le, available for free online, contains a further 200-page appendix, featuring the Delphi survey results in full. It can be downloaded from: www.scribd.com/nkennedyplaywright/documents Helen Campbell Pickford Helen Campbell Pickford is a doctoral student at St Antonys College, Oxford, where she is researching the use of theatre by NGOs to engage with communities in developing countries, particularly in policy implementation programmes. Helen started her career teaching drama and theatre studies in the UK before moving into teacher training in developing countries. While working for VSO in Sri Lanka she realised the potential drama had to bring together people at war to share their stories in a creative environment. In Malaysia she worked with children from rural communities on a production of Steinbecks The Pearl which was toured state wide. In the Democratic Republic of Congo she devised dramas with local people as part of a peace and reconciliation programme for Children in Crisis, and most recently has studied the use of drama for encouraging children to go to school in India. Helen sees everything as copy, some of it for her stage writing and directing, and some for academic analysis.

In Battalions 62

'$" " Appendix 1 : Original Data Responses from Questionnaire Round 2 Delphi ranking: 1 (Survey proposal #1)
Ask theatres to make under-utilised space available for rehearsal and performance of new work, scratch nights etc on a free basis. These spaces would be listed on a national register, arranged by region, of support and resources available for creative Research and Development. The register would give room dimensions and a check list of amenities (e.g numbers of tables and chairs, access to power points, a kitchen etc). It could also list if the company was prepared to donate other support, such as staff time, or advice on fundraising, or if they would be prepared to negotiate other arrangements such as a box office split. The register would include contact details for a nominated room booker. Only free space to be included, no rentals. (We could ask Arts Council England to administer this as a page on their website.) Points awarded Comments YES this is brilliant only doubt efficacy of registers as no one ever updates them and realtime 7 relationships work better in theatre 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience 0 20 20 15 Many do this anyway, not sure worth setting up a database Opportunity here to get new work on its feet and create relationships between artists and venues. Yes, this could be great. Yes, some formalization of this process would help. Presumably there would be a quality/selection element. But it would help level the playing field for those without extensive contacts. At present venues are under huge pressure to maximise their revenue from these spaces. In smaller venues using casual staff there would certainly be a cost for the venue. I don't see why the companies can't simply pay for the space to cover real costs. There are however buildings with spaces unused. Companies could use them at reduced rate on the understanding that any paid bookings would take precedence and woudl be preppared to shift in an instance. Having run a venue I know that companies working in spaces are always a draw on resources and time unless audiences can make up for the outlay. This is a good idea that we already do individually and are part of regional consortium. We already do this with companies and artists whose work and development we wish to support and nurture. However, space is at a premium and we often have to access space in an emergency (if, for example, rehearsal requirements change) - which we can only do with artists with whom we have a relationship and understand the way we work. There would also be insurance and security costs and staff costs??

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen

Independent Creative Theatre Professional

'%" "
Anonymous 5 Freelance playwright 25 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group Will give each theatre a lease of life and excitement For us (dramaturgs' network), this is vital. What stops us from doing more d'n cafes - discussion about the dramaturgy of new pieces and ideas - is having to come up with money we don't have for venues. But aside from the money, by being able to have access to spaces would also mean building partnerships. . Difficult to administrate successfully and important for theatres to be fully in control of which artists / companies they choose to have a relationship with Clearly this is a good idea, but I wonder what theatres aren't already filling every available space? But worth a shot.

Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6

40 0

10

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

360 Anonymous 8 London-based actor 15

Esther Richardson

Freelance Director

25

no The co-operative I represent exists solely to try to solve this need for un-pressured rehearsal space for ourselves. Implementing a culture in which unfunded performance makers are able to utilise spaces out of hours will have a dramatic and positive effect of the quality and range and depth of practices. In contacting spaces we have found the only problems to be to do with insurance policies i.e. who is responsible. Having spaces choose limited groups and creating long term relationships of trust is what we should aim for. ACE has the power to encourage this idea to become a norm! I think this is a brilliant idea, but fear t will come up against opposition from theatres. The rehearsal space always feels sacred when rehearsals are in progress; when it's full of props and set and costumes. Theatres might want more flexibility too. However I'm sure it could be made to work and if it can it makes complete sense. I think some theatres already offer these forms of in-kind support - Northern Stage is one example. It's what theatres should just 'do' anyway as a matter of course in my view. A good idea to coordinate this via a national register, but on the otherhand could it also be done more simply regionally and locally? - Might make it less administratively heavy (costly)? I suspect one of the issues that might be faced with companies in formalising this on a national register, is that many do offer varying levels of support to companies and individuals on an ad-hoc basis, depending on their passion to encourage specific groups or people. The idea of creating more of a level playing-field is great in principle, but it could be tricky to perhaps implement- not because organisations won't want to offer these things, but because they will have concerns about their capacity to take a generic approach to this provision (I expect). Ahead of the register, maybe the first step is to (somehow) create a culture nationally, where it is absolutely normal and expected for publicly funded organisations (and buildings in particular) to demonstrate commitment to enabling the emerging and independent artists on their doorstep. Maybe a campaign that highlights some best practise examples would be the place to start, so that artists can begin to lobby for the same opportunities in their town or region, etc.

'&" "
Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer 20 Sound utilisation of assets that artists may not have the resources to hire. Free space is key to developing new writing. I think this is a very strong proposal that could seriously improve the development of artists and work. I would add a caveat to the proposal: namely that theatres with empty space available are encouraged to build relationships with the artists using the space, thus fostering a spirit of collaboration rather than a feeling of box ticking. This would be of massive practical help. It is an issue we have encountered often. We have an idea/a script and we want to talk about it and engage other actors in it but, in order to do so, we need somewhere to discuss/read/rehearse our proposal. Sometimes we meet in coffee shops or in living rooms to save money but, having a neutral (noise-free) meeting space gives everyone a chance to really explore the idea. I think this would be totally invaluable and a great way to introduce artists/audiences to new (inspiring!) spaces. So much waste - tackle the laziness and animate the spaces Locally Bristol Old Vic does this already, but good to encourage it to happen widely, and in a formalised way re. the ease of finding information for companies seeking space to work, explore and devise. As a small cross art form company without our own building, we invest huge amounts in hiring rehearsal space. This type of in-kind support would be of huge value to the sector and offer a potential route to a deeper partnership working. Would suggest that as well as theatres (whos spaces are usually at capacity year round) this could be extended to FE colleges/other cultural organsiations with appropriate facilities? quite a mega undertaking / these things tend to change all the time depending on capcity / availability / would need to think about how to manage so venue isn't inundated. good idea Space is expensive to let and therefore free space is desired. In my experience, artists requesting space connected to a theatre really want a human relationship with an employee of that theatre / to use the name of the theatre to further their purposes. Moreover, of the theatres I know, I think they already utilise their spaces to capacity. Other theatres, those without, say, full time programme, might have spare capacity. But there's probably a reason why they don't programme full time (remote, limited audiences, under resourced etc) and these reasons might hinder other artists wanting to use the building themselves. Could be very valuable but risk of 'attachment' to venues? Rehearsal space is often a source of income for theatres and performance spaces. Asking them to forgo this doesn't seem realistic. Getting councils and private renters to offer unused space seems like a better idea. I think this is a great idea - though can't think of many organisations whose space is not already very well used.

50

40 David Woods James Peries Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic 20 35

Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer

30 13 60

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small

5 16 0 12

''" "
regional company Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress 5 0 5 25 Who maintains it? There's no incentive for theatres to make the time and effort to do this. Most will anyway be trying to use this space to raise revenue. Lowers expenses for artists but maybe not theatres? yes, great idea. so much empty space, expertise, practical advice is under-used. I'm most keen on this idea because I think that theatre buildings particularly that receive public sbsidy should opt for putting Artistic development at the heart of their ethos- not just for those who are employed as artists within or into the theatre but for local artists who want to try out some ideas.Bristol Old Vichas offered such space as does WYP as part of their Summer Sublet scheme. For many writers actually getting into a building, into a space is vital. There are big theatres (eg the Glasgow Cits) that have a studio that is not used due to funding. Visitors for scratch nights then spend money in the bar etc. We are playwrights and want our plays put on in theatres in front of audiences, it is the lifeblood. Cost of using space could be issue (staff etc.) Good theoretical idea but very few free spaces in most theatre buildings and someone in house has to know scope of activity for insurance health and safety so each venue would need someone paid managing the allocations No Comment A very good idea. The means of production are in the hands of too small a number of people. Companies might also commit to attending the performances that go on in their buildings in this way. A national register of space sounds cool, though always nervous there are no channels/ systems to turn scratch nights into productions. Nice Sounds good to me but imagine theatres will have caveats. Good for writers groups to meet and "belong" to the theatre. A strong idea that will work regionally. It would be important for this proposal to focus on the opportunity for subsidised performance opportunities over R&D. Administrative query - how often would companies have to update availability? And how far in advance would they have to offer space? Unsurprisingly room hire is an importance source of income for companies.

90

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18

Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer

40 45

7 5 50 8 20 10 100 10

'(" "
Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 20 10 x Nice idea in theory, but in practice I'm not sure how easy it would prove to administrate

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

0 10

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer

50 10 10 20 50 20 25 14 15

too much is made of Space, its often a number of different factors, one of which may be space Good idea especially for rehearsals and auditions, might be costly and time consuming to administer. Theatre companies and individual practitioners could be asked to apply to be on a register, with preferential booking given to practitioners who are local to each venue. That way, venues would know more about who theyre getting, that theyre actually supporting risk-taking in new work, and it wouldnt necessarily be a bun fight to book space. Venues might be more willing to offer other kinds of support. Local practitioners might collaborate in other ways, if theyre already communicating about sharing this local free resource: great for local theatre. If identified as GFA in-kind support, it would benefit everyone (and remove the risk of people wondering why theyre not making money from this). This could open up some amazingly flexible performance spaces. Local businesses could be encouraged to collaborate too. This feels worth a try, though I don't know how theatres themselves would feel about it. May be complicated to organise. Essentially space is the most important thing created to create new work. If there is available space, offering it to companies is ideal. But there is a catch...the Young Vic offer space, but it is in small amounts and last minute....not useful if you need to plan a proper rehearsal process. This would help emerging artsists / companies more than anything else in this survey. Simple and clear. I think this is an exciting way to get new theatre-makers - especially young theatre makers who may not yet have connections - into larger organisations and give them the space and resources they need. I believe that this should be done in good time where possible. Theatres do currently offer up space but it tends to be on their terms, therefore is not useful to those who plan projects in advance. A sensible idea with benefits for all parties though perhaps the artists requesting the support in this instance could be clearer about what they are offering in return. (Bar sales, buzz, first refusal etc...) I don't know if you managed to speak to venues about this, but in my modest experience working at The Bush was that most venues are under a lot of pressure to hire out their spaces when they are empty to make ends meet - the same goes for the idea of providing with staff hours for advice I don't know of a theatre (company or venue) which is not understaff and with employees who are

')" "
overworked. All I'm saying is that I really don't think that this is realistic. Unsure as to how much under-utitlised space in theatres on the whole, so making this public knowledge would be a start. There is always demand for space from theatre makers and visual story tellers, and rehearsing in a space in a theatre gives the process an energy and generates inspiration in ways that other spaces cannot. Small companies/ideas face practical barriers to coming into fruition. This is a simple quick-win to help overcome a typical barrier that helps everyone involved. Great. I used to broker similar for ROAR in London. A lot of theatres will do this already though.

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer

21 15 30

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

10 10 13

In principle a good idea but somewhat difficult to implement with pit falls enevitable. There may also be cost implications for the host company. And who insures the activities? Probably very useful if it could be made to work; however there's massive pressure to make money from conferences / events etc from this kind of space - how would these conflicting pressures be balanced? A web page which is likely to go out of date very quickly if not carefully watched. Venues of calibre and central location can be instrumental in getting industry experts to see new work. This would take huge amounts of financial strain off of new work being created - having a space to rehearse is vital and under-utilised spaces would be hugely beneficial to some companies. I love the spirit of this idea and it would be great to see it executed on some scale. However, in my experience theatres are stretched for space and also time. I think many struggling theatres are looking for ways to make money out of their spaces in order to stay afloat, so I worry it would be difficult to get the level of involvement needed for the scheme to really take off. This is a lovely idea, giving a hand to people who are willing to try and make things happen for themselves. This is a good idea - but a little idealistic. The issues of insurance, responsibility and administration would be huge with this. Most venue are dark because they can't afford to be open, these 'free' spaces would need staffing for health and safety at least to some degree and this staffing would cost the venue. I can't see that it's financially viable. Should happen anyway

70 Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil

9 50

Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

8 0 1763

'*" " Delphi ranking: 2 (Survey proposal #30)

Ask ACE to ring-fence some Lottery money (in the way they did to encourage digital arts in 2011 or the Catalyst fund in 2012) to support Community Residencies, e.g. playwrights, actors, puppeteers, spoken word artists etc to work part-time in a school, hospital, social services dept, community centre etc. This work already goes on but it is ad hoc. A dedicated funding pot would get more artists doing it, foregrounding the social role we play, and building up public support for our work through direct engagement. The artists would apply directly, to raise their own fee. Points awarded Comments FANTASTIC and then "they" - the Vaizeys - get to see first hand how important art is in improving 30 people's lives, purpose etc. Yep 26 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary 30 0 15 10 0 0 See above re ACE national intiatives Great opportunity for community interaction with the Arts. Yes, fantastic idea. It would be great if this could connect to the showcase idea (point 20) so that some of this work might have a longer life. I support this idea in itself but I dont think it supports the stated aim here (to protect risk-taking on new work and new talent). Not more rules and ring fences. Flexibility and fun. This already happens, quite extensively, in our region It's good to get writers out of buildings and in among collaborators and potential audiences.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

15 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 0 20

no reason this cannot happen Worthwhile, but in terms of these choices, not a priority. Great for artists to have key / more visible roles in their communities. Yes. Yes. Diversify the outreach and audience. Take the theatre to them, instead of waiting for them to come to you. This doesn't directly help risk-taking, but creates an audience that will want to

(+" "
manager Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor come to go to the theatre again, which will in turn encourage creation of yet more theatre.

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO Yes great, see the art world for great examples of community based residencies - e.g. Artist placement group Great idea. I just wonder if this is the kind of thing that would be better launched and rolled-out in the style of 'Arts Emergency' (the scheme to get arts practitioners to mentor emerging kids from non-privileged backgrounds)? i.e. I think it's a scheme where you could get figureheads behind it. Great for building up an advocacy base and generating relevant new work A really good idea, arts play an incredibly important role in emotional and social development and increasing public exposure and involvement in a range of artforms can only be a good thing. Another chance to engage directly and respond to the needs in our communities. Like this but not a priority for me Needs government wide joined up thinking, not just a scheme run by ACE A more formalised scheme to encourage interaction between artists and the community seems excellent. Companies/artists like ourselves working collaboratively with lots of different people would be incredibly beneficial in terms of potentially securing funds and raising the profile of this work and it's impact. yes good idea. This does go on already - need to link up with current providers / not reinvent the wheel. Creative partnerships model? more than parachuting sporadic engagement that is not as meaningful. would encourage writers to connect with communities Good idea. Only reservation is that this'll suit some people more than others

Anonymous 8

0 15 15 20 20 12 0 0

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9

David Woods James Peries

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright

Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

20 17 60 10 5

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates

(!" "
Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress 0 I don't think trying to influence ACE's priorities is the best way to go about improving the lot of new writing. Theatre's gain would be another art-form's loss.

25 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 10 0 17 15

Artists in communities. Great! Goes on to some extent. Doesn't support production. Creating work for playwrights in other sectors is a positive move. yes. again, social inclusion, addressing public engagement. yes. This could be difficult to negotiate because of the different departments these areas of potential engagement fall under but I do like the idea, on the subject of the value of arts in society, that we should still push the importance of the social role it plays even if the people in authority don't always put equal value to it. Live interaction with a public is great, there are only so many theatres in the UK and eveni if they did all do new work, there is not enough for the writers about, so we need to find alternatives. Worth exploring

30 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

30 10

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

2 6 20 5 2 10 0 15 260 15

Not sure business models help but considering how to access European funds very important No Comment Good idea. Dont know, Hence the 5. No Gets art out in the community, raises profile, links practitioners to people and their concerns. Great idea. No Comment Great idea. Yes. But artists create application in partnership with sponsoring community project. Yes, I'd be interested in access to this.

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Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

25 50 40 0 10 10 5 5

Like this because its playwrights and, rather than playwrights instead of. This is my favourite idea. Increases social relevancy of the writer/artist, provides them with income, is of great benefit to school and communities. Love this! I love how it nurtures discovery, exploration, collaboration, collective creativity endless potential for us to take the arts into the community and let everyone play. I think the money better spent on money for plays the writers want to write. Yes but artistic freedom would need to be protected. More work with communities is important. > Local-authority led initiative. Not only do I agree this would foreground the social role theatre plays in enriching lives, I think a scheme like this would also create exciting, outward looking new plays encouraging writers to look beyond their own worlds and experiences. This also has the potential to inspire new playwrights from communities currently under-represented in theatre. It might be useful to do this more officially. I'm a believer in artists raising their own fees. Again anything that helps organise and unite writers has much more benefits than just the immediate. I think every artist should do community work and that it should be a compulsory part of them receiving ACE funding. Real engagement with communities is important. I think the reason that this doesn't go on more often is because community groups face great admin difficulties and often don't have the time/ staff/ space to make these residencies worth their while. Absolutely. I recently applied to deliver workshops in three Pupil Referral Units in the Midlands. I have worked with two before, who wrote fantastic letters of support about the validity of the work I had done with the young people in the past etc. The proposal seemed solid to me, but there was no money for it. Dedicating a chunk of cash for this would mean more people get to experience theatre that never normally do. Not sure it is an active priority. More of a nice-to-have. Like this.

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone

Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer

50 15 20

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based

25 0 40

($" "
director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 75 4

Whatever! Likely to be well-used, and I like that it's an idea that thinks about audience engagement and public support (one of very few ideas on here that does) Artists would end up under cutting each other to get the contracts. A lot of this work already happens through councils, arts and health organisations and bridging organisations like Curious Minds. Again, no point re-inventing the wheel, but some work could be done to promote new writing and theatre. A great practical idea that would better connect writers with communities and provide research opportunities. I'd worry about how it would be administered - how playwrights would be chosen. Direct engagement and artist residencies in communities, I think, is a much more effective system that funded partnership or outreach programmes. In this direct engagement lies the way to enthuse more tax payers to support the arts in general.

5 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 14 5 20 230 1470

(%" " Delphi ranking: 3 (Survey proposal #6)

Theatres work with drama schools to jointly commission new work, especially large cast plays. There would be a potential professional training opportunity if theatres could negotiate with Equity a joint approach to producing. This would enable playwrights 'to write the plays they want to write' and receive a professional commission. This approach would save the theatre money (commissioning and some actor fees) and would open up a new approach to the training of actors. Points awarded Comments 10 yep good we need to join up drama school-theatre gap anyway

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

0 Regional literary manager

10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Regional Chief exec 0 20

Already involved in similar idea through youth theatre. Who is commissioning the work, choosing the playwright, leading on the artistic vision of the piece and the development and support for that playwright? We already look at a variety of ways to work with outside organisations and bring professionals and non-professionals to our stages together but it isn't necessarily a cost-saving initiative and needs not to be a one-off but part of a longer, larger strategy

Theatre Director

Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience

100

Will Wollen

Independent Creative

0 0

No experience of working with drama schools so can't comment This has a very joined up feel. Especially good is it captures a wide range of practitioners. Yes, this would benefit drama schools as well. Currently some amazing plays are written for drama schools (I was lucky enough to be commissioned to write a play for LAMDA as part of their Long Project) & produced there with wonderful casts, but they don't ever go beyond the drama schools, & the audiences are necessarily family, friends & casting directors. It would be a great way to give these plays more of an audience, & to enable playwrights to connect with talented young actors at the start of their careers. The LAMDA Long Project is, I think, a wonderful model for how this might work, & it's worth noting that a couple of their plays have gone on to have a life beyond LAMDA, for example Mark Ravenhill's Mother Clapp's Molly House. I feel a slight unease about this idea, although I think it might work. Im uncomfortable with the non-payment of artists (though I accept that they would be trainees), and I also wonder about the quality of the audience experience (and how that affects the audiences perception of the play). I agree that playwrights who naturally write big plays (or just want to try it) are at a disadvantage in the system as it stands. And I have seen good new plays commissioned and performed by (eg) the National Youth Theatre. I think its the hybrid of professional and non-professional that I feel uncomfortable with here, and the sense of undercutting professional wages/rights. This isn't training actors, this is using actors on the cheap at the expense of actors who could be

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Theatre Professional Anonymous 5 Freelance playwright 20 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 30 Olivia Amory Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 0 This should be encouraged more As a means of developing large cast plays, definitely a goer. My proviso would be to be sure that the plays are not only for a cast in their early 20s. Perhaps there could be partnership links with more established actors, thereby not only creating large cast plays but also a kind of tutoring-inpractice system. Drama schools are an untapped resource re new writing commissioning. Premieres would help with their audience numbers / industry attention which is always helpful for their students. Great opportunity to write for large casts. This strikes me as a win-win. Emerging writers are hesitant to write plays with large casts, assuming no one will produce them because it involves paying so many people. This idea was done successfully between RADA and Jessica Swale in writing Blue Stockings (though I'm unsure if Rada commissioned it.) NO paid. Drama schools have a duty to promote actors, new writing can be a distraction. There is nothing to stop writers getting commissions from drama schools at the moment. Youth theatres are a better bet for commissions and it's less dodgy in terms of not paying actors

10 40

0 London-based actor

10

Esther Richardson

Freelance Director

25

This sounds too much like free labour I think the first sentence is a brilliant idea, but would stop there. Drama students cannot be professional and their training is a delicate thing. Don't like the idea of them working with professionals. Don't understand the idea of 'professional training opportunity'. I think it's a great idea however for drama schools to work with theatres to jointly commission new work. I think realistically the most this would yield for public performance would be 1 show a year, but that's certainly better than nothing and a great opening for writers. Also great for the drama students. This is a great idea - and timely. I also want to add that the situation with Equity sometimes shutting down projects which have a largish professional cast and then a community or student ensemble is frustrating. There position is also foggy as some projects seem to be allowed to go ahead and others blocked - it would be great for clarity around this area to be established. I totally support of course the Union's position on ensuring that professional companies do not give roles to amateurs that should be given to professionals, however the rigidity of this position often means that tonnes of fantastic plays (with casts of over 15) are impossible to revive. As you say, it is also impossible to get a new play of this scale produced. I don't understand why, depending on the scale of the theatre and their Union arrangements, it couldn't be agreed with Equity that theatres have to have created up to a given number of professional employment opportunities over the year OR on a single show, offered up to a certain number of roles to professionals, after which they could recruit community performers and students as both a training opportunity/and or a chance to

('" "
do these brilliant large-cast plays. The amateurs could still be employed on a supernumerary basis. It just seems mad that when there's no company outside of the National and RSC who can afford to have 20 to 30 professional artists on stage in a regular slot, there can't be more flexibility. And in terms of the opportunities this would create for new work I think it would really transform what felt possible. Natalie Wilson Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company 36 London-based playwright 15 London-based playwright 120 Good for all concerned. Large cast plays get a large paying audience! Great idea. Low cost and effective way to provide more production opportunities for playwrights. Though no need for theatres to be involved - commissions could be funded by the ACE directly, in 0 Already happens An interesting proposal, and one that would definitely increase drama students' exposure to the industry and professional expectations. Another bonus of the scheme would be to encourage the creation of large cast and ensemble plays, something that is currently severely restricted by budget. The more interaction between drama school and theatre makers the better. This is a great way to learn how to collaborate and get students working in the way they will be expected to when they finish training. great idea to help put on large pieces We do this already at Bristol and it's a relationship that could benefit writers and theatre greatly elsewhere. Mutually beneficial collaborations between training organisations and the professional industry are positive as long as they don't threaten opportunities for professional actors. Good idea, but are we suggesting students would be involved in professional production? would they work with professionals on professional stage? or mix of both? Good idea in terms of commissioning and R&D. Mark Ravenhill play happened like this Mother Clap's Molly House LAMDA connection. Happens already Terrific. The work here will be to convince drama schools, as its an industry geared towards private training and then a showcase - so a scheme such as this will require an opening up of student's work. I wouldn't have a problem with this and I'd posit neither would students. For writers who write this way it's a great idea, but does it limit what can be written, e.g. small-cast plays or casts outside 'typical' drama school age? Love this idea! The modern tendency is for small cast. small concept, small scope in contemporary plays. This would strike at the heart of that issue. Brilliant idea. This could be very interesting and some schools are already starting to work in this way - see RADA and ALRA. How best to balance needs of writer with needs of actors in training?

10 10 10 13 10

12 0 100 7 50

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Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress return for the drama school agreeing to produce the play. It's important that there's open competition for these commissions. Offers a genuine professional opportunity to writers, who rarely have the chance to write largescale plays. Excellent experience for drama students, too. sadly, it wouldn't allow playwrights to write the work they wanted AND have the best, most experienced casts possible Perhaps this is good for writers but I would be very careful about coming from the angle of saving money through doing shows with drama school students. Its hard enough getting paid work for professional actors so I wouldn't put my efforts here, as an actor, However, more writers should be commissioned to write plays for drama schools and get paid for it. RADA do it and so should more of the others but as this is combined in two ideas, I have had to give it zero. Not entirely convinced, but it would be great for drama students, student directors and writers to work together Good idea for large cast plays, though maybe some risk for the schools. This is in place with RSAMD and Gaiety School of acting Superb opportunity for students to learn from a real live writer in the rehearsal room and writers get to expand their theatrical scope beyond 3character one hour commissions No Comment Great idea. Would love to see more big plays from writers not commissioned by NT, RSC. important, yes - though it better not DIScourage theatre from employing large professional casts Brilliant idea Already happens at LAMDA and is certainly rich training ground for young actors who otherwise don't work on brand new plays. No Comment Great idea. Shouldn't be limited to "drama schools" - where the intake is often undiverse - extend to Universities, colleges and youth theatres. I like the idea in theory but how would a playwright get involved with this? Presumably they would already have to be in residence at a particular theatre. I don't see how this might be open to all writers. like this one alot, from Phyllida Lloyd to Mark Ravenhill, its proven to work Great idea, could work for any Drama degree or post graduate course, not just those at drama schools.

34 5

zero. Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

10 40

15 9 50 15 23 15 0 15 0 10 50 40

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Because of the expense, large scale work lives in youth theatre, community theatre, creative collectives, each of which is a unique storytelling vehicle with specific demands. Large scale theatre for drama students would be part of their training, and should serve that. Each student has every right to demand a part that will challenge and stretch them. Drama students are not just cheaper actors, and this model should be very careful to ensure that it is serving them and their needs as much as facilitating risk for the writers. In my experience, when two things that are new come together, they need one good, solid guide who has experience in nurturing both, in order to manage the expectations of all the participants, and balance the nurturing of cast and creatives as fairly and equally as possible. Because what actors need in development is frequently not what writing needs in development. This could be great so long as the objectives of both parties clear - ie the objective of writing for a large cast isn't the same as writing a good play - there's something fundamentally distracting about having to write parts 'for everyone'. Great idea. In theory it sounds great, but ask some of the LAMDA students about their participation in projects like this. There's a fine line between training and exploitation here. Again, with ideas being commandeered and ending up in professional productions. It is absolutely a good idea, but with the fees people are paying for education, etc, it would just have to be employed delicately. Maybe teaming up with Equity will ensure that. I like. Happens already. Quality can be variable. I think this is also potentially an appealing offer to audiences - seeing up and coming theatremakers collaborating. The problem I see here is that theatres tend to commission within their particular tastes. I had the opportunity to write a play for a school last year. If this had been a commission partnered with a theatre I wouldn't have received it. In my experience, the drama teacher at the school was far more risk-taking and open to innovative, non-naturalistic work than the theatres are. Perhaps there are other ways of supporting schools to commission writers? Surely the playwrights wouldnt be able 'to write the plays they want to write' they'd have to write plays with an average of 10 twenty year olds. I think there is a really good idea in here - but it needs more development. at the moment it seems very complicated between 3 bodies plus the writer. Lovely idea and has been discussed at length already by CSSD and RADA - but I think they look for plays already written for large casts rather than commissioning - not sure why that is. Again, I'm not sure about the 'negotiate a joint approach to producing' - with who? Drama Schools are normally making those productions in-house as their end of year shows. If anyone can persuade them to spend the money on paying the writer that would be fantastic but I'm not sure that it would save the 'theatre' any money as they already tend to work with all their students, who are

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer

0 30 15

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich

Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer

5 15 5 25

Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Writer/Theatre Maker

Writer London-based director/producer

(*" "
performing as part of their course. When I went to RADA there wasn't a production on which wasn't performed by students - so this is where I'm drawing my information from - but perhaps I'm wrong? worth double checking. This would certainly bridge a gap between training and working professionally. I know theatres do this with regular schools, so why not with drama schools. Unclear how this would work and who would 'own' it. Feels like there might be a clash of objectives. Especially for large cast work, this is an excellent idea.

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer

9 0 20

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

30 5 6

Already happens in some places but should be implemented immediately. This is something that already happens a bit. What is being suggested that's new? Is the suggestion that drama school students perform the plays at the professional theatre also? If so, need to think more about why audiences would want to come. Another way not to pay actors? But the writer gets paid?

10 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting

Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

65 11

This has potential with university performing art departments also This could be very positive as a way of getting big cast plays commissioned and produced but I worry that while offering opportunities to training actors, it potentially takes them away from working actors. However, if the scheme could bring about commissions and productions that simply wouldn't have existed otherwise this concern is no longer relevant. Very good idea, I pull my hair out at the amount of times I see the same plays produced at drama schools, this would mean more big cast plays, but also because of the fact there are often more women in drama schools than men, it would create a wealth of new interesting female parts - the lack of which is another industry bug bear. This is already informally in place as often drama school shows transfer but a formalisation of this approach would be great.

0 1267

Should/does happen anyway

)+" " Delphi ranking: 4 (Survey proposal #21)

ACE to create a national network of Associate Playwrights in the regional reps, who are not only commissioned to write a play but are physically based in the theatre and proactively involved in the artistic life of the company. Creating more Associate Playwrights would raise the profile and status of contemporary writers and writing; it would demonstrate the industry's strong commitment to new work and to professional opportunities for writers; and it could enable working playwrights to have a strategic voice in artistic programming. Points awarded Comments thought this existed already but YES expand it make it a more formal part of the ecology as long as 20 they are short - year - posts to avoid entrenchment and blocking of other talent 40 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Co75 20 100 15 50 20 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 0 10 Yes, this would be brilliant. Associates should change regularly though Great opportunity for new writers to establish in the industry. Yes, because why shouldn't playwrights be associates, not just directors. It would also be a great opportunity for playwrights to share their process and works in progress and be part of the life of theatres. I support the idea of more Associate Playwrights in reps, along the lines outlined but I dont think ACE should be the agent here perhaps a consortium of interested reps instead? This is fine apart from the network. Why do we need ACE to do this? If the theatres have money to produce then new work happens. good idea, put writers closer to the centre of things I suppose if it helps a CV fine, but not sure that playwrights in strategic artistic programming is the best way forward. Associate directors are key, why not playwrights. Splendid - what's more, the more successful those plays are, the stronger the reputation and visibility of the regional theatres. NO Live used to be part of a similar scheme and can see clear advantages to such an idea. We already have this and it is invaluable but there is also a cost implication - how many days per month are you paying for them to be in your theatre, are you covering their travel and accommodation, what about their other commitments (if they are experienced, they will also be busy)

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

Olivia Amory

15 0

)!" "
ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 0 Anonymous 8 London-based actor 5 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 I disagree Would this be a paid position? Like the RSC have their writer in residence. I'm not sure - might have the opposite effect and make writers feel the opportunities are greatly reduced if you don't get that gig. I'm not sure this should be imposed on artistic directors. My only caveat is that I think it should be Associate "Artists" so that opportunities could be created for other theatre-makers not just writers. Needs to be more of a range of opportunity for others who don't have such a great lobby (designers, directors, composers, etc.)? Residencies is an old idea but one that has always been effective in my view. Good idea but the playwrights would need to be paid and therefore could be quite expensive An interesting idea, and one that is happening organically at a number of theatres throughout the country already. I agree that work needs to be happening in theatres all the time and reps need to become more present and stronger forces for change and growth in their communities. Like this a lot - good sense of community and a reminder that artists do need to eat Happens already at Bristol Old Vic, but a good idea if spreading this elsewhere would be an innovation. Not convinced playwrights need more of a voice but i'm coming at this from a non text focused, devising company! Why ACE? should led by regional theatres / consortiums of theatres - connecting associate artists who they already have. encourages link between writers and audiences Theatres can already chose whether or not to fund resident playwrights. Whilst access to additional funding would be welcome, in reality the creation of this would mean a cut elsewhere and already theatres a free to invest in this resources if they wish. Moreover, this is what the Pearson / Channel 4 programme does. Increases 'visibility' - might encourage writers to be involved in ways other than simply writing Fantastic idea. Help emerging and mid-career playwrights by creating positions for them inside theatres.

Anonymous 7

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company

20 0 10 20 0 8 0 13 60

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

0 7 50

25

I love this idea. Putting writers back into the heart of communities and organisations.

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Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths 15 120 28 Might be costly, but great if possible. Excellent idea. Important that all these jobs are publicly advertised and open to anyone who wants to apply. Support any move to embed playwrights into theatre. Would give this idea more currency if it wasn't - again! - purely playwright-based. there ARE people making work without on, sole playwright. If we cannot speak of the wide range of ways to initiate work that exist right now, in a document like this (!), and if we are still tying ourselves solely into old models, then we stand no chance at all. Associate Theatremakers would be a far better title. Interested in the selection process for this. I think some writers would be interested in having a voice in the programming.

Stella Duffy Anonymous 16

5 10

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

60 10

I really feel this is a proper two way street, both theatres and writers gain from this. Intrigued. Definitely need playwrights back in the theatres as everyone knows half of all ideas happy at the water cooler over coffee playwrights need to be there. No Comment This sounds like a bigger version of existing residency schemes. But I think it's a good idea. Playwrights should be less remote from theatres. Like this a lot This is the most important of the proposals - that many NPOs are funded with the caveat that they are new writing theatres and yet have no playwrights on staff in either part- or full-time capacity is a poor outcome Having been one of these several times it does work and existing system could happily be extended to give writers more voice I think this would end up strengthening the already well connected as opposed to engaging new local writers. And we would end up with a network of already produced/ published playwrights. Great idea - anything that involves regional theatre more in playwriting and making of work will benefit us all. Like this and practical. Could be a good idea.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17

15 10 10 20 25

Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

15 0 15 20 10

Jonathan Meth

This idea is at least 20 years old. Its not a bad one.

)$" "
Judith Johnson Freelance Playwright and teacher. 30 Great idea, should not just be reps but also Educational and Community Theatre groups. What regional reps? To me, this sounds like a potential clash between Artistic Directors and Associate Playwrights, although if it could be made to work collaboratively, it could be awesome. But the industry HAS no strong commitment to new work. It hates new work. New work is hard to sell. And the voice of a playwright is a different concoction to the voice of an Artistic Director in a regional theatre. Yes, good idea. Isn't this the same as attachments? Perhaps. How many regional reps do we have that are still functioning in this way? Raising the profile and increasing the levels of involvement by playwrights would be a step in the right direction. Theatres need to lead on this, not ACE. I think it is really important to get playwrights into theatres and for them to become part of the organisation Would it be better to have more 'Associate Artists'? - There are many writers who would not describe themselves as 'playwrights'. I think putting a ring around 'playwrights' is trying to turn back the clock. If the idea is to raise the status of contemporary writers and writing it would need to embrace spoken word artists, performance writers etc. But it is very important to encourage commissioning. a great idea - but how would the theatres afford it - that has not been proposed? I think this is a very nice idea, the challenge here is that you are assuming that all venues want to have new work on and the truth is that there are more venues who don't produce new writing (and in most cases are not interested in it) - but this model would work nicely for new writing venues. Most of this seems to happen anyway, maybe not enough, but writers are commissioned and found in residence. The strength of this proposal is that the writer could possibly have more input into the artistic life of the company. Great idea. Promotes sense of longevity, of being really getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of their industry, will help Playwrights craft plays with an inherent sense of the potentials and pitfalls that their creative collaborators might face (eg lighting design, casting, marketing) Like this, but makers not just writers. Good Idea

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer

0 20 10 5 15 0 6

Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama,

10 0 10

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

2 20 20 30

Scott Anderson

)%" "
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23 Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 5 15 Definitely in favour of more funding for Associate Artists based in regional reps. Not sure it's useful to limit to just playwrights. Much interesting new work is being done by artists who work across several roles - writer/performer, director/writer, etc. A move away from musicals and known classics would be very good.

0 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 18 30 15 10 1257

There are already a lot of resident playwright schemes This would be wonderful. Great idea. This already exists in the Pearson Playwright scheme - but it is a brilliant scheme - so more please! If it isn't happening it seems blindingly obvious and should be linked with Number 30

)&" " Delphi ranking: 5 (Survey proposal #2)

A scheme twinning larger organisations with smaller ones. This would involve the larger organisations agreeing to a package of resources with that smaller organisation specifically tied to support for new, risky, emerging artists/work. This might be an offer of equipment, space, marketing and commissioning funds. This could be paid for by all National Portfolio Organisations funded over 500,000 ring-fencing 1% of their budgets for these mutually beneficial support-programmes. Points awarded Comments 0 sounds bureaucratic and difficult to implement well 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 Regional Chief exec 75 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 10 Olivia Amory Communications Coordinators, Independent 0 10 0 15 0 25 20 20 Yes, this should definitely happen! Could help address London/regional gaps too Really helpful to have the support of a larger organisation and brilliant to have input of newer work so works well for all involved. Co-commissions already happen & I don't think a scheme would help; it could just create more administration costs for something that is going on already. Good idea formalizes what NPOs should be doing anyway (but not all do) and makes them accountable for it (and therefore more invested in the process). This is cloud cuckoo land imagining that NPOs have this money to spare. We must rid ourselves of pull the ladder up attitude A share of a desk and marketing would be especially helpful. And again, partnerships.. Officially having to ring-fence and deliver on this would take away the decision of 'can we' support smaller companies, and make it 'which one' shall we support? A much better question I would give this idea more points if it involved a rotation on the part of the smaller companies, so that once they had grown and matured some, a new company could rotate in. NO Already happens, not sure if percentage is needed. We already do an element of this - one of the key stipulations of NPO status is to support companies in your region and we have a range of models through which we support local companies and artists whose work we wish to support - and produce a degree of work in our Studio "in association" with these companies

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

)'" "
Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 0 London-based actor 20 I do not have the experience to comment. Brilliant idea. Why don't we do this already. Only thing I would say is it must be relatively long term. If the twinning changed regularly (say once a year) it could end up being vacuous and meaningless. 1% of 500,000 isn't a lot of money, so unless there was buy-in from other larger companies too it might be a struggle for the smaller one to undertake anything of real significance. I think that 1% as a spend on "risky, new and emerging artists" is far too low for organisations of this scale. How would this kind of scheme work in reality? It sounds like it might be a bit onerous to get it going and all the conversations around the percentage will be very political and take a while to iron out - so I think this is a bit time consuming as a proposal for not much return. Unless you are able to find a way to lever more money and then this could be effective. If you could get an investment of more like 50k it would be very similar to the mechanism that was used to create Theatre Writing Partnership that I ran from 2001 to 2007. Larger organisations in the East Mids were given money via ACE that they had to sign over to us for us to be able to deliver our work (discovering, developing and producing new writing). It was basically a way of enforcing a collaborative relationship (because the fact the money came via the theatres meant that we had to report to them jointly at quarterly meetings). Mostly this approach had good results in terms of forging strong partnerships and a huge turnover of work. However, it wasn't always plain-sailing with every organisation, and the effectiveness of it for the larger organisation depended entirely on how committed they were to the vision of the project. Where there was enthusiasm to work together on building a new writing ecology lots of great projects happened - where there was less interest in collaboration it was sometimes very difficult. Although TWP worked for a period in the East Mids, I'm not sure this kind of intervention would work everywhere. It's very hard to enforce collaboration, and it takes a very unique set of people who can see the bigger picture and put their individual ambitions for their own careers to one side, for the collective spirit of the greater/ bigger endeavour. Ring-fencing 1% of budgets is not feasible Another strong proposal that would hopefully open up the industry. A partnership/twinning scheme would also be of great value to artists embarking upon a career in theatre as it would be a clear and visible example of career progression to which they could aspire. Skills and experience sharing is really important between those who are doing it and those who are trying to! I'm always really interested when I get newsletters from theatres also advertising/supporting the work of a lesser known theatre/company and I'm much more inclined to go and see what they are producing.

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer

5 0

Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder Anonymous 9

50

30

)(" "
David Woods James Peries Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic 10 0 Group and business mentoring is good Okay idea but wrong mechanism (the 1% ring-fencing of budgets) Fevered Sleep is incredibly fortunate to be an associate company of the Young Vic, along with Belarus Free Theatre and 1927. The in kind support offered through this relationship has enable the company to take risks with our programme and plough precious resources in the making of new work rather than overheads. This residency has enabled the company to establish itself and grow from a supportive base and more schemes like this could be the key to smaller, experimental companies thriving. Twinning idea is interesting - hard to legislate for as people who are doing it are doing it already. Twinning associate companies with venues interesting. Happens already, eg Coventry A good idea. I don't think these relationships should be forced - both the larger and smaller organisations strategically might not want to work in this manner. I also don't think there's a need to be systematic about amounts of financing yet - surely both partners, along with ACE, should set out what financing is needed and what can be afforded. Could lead to smaller companies being artistically 'cherry-picked' and 'tithed' to the the larger ones Forcing larger organisation to take on smaller ones seems harsh and might lead to unfruitful collaborations. But I think it's worth the risk.

Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer

40 10 0

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress

30 5 10

Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16

9 10 0 15 25 10

Many organisations already do this formally or informally. Nice, but not many NPOs of this size. How is this better than supporting the small organisations directly? Would strengthen smaller organisations to have such a relationship. yes, learning from others is always valuable. Do-able for those organisations funded at that or over that amount, I think this would work if it was expanded further, ie not just a big theatre offering some old costumes and half an hour with the PR person, but a larger organisation genuinely working with a local smaller one. Happens on informal basis already I suspect This kind of mentoring scheme has been successfully applied under the rubric of 'production hubs' by the Irish Arts Council.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen

Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John

40 45 10

))" "
University Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright 16 10 15 5 8 No Comment A decent idea. But would need to avoid the equivalent of football 'feeder' clubs. Maybe a risk of smaller companies being tied into mainstream ideas of success than vice versa. Something exciting about this in principle! In reality, if I were the artist of the bigger piece, the whole experience of the evening is important, and Id lose control of that. At risk of coterie forming Feel unqualified to comment but anything that involves collaboration rather than divide and rule sounds good. This will force the larger organisations to engage with the smaller ones in there region. This will enable a ladder of engagement from what is 'considered' the higher end of the production ladder to the lower end of a receiving house. In my opinion both organisations need to be working proactively at each level of the community they serve. We do this informally already - I expect other companies might too? The idea of requiring that all companies do is a good one. They should be doing a lot more than a measly one per cent. Don't let them off the hook so easily. I think this would be a useful idea, but I'm an individual playwright and not part of a small organisation so it wouldn't affect me particularly. see answer to question 11. Not sure the NPOs would go for this because of the impact on their budgets. In many ways, this is the relationship I have with the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. I write youth shows for them, for free. They get nice new shows to put on, and we get dramaturgy, A-to-Z development, and the chance to invite a publisher to a full production. Mainly, the benefit to them is just that our director loves working with us on new material. Together, we have learnt and honed our storytelling craft writing for ages 8-21. So maybe this is an opportunity to engage with youth departments, and new directors, and new writers: to take bigger risks, which you can with youth theatre, in what are perceived as smaller areas by the venues, benefitting directors as well as writers, and encouraging new collaborations. And making the most of the incredible number of youth drama groups we have in the UK. Yes, sounds interesting. And not just like for like organisations - ie might be interesting to twin with a dance organisation, or a university drama department... this already happens Absolutely. If larger organisations were able to help with the risk, even a little bit, it

Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher.

120 10 0 10 0 0

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike

20 15 10 40

)*" "
Shed Theatre, Exeter Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer 5 15 0 would make a huge difference to emerging artists and risky work. > Potentially interesting; unclear in practice. Would this discourage larger organisations from making "risky" work in their own right? Does it risk keeping "emerging" and established companies as separate entities? An excellent idea, I think it needs to be enforced and be a condition of organisations with NPO status. - I believe this was mentioned by the Arts Council a couple of years ago but it hasn't been enforced. Perhaps it needs to be a transparent scheme to ensure resources go directly to the artists making the work. Sounds very difficult and potentially expensive to administrate and feels overly complicated and not as beneficial to the larger organisations as some of the other proposals. Doesn't this already happen in the form of associated artists with a lot of organisations? This is a great idea, knowing that a lot of theatre makers lost their NPO status during the cuts. Unfortunately a lot of these companies didn't shrink but completely folded. Theatre Writing Partnerships is a point in case. I don't think this would help them as they now no longer exist. However, the Gramophones Theatre Company worked with and through TWP, and I think this is just one example of theatre company that could benefit from this proposal. The pillars of our industry should be mandated to give something back. It is in their own interests and helps build their own brand value and secure their potential future talent. This is a bit like supported artist status, what BAC did provide. I think it works well when there is a commitment to finding the right programme of support and over a limited period. BAC supported artist status really helped Coney.

Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer

15 0 0

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company

26 10 40

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer

30 5 9

Lizzie Nunnery

Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in

0 16

Another good idea but may also be difficult to implement. How would organisations be twinned? For how long? Like the idea of large wellfunded organisations having a duty to help smaller. Several good theatres are already doing something like this though. How you decide who should get it would be problematic and probably political. Twinning schemes rarely work well, and they could exclude these resources being spread a little thinner perhaps, but going wider. Also, there would have to be a time limit, and these types of schemes can sometimes give a company or artist space for a year, then leave them exactly where they were before they started. This is a great opportunity for larger organisations to make links with more

*+" "
playwriting Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 10 20 0 1039 experimental emerging artists and their work. I think from a creative point of view there could be a lot of enthusiasm for this amongst theatres. It's a nice idea but I'd worry that time spent organising/administering these twinnings would be disproportionate to the benefits. This sounds like a great idea, the distribution of resources between companies could be really effective and it would keep larger companies in touch with new work that was being created in its area. Patronising assumption that will lead to more resources going to large organisations and everyone thinking we've solved it.

*!" " Delphi ranking: 6 (Survey proposal #18)

Approach business heads and economists to make the case to government for continued public investment. The economic argument has been made repeatedly but it doesnt get through when it is artists speaking. Points awarded Comments 40 26 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising 0 20 0 15 0 10 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 25 20 We need to get them to support the arts first... Fundamental to a govt rethink on Arts funding allocation. I think we should continue to speak for ourselves, & work on getting listened to. Yes. This has been done before, but it needs to be repeated/updated on a regular basis. Making the economic argument has to be an idea dreamt up by non-artists. Stop listening to them! yes, they think we are rich and whingers, if only! My view is it should be business heads/economics AND artists speaking as partners with them. It is incredibly important that we as artists know how to make our case. The more and varied the voices making the argument, the better. I think speaking the same language is key - so who speaks both our language and theirs? Specifically, who? I'd like to see that included in any discussions like this. Is this the same as point 17? if we win this argument finally, all the rest should follow, right? Good idea, but not as attractive as others here.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

40 0

YES Economists are economists. Artists speak through their work best.

*#" "
group Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 London-based actor 15 5 30 0 10 10 16 20 17 0 0 8 0 This is the argument that needs to be won. I think this is a very good idea. I think getting some leading economists to support our collective case is in principle good although bear in mind that the government resolutely ignored many of our best economist's advice on the current crisis. Getting the message through the voices that the Coalition will listen to I'm unsure if it would make any difference, the argument has been presented time and again by people who work in the arts, why would the government listen to the same argument coming from people with no concrete experience of the industry? We definitely need these people speaking up! Talk their language We support the idea that people outside of the Arts may have a more clarion voice than the 'usual suspects' in the Arts world. Yes these voices in the mix are crucial to getting the message across yes excellent. think tanks? What next org? we need to stimulate private funding and enterprise Already happening. The work ahead isn't just the economic case - it's giving voice to the public enabling them to say that they want culture to be subsidised. Nice idea but would take a lot of effort for some to see this as relevant. I don't think it will matter who makes this argument with the current government. We will just have to wait for them to be voted out of office. They do not support the arts. This government's attack on the arts is ideological not economic - not sure anyone would change their thinking. Yes - but who? Maybe Tim Harford for one...? The case has been made, and heard. Reason doesn't always prevail. Possibly, if it was made in conjunction with artists rather than on behalf of. yes. this. give the platform to artists not to artists'-brokers.

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

4 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy 25 0 4 20

*$" "
Anonymous 16 maker London-based actress 10 The argument for the value of arts for social welfare is a just one but it isn't one that seems to resonate with governments in the same way that profits for our economy do. When you can prove how much the Arts generate as Equity did- it was a really good, strong campaign I am not quite sure how this will work, as supporters of the arts are rarely silent, but the case particularly in London for the economic advantages of the theatre landscape needs to be made properly, with pie charts, future valuations etc,. Nice idea, but could be tricky to actually get air time for it still

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike

20 20

10 34 60 8 2 10 0 15 0 20

Any voice that gets media time is width having on board crucial. I ought to give this 360 points I agree. I'm sure it's happening already to some extent, but we need to hear more from people who seem without vested interest. Ok What happens if they don't? There's little compelling about this idea. Worth a try. No Comment Good idea. x Rich businessmen are the only people the Government might listen to. It wont with this government. They are simply ideologically opposed, no matter the predilections of individuals. See above answer to no 17 Nor when its business people speaking, because the logical response is that they should become philanthropists if they think it such a good opportunity for investment. Yes, good idea. I don't this will make much difference. Absolutely, public investment yields far greater economic return. Look at the diagram the Soho

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck

5 5 0 10 10 50

*%" "
Shed Theatre, Exeter Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer 30 0 3 6 40 did...they government gets more than they give. I agree totally - strong voices of advocacy from outside the arts sector are vital. We need to be able to make the case ourselves; you can't outsource advocacy. Similarly, this would depend on who was speaking on our behalf. The economic argument is not the right argument to be making, Theatre isn't particularly important for the economy, it is important to all of us as human beings. so simple. so obvious. when money talks the government listens. yes, this was very well done by Soho Theatre. The problem is that we have a government full of meat heads - more graphs like the one by Soho Theatre would help but sadly, our government is currently busy make us think that we are competing for funds against each other whilst they give it to corporations. A boycott to vote off the Tories would be preferable. This seems like a more direct approach than the previous proposal. Obvious idea. Am amazed this isn't happening extensively already. We should think of data as our friend. As long as they agree.

0 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22 Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 5 10 10

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

70 10 15

Here here! Possibly useful but doesn't feel like the best use of the energy from this campaign. A great idea but finding the right people would be important.

10 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 8 10 10

Again, might help. It couldn't hurt to have business people speaking alongside artists. Tough job but someone's gotta do it, and they are more likely to listen to them Yes - more outspoken heads of business who advocate the role of arts in society would be great.

0 921

Feel it's been done already, and will not be heard

*&" " Delphi ranking: 7 (Survey proposal #8)

Theatres work with writers and their local council to produce site specific new writing, financially supported by the council and local businesses. The writers will choose their own sites from the list the council provides of locations that are 'in need of activity'. This new writing will find a home - and of course inspiration - from the spaces that meet each council's criteria. Such criteria could include: A site considered a local treasure but due to cuts in other areas of the council cannot be open to the public any longer. Or a problematic area of the community due to the lack of activity (night or day) because of the economic challenges facing the area, e.g. shops closing. Points awarded Comments 20 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes 0 30 0 FAB. Good idea. Depends on Arts commitment of local council! Interesting and something we are already exploring and has been done by other organisations (Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse in collaboration with LIPA / Slung Low / Alligator Club). Interesting if led by playwrights but it can be very expensive to implement (due to the responsibility we have to be fully insured, technically staffed, ensure full health and safety etc) and councils need support in implementing these. Given the complexity of managing relationships with local councils in current economic environment I'm not sure this is a good approach although I like the idea Great idea. Has potential to penetrate every community and join up multi-agency interest. Site-specific plays are expensive to produce. Also I would prefer to focus on schemes that leave playwrights free to write. This kind of work goes on but it is increasingly pertinent in the current economic climate. The idea borrows from schemes like the Town Centres Initiative (empty shops), which have so far tended to be more visual arts focussed. It would be good to see braver, more ambitious theatre commissions (perhaps some solicited or otherwise encouraged by ACE?) These lists don't exist. They are in need of money not activity. good A gopd way to think about what might be possible at a local level. Additional to new writing, there could be collaborative performance projects. Good way of engaging local community with new work, and making use of unused but interesting spaces.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

15 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry 0 9 10 20

*'" "
Anonymous 6 London literary manager 20 Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor Superb idea. Wild Works could provide some tips on community projects, I imagine.

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO Might be good to think in terms of geographical areas of deprivation where there is more arts funding available Love this idea. Brilliant. The sort of thing that can really affect a community. Yes. Love this idea. There isn't enough site-specific work happening across the countries and audiences flock to it - it's still a relatively new experience for some audiences outside of London. It also does attract investment in a way that regular shows don't, because businesses get excited and buy into the uniqueness of the event and experience. Getting writers more engaged by the idea of creating site-specific work sounds to me like a progressive and effective way to revive and re-energise the new writing culture outside London. I really like the connection between arts and regeneration. It would make a great synergy and has already been proven to work. A potentially interesting idea but it could lead to creativity being restricted by council requirements. Any such work would of course need to take into account the needs of the local community so they felt invested in and supportive of the work. This is an amazing idea. It is already starting to happen and it has enormous beneficial insights for both actor and audience. I've witnessed lots of site specific work in which the place where the piece is performed gives it a dimension that otherwise it wouldn't have. It also opens up new areas and gives them new life and perspective. not a fan of this as it is reductive to the key to brilliant theatre - the imagination A good engagement with the city/district, and engagement of councils is also positive. Thinks this point should not just be focused on writers but artists (not just about new writing but new creative projects in a range of potential forms) - collaboration between organisations/artists and their locality are crucial particularly in the current climate. Initiatives that encourage cultural/commercial/social partnership working in local areas have the potential to be hugely valuable but the work needs to have the right level of investment and creative idea at it's heart i.e. artist driven. Arts budgets cut for local councils - not a priority - difficult to get their buy in. Would encourage writers to connect with communities

Anonymous 8

0 25

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic

25 20 10

10 David Woods James Peries 0 21

Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and

10 7 60

*(" "
freelance writer Staging performance in found spaces is challenging - not just in the sense of production values, but also in terms if licensing and health and safety. Knowledge of how to do this work safely and legally is a specific skill. Then there's the work of how do you publicise a new space - to what database - and then what is the legacy beyond the initial project? There are successful, maintained companies that do this work, but it's not as easy to replicate as just creating theatre in an empty space. Fantastic. Great idea. This gives councils an actual stake in creating good work that engages the community. It's an interesting challenge for writers, and it has a direct benefit to the local community. Bravo! Lovely idea - not sure council resources exist to support work financially. Though if relationships with business could be brokered it has great potential. Personally love this idea! Councils are taking money away, not providing more. This could offer up interesting collaborations and a new stimulus for work. yes, anything that increases engagement is valid and useful Bristol Council have done some of this in the past and I think it would be a good thing to get artists within communities to activate through their councils. ie.local artists doing the leg work of pressure on their local council etc. Definitely is one that could be activated at local level.

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress

0 30 30

15 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 20 0 33 15 10 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 10

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17

12 4 0 9 7

Admin and safety a nightmare see SPID and Kensal as example in London, can happen but very local specific. Some excellent examples with Anu production for 'problematic area of community' and The Other Way Works and Black Country Touring. Playwriting in this scenario is a specific skill requiring community engagement and output for most council funding so there are often wrap around activity as well as direct commissioning involved only if accompanied by a full grant Would need a lot more thought. Big marketing costs, etc, involved in putting on plays in new spaces. sure - think the fight is to get local audiences to their local theatres first, which is a battle in itself, let alone an out of town run down car park etc. etc. Site specific theatre is a concept led by jargon. Every bit of theatre takes place in a specific site.

*)" "
Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 20 0 15 0 20 Love site specific stuff. Think this is one for theatres to answer No Comment Lovely idea - would be fantastic to harness empty spaces, get councils involved and also inspire local audiences to think a play might have been written for/about them. You have greater faith in councils than I do in this climate. Yes, I would love this to become a reality. I am extremely keen on site-specific writing and would love this opportunity. This needs more thinking as its over-reliant on councils who dont often have capacity, but the idea of a community locale generated impetus is good, and the playwright making art in public / civic spaces is great Good idea for writers and communities, not sure cash strapped councils can afford it at the moment. I love this for the opportunity to work in unusual spaces, and the opportunity to connect with the local area surrounding that space. I wonder about local councils and their ability or willingness to support an endeavour like this. I wonder if we shouldnt just go Guerilla Gardening and make spontaneous, small theatre in these spaces, and be away faster than a speeding bullet. (Guerilla Allegory? Guerilla Gest?) I wonder if we can get around laws about a crowd gathering by finding ways to do that Guerilla Gardening without requiring groups of people to stand still and watch. I think this is the kind of thing that someone has to get out and do because they want to do it. Great idea. Can local councils really afford to financially support art? Wouldn't giving unused spaces (as space is the biggest material cost theatre makers face) count as backing? I don't agree with a lot of the cuts, but Lambeth can't justify funding many arts projects when so many people are in need of housing, benefits, etc. Lambeth have done great things such as give Omnibus reduced rent (rather than sell to property developers). I think we need to engage councils in those ways, and get local business to provide the cash financial support. Whether we like it or not, attention must be paid to the corporate sector and thought given to what it might do to support theatre. This does happen in some places and can be great creatively and for the community. I think this is an incredibly exciting way to get new work into the community and to create work which is immediately and directly making connections with the outside world. A great idea but I've worked as 'writer in residence' with a council and I'm aware the restrictions around this are...restrictive...and do not foster creativity. Councils would need to soften their H&S policies etc to enable this to work. Of course, the other problem is that councils have no money for this now. We (creative people) don't seem to have found a way to work with businesses and

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

50 15

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer

20 0 15

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich

Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer

10 15 25 75

Hannah Silva

Writer/Theatre Maker

**" "
Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Writer London-based director/producer 0 private funding effectively yet. This is something we should work on, maybe needs an initiative in itself. not a fan of SS If you are referring to Theatre Venues here, I think you'll find that most of them already work with their local council and local businesses for similar reasons (rehearsal space is donated already by many empty spaces to local theatres via local councils) I think the 'new writing/ site specific' part of this depends on whether the theatre has a programming policy that includes new writing in it. Site Specific work is interesting because it has proven to raise the value of the properties/ areas where it takes place (by means of restoration of the space as well as the added cool element to the area). Again, I think that we are asking too much of two institutions that are understaffed and overworked - and most councils would not have a staff member dedicated to the Arts like they do in Islington. I think the sentiment of this 'idea' is the right one but the execution needs rethinking. An idea that would benefit the writers, community and the council. Might tap into budgets from other sources (eg local councils) and does kill two birds with one stone. This feels like an area where a social enterprise rather than local council would be best to lead activity (reference social enterprise that I know of called Dot Dot Dot). Danger that this becomes the only way that work is supported by local council and business. And the work and the site have got to work in tandem, and both have to matter. I don't think a scheme helps this.

0 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22 Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer 17 10 0

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 5 13

This idea sounds like a nightmare... creating site specific work for all the wrong reasons. Might also suck funding away from other ventures. Something in this idea, but not sure the best model is for sole writers to be commissioned to make site specific work - they'd need designers / directors / performers to help them think about the particular challenges of site specific work from quite an early stage in development. love the idea

10 Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson

9 5 10

This is a nice idea, but could entail a lot of admin, which might put councils off. If the right individuals were involved and a creative meeting of minds could be achieved this could be fantastic, but my experience of writing for projects supported by business is that creative concerns can be crushed by other imperatives and it can be difficult to find a successful way to discuss and develop work. I'd worry about the quality of the work produced with these kind of restrictions, I would hope there'd be an artistic person on the commissioning side to guide the project away from simply biographical explorations of a venue. This sounds great in principal - being able to write for those sorts of spaces would be wonderful.

!++" "
However, creating audiences for temporary spaces is notoriously difficult. A few permanent spaces created in these venues might be better than a lot of temporary ones. Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 0 879 Happening naturally. But councils have problems.

!+!" " Delphi ranking: 8 (Survey proposal #9)

Divide up the artistic leadership of large spaces e.g. have three Artistic Directors for the National Theatre, one for each space, so that a wider range of work is commissioned, more practitioners experience programming and curating, and fresh voices can be heard. For ACE supported spaces, make Artistic Directors reapply every five years and defend their proposed programme. Keep the artistic vision of the sector fresh so new ideas and artists can come through. Let the money trickle down. Points awarded Comments 20 26 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Regional Chief exec 0 Theatre Director 0 I agree we need more diversity of artistic leadership; not sure forcing it is right Could provoke change for change's sake and may bias the 'bright young thing' rather than protect quality. More than one person is always involved in commissioning anyway; what feels more pressing is to look at what happens to plays commissioned under one AD's regime, when they leave. As plays take a long time to write, playwrights are continually finding their commissions dropped when a new artistic director comes in, & public money is thus wasted on commissioning plays that then may struggle to find a home. I think the NT idea just reduces the NT to three theatres (three awkward spaces, actually) and would be more limiting for each AD, and make the NT less than the sum of its parts. Part of what makes the job so great (I imagine) is the ability to decide which space would be most suitable for any given idea, and to be able to commission and produce a wide range and scale of work. I think the five-year idea for other NPO spaces would also be difficult in practice in a large space youd be following your predecessors programme for the first 18 months, and some ambitious projects can take two-three years to develop. Add to that any inherited problems you need to resolve (declining audiences, financial problems which advise risk aversion) and in five years in you might just be hitting your stride. I can also see employment law issues. I do like the values behind these ideas though the concept of a shake-up of power. Utter nonsense, motivated by bitterness of the "I could do that" type. ADs defend their proposed programme every day. Are we seriously suggesting that the artistic directors are externally controlled by ACE bureaucrats? This idea assumes that ACE is the only stakeholder. New ideas Think this is crucial, stops croneyism, cliquiness etc, and has immediate effects Theoretically opens doors to more interesting and varied work. We do this to a certain extent with the studio begin programmed separately to the main house and this works well. Audiences develop a long-term relationship of trust with organisations - this feels like a very London-centric idea.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience

0 Will Wollen Independent Creative Theatre Professional 0

!+#" "
and artists come through most successfully in stable environment. How can an AD concentrate on art if his whole organisation is up for grabs every 5 years? This only serves to make the present situation worse and gives more influence to people that shouldn't have it. Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 Freelance playwright 0 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 10 Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor 0 10 not the best idea, three Ads can't work. The suggestion has a punitive feel to it. 3 artistic directors of the NT would result in more core salaries needed - which could just be spent on new work instead. However, more voices involved in programming is important, and Artistic Directors needing to reassess (rather than reapply) every 5 years is useful. Hmm... But would the salary be split three ways? And if so, could you guarantee the same standard from each director as you would from just one? Apart from that, I think it's not a bad idea.

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

70

great idea Collaboration is difficult and time-consuming, but if this comes from the theatres themselves it should be supported. I think this is a bad idea. I worked at the Royal Exchange in Manchester under 3 artistic directors and felt it was in danger of making the theatre irrelevant. The danger is an overall vision cannot be achieved. At the exchange, programming basically turned into what each one wanted to do. There was no leadership. I also feel that artistic directors need time to affect real change, and find their own voice through a building. Theatres are too precious to play with their leadership for the sake of giving 'more practitioners experience in programming and curating'. I have felt (and argued) for years and years that there should be a five year term for Artistic Directorships. Instigating something like this would change our theatre culture overnight - for the good. The Artistic Director model - or more specifically how we run theatres - could really do with a shake-up (has needed one for at least a decade). I don't think these posts should be jobs for life. It seems ludicrous to me in an industry where almost everyone else works freelance project-toproject. Greater emphasis should be placed on collaborative working outside of the National too (but yes I am for three ADs there). I think this would create much greater opportunity for artists who have families, and I think it would help more women directors get a chance to be involved in the running of buildings. Too expensive and seems to be weighted as anti-AD. Five year contracts already exist. All buildings and organisations work differently and we should trust that boards, executive and artistic directors understand their spaces and audiences, without imposing a formal structure wherein programming must be publicly defended.

0 Anonymous 8

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre

40 0 0

!+$" "
Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer 25 20 7 0 This is so important for creating opportunities for a wider group of people and ideas. diversity I like A good idea to keep theatre spaces and organisations from atrophy. Totally disagree with this point. There are incredible AD keeping organisations (whatever size) fresh and working collaboratively to bring the best work to audiences (eg the addition of The Shed at the NT). Audiences will soon let venues know when its time for an AD to move on. Sort of happens with Associate Directors / Asst directors / uncohesive vision / arranged marriage. Draconian to say they need to re-apply, they sort of do anyway - reapplying for the ACE funding means defending your programme anyway. Principle of first point but not sure how would work. 5 years is short time in a way - take 3 years to bed in. 10 years? Responsibility of Board and SMT. Poor idea, no guarantee it would achieve anything I might score individual ideas differently, because the question unfairly combines many different ideas in to one. - Systematic joint artistic directorships is a bad idea. A theatre is a business and there needs to be a clear vision for the strategy of that business and accountability at the top. In the AD / CEO model the risk of disagreement and division at the top is too great a risk. However, there's are companies such as the ROH that are led by a CEO and they have different Artistic Directors report to them. This model is possible for theatre, but there will be a paradigm shift which may or may not be a good thing for theatre. - Compulsory terms of Artistic Directorship is a good idea, although five years is too short. 10 years is generally agreed to be a good innings. I like the idea but seems very admin-heavy - diverts resources + more instability? Not sure we want to fight this fight at the moment. Tackling the sole-Artistic Director paradigm seems too great an obstacle to me. Putting defined limits on an AD seems more feasible, but also seems a bit harsh and would really depend on the size and nature of the work and organisation. Not worth our time right now I think. Idea of shorter contracts for ADs is good. One AD for NT would be a disaster - overall artistic vision is important. The relationship of an AD with Associates is what brings diversity to programmes - with overall leadership./ Tripling cost of ADs! Restricting Artistic Directors to one theatre won't go down well. Asking for re-application is sensible, though. Bigger theatres might also think of running 'meltdown' type seasons, whereby they give over programming to a guest artist... I would support a re-examination of the model of artistic leadership in this country. yes!

10 Anonymous 11 0

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12

Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company

5 6

0 Anonymous 13

3 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre 0 0 27 20

!+%" "
Anonymous 16 maker London-based actress Zero Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright I don't three Artistic directors at the National would necessarily mean a greater range of work being commissioned or that 'fresh voices' were heard. Nice thought that it would. Ho hum, sounds great but can't see anyone being able to put it into practice. Defensive artistic directors are not what writers and co-workers need! Intrigued. Unsure of effect.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter

0 10

10 20 0

James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans

Writer London-based playwright Playwright

3 15 15

Innovation always productive in some way No Comment Yes to letting the money trickle down. But constant changing of artistic directors is also a problem. So many commissions come to nothing because of regime change. A consistent artistic vision for the a season, led by one team, doesnt necessarily mean a limited range of work. I love that you can have London Road in the Cott, Othello in the Ollie, and a Bennett in the Lytt, and Non Zero doing some site specific on the roof that feels pretty diverse? Also, the collegiate atmosphere of the National is what makes it so fruitful to work there everyone is in it together, the spaces arent competing. Divide and conquer? Could back fire. Feels like this would address the "in crowd" aspect of large theatre companies with limited vision. Let the money trickle down indeed. A great idea in my opinion. It will force those in positions that arent achieving what they should be achieving to reconsider there approach and redefine there programming to match the society that they need to be serving. I dont think it would work when it comes to dividing up the National. But i think it would be very interesting if organisations were responsible to defend their ivory towers. For larger buildings surely 5 years is too short a time limit. Also the strain of administrating recruitment every 5 years is unnecessary. Surely associate directors are the answer (and already common practice) to having multiple voices but coherent artistic vision/strategy for company? Two different proposals here. Both a little naive, as ACE won't back anything that looks like it's interference in governance and removed from the "arms length" principle. Yes, I think this is a good idea, and should help to break up 'nepotism' a bit more

Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher.

130 0 0 20

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

0 5

Not going to happen in this country Good to dilute the power, but who will pay for the increased salary bill?

!+&" "
Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer 40 0 15 50 15 25 0 30 0 80 SERIOUSLY, please do this. Think that's up to those organisations. Good to avoid over-concentration of taste. Absolutely! This would be the best thing for the National Theatre and its audiences. Let's do it now! I agree. How many new plays (that aren't commissions) does someone like Nick Hytner read? Not a dig at him - he's busy! 5 year limit for Executive jobs at NPOs. Although I agree with the sentiment of this in some ways, in some venues I think it is important for the audience to also feel safe and to know what to expect from the work they are seeing - then from within that environment you can begin to gradually push them towards bigger "risks". The playwriting landscape seems so shaped by who's in the director's chair. Having more people and more chairs can only be a good thing. i can't imagine this coming to fruition and would prefer to spend my points elsewhere even though i would love to see this happen. An introduce an Equal Ops policy so that not every Artistic Director is White/ Male/ Oxbridge educated so that we can have more a different kind of work commissioned! I think this is a great idea, in theory. However I do not know how well it would work with the 'ethos' that most established theatres have at the core of their vision. Taking the example of the National Theatre, each of the spaces is very different, and would benefit from this proposal. However, there would have be some convergence of ideas, which would inevitably mean one of the Directors having the final say. Could the Royal Court have two ADs for the two Jerwood spaces? It is a difficult one, but would be exciting to try. Feel this is two ideas in one, really. I disagree with multiple Artistic Directors per venue as a rule of thumb. While I agree it can work in some circumstances, as a rule, I fear it would lead to a diluted vision and inefficient team. I do however massively agree with the Artistic Directors of ACE supported spaces needing to periodically reapply. If they are effectively publicly funded, they should reapply for roles in the same way as our elected MPs. Nice thought but I'm not sure it would have the desired impact.

Arzhang Pezhman

Midlands-based Writer

12

Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director

0 0

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar

0 18 15

Kill this idea at birth it is ridiculous. Not sure dividing up artistic leadership necessarily so useful. General idea of more practitioners getting experience programming and curating very good but this needs more thinking. Wonderful- and can we have a focus on allowing women in to these roles of AD?

!+'" "
Anonymous 23 Regional writer and lecturer 0 In terms of new work, venues like The National Theatre are quite distant for most emerging artists, so I'm not convinced this would make much difference. I support the aims of this but I have a concern that dividing up spaces within a building in terms of creative leadership might in effect create small companies within a company and therefore produce an unhelpful competitive atmosphere, with the vision or ethos that usually unites a great theatre company being potentially diluted and diminished. A good Artistic Director should be appointing great creative minds, listening to their staff and programming quality work outside their specific taste. Many of them do and some don't but I'm not sure there's a successful way to police that without breaking down the creative confidence that hopefully exists in a successful theatre company. The second part of the proposal feels more appropriate but could only be legitimate if the Artistic Directors were presenting their ideas to other artists. The idea of them defending themselves to funders who might have other agendas worries me. I like this idea but I can't see it ever happening. The cost of having 3 ADs instead of one and administering the advertising etc of the jobs would be prohibitive I bet. I believe you need to give people autonomy in order to facilitate the bravest work. To be constantly justifying yourself I think would feed into the box-ticking culture that we are already suffering from. Equally - leadership needs to come from a single point so that buildings can create a clear artistic mission.

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil

Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright

0 15

Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

10 862

And mix up skills base of leaders - eg Artistic Designers

!+(" " Delphi ranking: 9 (Survey proposal #34)

Your name Your job title Lobby the Treasury to offer extra tax breaks to private donors contributing funds for the production of a world premiere. Points awarded Comments 0 26 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec 0 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience 20 10 Extra tax breaks needed for arts donors generally... Good idea in that it speaks language politicians can understand. Would be an easy win for them too I think. Yes, great idea. I am not opposed to this, but I need more information. I dont understand where the tax break comes in, in this context. Theres no taxable income involved for the donor that I can see (unless its an investment which expects a return which could be tax exempt, yes is that what you mean?) Assuming its simple expenditure / money out for the donors (ie true donation rather than investment), I cant see where the tax break would come in. Charitable donations are already tax exempt, either via individuals tax return or gifted to the charity via gift aid, and most arts donations would already fall into the category of charitable donations. So what would be new? Just lobby the treasury for more money. just can't do tax breaks for multimillionaires, soz This would increase incentives for supporting riskier work. This could be interesting but is also about the relationship that that donor has with the theatre and whether they feel they will get a return (whatever form they wish that return to take) on their investment.

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

0 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary 5 0

5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 10 0

thought they had already Yes, not only a good plan but crisp and clear.. Uncertain about current level of tax breaks. Couldn't hurt.

!+)" "
manager Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small 5 0 30 0 1 10 52 0 16 60 10 0 0 15

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

30

YES

0 Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9

risky business! Yes. Of course, inspired. And an inspired treasury would say yes. I hold out little hope with the current administration so you'd have to take a call on how achievable this is. Fewer tax breaks for the rich. Greater direct subsidy in the Arts from government. Giving the rich an incentive to part with their cash. I think the whole culture of philanthropic giving in the UK needs to be examined first - who gives, why do they give, how much and how often - before introducing initiatives to make it easier. That is a good incentive but I wonder how many artists this would reach. brilliant Definitely beneficial Not sure what impact this would have to motivating private donors but might be significant? For a small experimental company this would have as much impact as other points suggested why just world premieres? good idea. this is what we need to encourage No brainer. Needs to be more targeted, plus 'world premiere' is problematic I don't think it's the best use of our time to promote private philanthropy as the way out of our problem. Don't imitate the USA. Good idea and pretty easy

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

!+*" "
regional company Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress zero Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths 10 0 8 10 Tax breaks for the wealthy - the govt will love it. ;) There's no incentive for the treasury to do this. Yes, why not?! yes. if there can be tax breaks for married couples, there should absolutely be tax breaks for arts. People donate for a variety of reasons and I think its to be applauded if it is not for tax reasons but because they have an absolute connection or passion for the piece. I don't know however, that as a struggling artist I would work to lobby the treasury to give them a tax break. Gets us potentially in to rather tricky political territory

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 10

I am not sure a slight tax break will assist a wealthy donor to fund a project worth exploring, but unlikely to get anywhere.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

6 15 0 20 20 8 0 45 0 15

Definitely if you take philanthropy seriously No Comment As I understand, most theatre philanthropy is not production-specific. Yes, good Bigger tax-rate breaks for small capacity venues could help create a great new wave of writing for theatre at little or no cost to government Tax breaks always go down well with the affluent No Comment This is vital and an idea I have frequently heard discussed - it should happen asap. x As much encouragement as possible is needed for private funding. Its tpoo specific. With a free market approach to cultural policy it wont play (as it would open the door to all sort of other special cases)

Jonathan Meth

!!+" "
Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director 20 0 20 5 20 15 5 3 10 40 0 5 30 30 Yes, this might work, 'tax break', two magic words for private donors. It should stretch beyond just world premieres. This feels so far away from me as a theatre-maker, that I cant even comment on it. Good idea. I doubt this will make much difference Absolutely. Although I don't think it should be limited to a world premiere. Tax breaks are the key to donors. Absolutely. Worth a punt. This could definitely appeal to donors. Goes without saying really... Genius. Simple. And could have a massive impact on our sector for considerably less work than many of the other proposals. great but I'm not sure many world premieres get many private donors or any donors at all for that matter. Simple and effective. Yes. Simple but effective. Might need some kind of other criteria too, to ensure quality. Great idea to put tax breaks against risk.

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar

70 0 10

Yes! Overly specific. Much more useful to lobby for extra tax breaks for donating to non-London organisations. Philanthropy hugely biased towards London. If this idea had been on this list I'd have given it 100 points. good idea as long as it doesn't just apply to very large productions as I am more interested in helping those smaller scale projects.

!!!" "
Anonymous 23 Regional writer and lecturer 5 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 4 5 5 0 784 But why just a world premiere? Why not private donors contributing to the arts in general? Private donations can have a very positive impact but I don't think this should be at the centre of our demands as artists. (See answer to 17) Good idea, but would they do it - goes with dead writers levy - either way convincing the treasury would be tough I think. I feel this would give to a fat cats funding musicals culture Contradicts the definition of donation.

!!#" " Delphi ranking: 10 (Survey proposal #3)

Your name Your job title A branded curtain-raiser programme that allows newer artists from smaller venues to present their work before bigger shows in larger venues in order to grow their profile and audience. Points awarded Comments 25 YES no brainer new audiences for more experimental work good Curtain raisers of new, riskier work to accompany main house shows. The audience development element of this idea could work very well, in addition to the opportunities it presents for emerging artists. Interesting idea (and something we do sporadically in terms of bringing new work and new writers to our spaces) but it does have cost implications - technical costs, front of house costs, box office costs

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

60 Regional literary manager 10 Regional Chief exec 20 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience 20 0

0 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright 10

Needs to be done sensitively but good audience development option Like this. Creates and broadens relationships between companies, gives an audience greater value for money and greater awareness of new artists. This would be expensive, & might not result in future life for the short works, which would be very labour intensive to make. Im not opposed to this but I need more information I can see how it might work for live art, cabaret etc but not specifically for new writing. (Would the pieces be extracts? Whats the business model? Would the brand produce the work and take a proportion of the overall ticket yield at each venue? Etc) This will be lovely where it works, but would have to be handled carefully so as not to damage audience experience. Well-attended shows are well-attended for a reason, but large audiences are n

15 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 20 0 20

Could also work the other ay round. This idea of a 'trailer' could work. Indeed it could be branded The Curtain-Raiser Programme. My only concern would be how the balance of initiative would work - what would be offered, who would curate it.. . Either the new artists have an immediate restriction of no set / playing on top of another set, or there is a huge time and cost implication of turnarounds. Fabulous idea. Helps with the latecomer problem, though some venues may be hesitant due to paying their FOH staff to stay later, or audiences being kept later or leaving early for trains/buses home. If the curtain raiser finishes before the scheduled start time of the main show, this alleviates

!!$" "
6 Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group my previous points, but puts pressure on stage techs and main show casts to be ready earlier, which may prove a difficulty. 60 YES

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8

0 London-based actor 5

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Steven

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide

10 0

0 5 20 4 0 9 0 0

fantastic idea, but who is going to fund those newer artists' shows? I think this is a good idea, but am uneasy about the idea of a 'warm up act'. It would need to be a show which happened to be on at say 6 o clock in that venue. This has been done before (we did it at TWP in the early noughties at Nottingham Playhouse, the old Leicester Haymarket and Royal Northampton). Satin n Steel by Amanda Whittington is an example of a full-length play that began as a curtain-raiser but was fully commissioned on the basis of its reception as a short extract in exactly this context. It's a good idea and it works especially well for artists whose work has a broad appeal i.e. that can make an immediate connection in a larger space in just a few minutes. This kind of scheme is much less effective for quieter, more subtle work that is possibly better placed in a studio, or that because of the gentle way the narrative unfolds, better suited to a lengthier slot. So it's a great idea for the right kind of projects but the nature of this event does direct artists towards creating a particular kind of (possibly more commercial) work. Not that I think that's a bad thing, but space also needs to be made for work that is more intimate! A lovely idea but not sure if it will be effective in developing riskier new writing. Logistics for stage management would also be a problem. I dont know how valuable such a scheme would be, as both the smaller and larger venues work could potentially be compromised by such pairings. I think it would possibly be more valuable to have a separate strand or season of new work running alongside bigger scale productions, with attendant ticket deals and incentives for audiences. If this was well thought out and Artistic Directors let you know why they were presenting the work in this way it could work well. excellent idea like pre match entertainment in sport This could work, but there would only be a limited number of shows where a pre-show 'trailer' would be appropriate to the mood of the evening that needs to be set up. Think point 5 is a more effective model in growing new audiences with an appetite for new work Concern about artistic quality / fit with main show unless it is made clear it is 2 separate projects / marketed like post show talk, burden on artist themselves to market it as well independently. audiences dont like curtain raisers There feels something dishonest about this - it's not what the audience has bought, and the pre-

!!%" "
Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company 5 London-based playwright 5 London-based playwright 0 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress 5 5 5 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer Hard to make a short performance engaging without detracting form main show. A curtain-raiser is a very constrained format - investing in this means moving investment away from the main work. Not always the right context for new artists to be seen in. is the leap to making full-scale work going to happen? that's the current barrier and this just reinforces it. Nice idea but the process of selection would be interesting- would the theatres housing the newer artists just be able to choose who they liked or would it be part of a bigger application process 13 5 show act will have a second-class status which probably neither they nor the main production will want. Excellent idea - but who picks them? I've never seen one of these and don't know how it will work. Only shorter pieces? (i.e. 45-90 minutes? Wouldn't it make the evening too long and maybe affect the work of the main show?) I have seen lots of smaller scale work killed by being accelerated at ridiculous speeds to larger venues. Also, audience in larger venues can be very different

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18

20 0

6 3 0 4 5 15 0 0

this might just work Question practicality and effect. It's a question of timing for programming many large venues program up to two years in advance small companies due to erratic funding don't always have that long term ability to commit. Also there would have to be some sort of thematic or stylistic confluence to make for a coherent programme for the audience which could raise questions of artistic control integrity No, dilutes exiting offer unless very carefully related to the main piece Not sure about this. A decent idea in principle but an audience could feel ambushed in a bad way. Something exciting about this in principle! In reality, if I were the artist of the bigger piece, the whole experience of the evening is important, and Id lose control of that. Really? Seems to work at the RNT as a way of giving artists air time in front of an audience possibly already in the building. No Comment Would audiences come buying tickets for that 'bigger' work come?

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Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 0 20 10 15 x Love, love, love this idea. It reminds me of when they used to put on short films at the cinema before the main feature. Audiences might also feel they're getting a bonus for their ticket price. like a short film by a new or local film-maker before the main feature Good idea. Who would produce (ie pay for) the smaller shows? Finding out whats in it for the film companies is a really important step in making this seem worthwhile to theatres. Also: how to deal with production costs? Same cast / new cast? Rehearsal time? Love it as an idea, though, and have been trying to pursue it as an option for showcasing new musical theatre and broadening the audience for musicals. It goes hand in hand with the small show format perfectly. Yes, sounds good, so long as the work is worth doing and not 'throwaway' short plays. Interesting. Would audiences go for this? I'm not so sure. In this day and age, people get grumpy if it's a full length show. Would they really want to come early to see bits of work from people they haven't heard of? Is seeing a 'short' piece of work or extract useful in representing what newer artists can do? I suspect this isn't something audeinces want... and we need to look after them at the moment. Easy as a box to tick; not genuine development of the work or an audience for it I think this is an exciting way to start to develop audiences for new work This would significantly help smaller companies build their audiences. This is inspired. It is a simple and beautifully creative idea. The ''Support' play. I can imagine it being very attractive to larger organisations who get to make their audience's theatre going experience more thrilling and also get to be 'seen' to be philanthropic. And that can't hurt. and of course the benefit to the smaller organisation would be massive. the market would dictate and that can only be good in this climate.. why just artists from smaller venues? it should be open to all new theatre artists that can submit a good application/proposal This seems obvious but I do wonder why it hasn't been done extensively in the past. How would something like this go down with an audience, especially with audiences that just wanted to 'see the show advertised', and not to come to for a more holistic theatrical experience. I am maybe presuming too much about the connection between the nature of the audience and the size of the show i.e. the bigger the show, the more mainstream (less flexible) the audience. I guess

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker

20 20 10

0 5 0 50 25

Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Writer London-based director/producer

40 30

Arzhang Pezhman

Midlands-based Writer

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sometimes, some people want to know exactly what they're getting, and it's not what they asked for then it may put them off. Having said this, I'd hope most people would see it as a bonus. Simple idea that benefits everyone - audiences, venues, rising talent, a brand sponsor. Also, it is format innovation, which is what we should be thinking about anyway, in the same way that broadcast media is these days with the advent of digital. It's all in the presentation whether this will work or not.

Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer

15 10

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 5 10

Overly complicated and would be restrictive for one or other of the performances. Also prolongs or dilutes the more important event. Is there an audience for this? How late do audiences get home after the show? There are already many more opportunities to show v short pieces than longer ones. To be done properly, would require much careful audience development work and extremely careful curation. That sounds like a good idea but the audience may resent it and it would be difficult to show what you can do in a few moments. Only certain types of work would lend themselves to this tyoe of event.

10

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil

Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright

11 50

Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

12

This can sometimes work quite nicely, but also often involves the artists doing the work for free. This could work in some contexts but would be very much dependent on the curtain-raiser pieces working tonally with the main programme and being relevant to that audience. As a writer who's also a musician I'm aware that playing support to a band who don't share your audience is not useful or fulfilling. This could be a great opportunity for new writers/artists to get their work seen and appreciated but would need to be very carefully curated and organised. Lovely idea, but owuld need to be in lots of venues and branded as detailed to make sure it made an impact. Again in principal this is lovely - much like the 'shorts' programme at the start of the cinema. Again, however, the admin involved in this would need to be managed by a whole separate company who selects the shows? Does the AD get to decide what show precedes her/his show? Who pays for the rehearsals/production of the shorts - or are the smaller companies performing for free? Does taking up 10mins of a smaller company's night each night for several months stop them from doing other work?

Yuk

779

!!(" " Delphi ranking: 11 (Survey proposal #27)

A consortium of theatres and playwrights to approach the owners of the Doollee website (www.doollee.com) about collaborating to make it work for the sector as the central online database for all new British plays. This will be with a view to encouraging second and subsequent professional, amateur, international and school productions (thereby generating new income streams for writers from existing work). The consortium would work with Doollee to: create engaging writer profile pages; re-skin the front of the website design (and data pages if possible) to give writers an attractive shop window online; acquire a second more descriptive domain name additional to the name Doollee (e.g findaplay.co.uk); and promote and publicise its benefits. We could seek to involve local libraries as managers of printed script sets, now that they are part of ACE; and make scripts available for paid download (with the usual free-of-charge preview segments). Points awarded Comments 5 yes good idea

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

26 Regional literary manager 10 Regional Chief exec 30 10 0 15 Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright 5

Makes sense to update a useful but basic resource. Theatres use Doollee - a great deal - but these "improvement" ideas are great - but in terms of theatres, I think it works for the "sector" - which "sector" are you referring to?

Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience

Yes, I can see this would be useful; good to work with existing organisation Good and relatively easy idea to put into practice I imagine. Doollee is great, but I'd personally prefer my plays to be distributed through my publisher, Nick Hern Books, who already have a searchable database of plays. Doollee is more useful, I think, as an information source, as it is. Ive used Doollee as a reference resource occasionally, and wish it was more comprehensive and had more credibility. The data would need to be verified, to make it a truly useful resource for theatre professionals looking for playwrights. High ongoing administrative load though. ok

20 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network 20

can work so simply Available scripts makes for easier 'shopping', if a theatre or director is so inclined.

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Ria Parry Anonymous 6 Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 10 Very helpful for programmers and directors. Yes, yes, yes. Takes the guess work out of it for schools, amateur companies, regional theatres, etc. NO

10 Olivia Amory Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 0

0 London-based actor 10 Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright 10 0 20 2 0 26 0 12 0 10 20 5

not enough expertise in this area to comment Yes. Doollee is great but needs an overhaul. This is a great idea. Good idea to build on a useful existing resource. This focuses on extant plays rather then developing new writing A strong proposal as too many new plays only have one performance before languishing on the shelves of the NT bookshop and drama school libraries before being read again, let alone produced. That would make doollee even more useful and informative. Yes. British library already do something like this - enhance that Yes, a really good looking, searchable, singe website for British new writing would be a great benefit, and mapping it onto the best existing site seems sensible - rather than invent something new for the sake of it. Doollee does need work to bring it's function and look up to date though. Have voted for point 28 as think the realm of digital publishing would need detail investigation as to the best mechanism for distrituting new work as widely as possible Who would lead on this? v time consuming, but good idea. doolee could be more like spotlight and rely on inidviduals updating their own information / pages within a refreshed design perhaps. Spotlight charges annual fee - would this work to help fund it? could compromise formal publication later Great. Lovely idea, but presumably they also have a day-job and would need funding - perhaps a baserate subscription for 'pretty' pages? Sounds like a good idea, since Doollee already has so much information. But do we want to give it all that control? Would enough people buy into it?

!!*" "
Anonymous 13 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 Director of small regional company 26 London-based playwright 10 London-based playwright 0 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress 30 0 10 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for How is this different to what, say, Bushgreen has been attempting? Love the idea of a database for second and subsequent productions. Not sure if the Doollee connection is the right way to go, though. it would certainly be a nice thing if the Doolee website worked properly. but is it a priority? I think not. If this was able to be done by someone then great. More scripts- particularly of new plays for a decent fee would be a great resource.Might cost a bit to manage so not sure who would pay for that. Doollee is reliable but dull, however it is comprehensive and under-used, publishers might be happy to get on board with this as well, they too want to sell more copies of their plays.. Intrigued. Dollee is very outdated and ripe for digital rebranding could connect to the point above a new online playwrights platform No Comment That kind of website sounds good. But you make it sound like a hostile take-over. Doollee may be interested, or we could just start a new one. Cool. Yes. Getting the word out to schools, theatre companies, amateur groups important. Doollee is already very approachable Would require funding to pay the consortium, this is lots of work and continuing maintenance No Comment Good idea - writers and production companies would benefit from better information about them and their work (compare to Spotlight). x Good idea. Databases act as an aide memoire, like spotlight, when casting. They dont precipitate creative . Great idea - Doollee is a brilliant resource.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan

50 10

15 10 15 30 2 5 0 10 0 25 5

!#+" "
Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22 Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director decision making. However, the point about access to contemporary repertoire needs attention, but not through trawling a vast database - more of an associative algorithm (so if you like x, you might like y and z - but that's a judgement call... 20 0 10 10 0 5 15 3 10 15 0 5 25 5 Good idea, especially as it is independent of any particular theatre. I have no confidence in the existence of a central database of new plays being the chosen destination of anyone searching for something to produce. Its too non-specific, and I suspect that everyone has a more specifically defined intention than I want to put on a new play. There must be something interesting and worth doing here - remember that play publishers like NHB and Faber are already starting to do this. Yes, that could be useful. Do you think this will really help playwrights? Why don't we encourage them to self-publish on kindle, in a forum that will be more accessible to the public (as in their awareness) I reckon it's peanuts whichever method of distribution you use! Decent centralised online database of new work is needed. This is potentially a great resource - especially leading to second productions. This would be useful. Seems very obvious. And presumably a very cost effective proposal since it is working within a pre-existing framework. I think this is a nice idea and I think it would make things easier but I'm not sure it will encourage New writing being produced or help writers get produced (remember Bushgreen?) Doollee definitely needs to be updated, but I feel that access to writers scripts is more imperative. Great idea, harnessing existing infrastructure. Industry is very dispersed, so focal points like these are crucial and too scarce at present. I don't know enough about Doollee but if it works for them.

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar

0 50 9

Whatever! Very sensible. Need a decent new play database with numbers and genders of characters and good contact details. good idea.

!#!" "
Anonymous 23 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Regional writer and lecturer 10 Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 11 20 9 This might work well, bringing work to a wider audience. Great ideas, particularly the idea of placing more scripts in libraries. I LOVE THIS IDEA, but it would cost... Free download and the library sounds great. I worry that over-emphasis on digital scripts will take money away from the published script industry which is already struggling. For posterity's sake I feel that scripts as published objects are better for a writing culture.

10 771

Sensible idea

!##" " Delphi ranking: 12 (Survey proposal #5)

Risk Club a way of gaining audiences for risky new work. For a small annual subscription club members join a mailing list and gain access to the riskier work at a consortium of venues, either free of charge (covered by the annual subscription) or at a discounted charge. There could be Risk Club Night during the run of each piece to strengthen the social aspect of the club it could include a post-show discussion, meet the artists, etc. Members of Risk Club would get to see great, groundbreaking work, would provide an audience for the work on the nights they are there and would help spread the word about that artist and their work, helping the company to begin to build a local audience. Points awarded Comments 25 Yep bit like secret theatre this is good a CLUB is a good idea

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

0 Regional literary manager

10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec 0 0 0

Not sure this is enough of a priority for us. How do you define what shows are a "risk"? Also there are negative connotations around the word "risk" and similar schemes elsewhere have shown that, for the most part, the people who join this kind of initiative, are the kind of people who would tend to come anyway and you are therefore losing money. Targeted marketing is more successful. It might work as a "one-off" to encourage people to "try something new" - a taster that captures a percentage of them - rather than an annual subscription

Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience

45 Will Wollen Independent Creative Theatre Professional 20

I don't agree new work is risky and labelling it so doesn't help Think this has limited scope as doesnt expand beyond established theatre goers/practitioners. Rather than get audiences to sign up for unspecific, "risky" work, why not let them decide which new work they would like to see, as happens already at scratch nights etc.? I love this idea! Takes the long-established subscription model from the literature sector and applies it to theatre and absolutely addresses the stated aim (protect risk-taking). I am sure this would work. Should be applied on a national basis national Risk Club as well as local/regional. (I love how the idea appeals to the way wed like to think of ourselves to our better, more artistically-risk-taking selves). What Id also like to see which is suggested within this idea of a national Risk Club Consortium is the venues acting as a touring consortium for this riskier work, and perhaps a co-producing consortium, to share the risk. Great - although an annual subscription may be a barrier unless it is very small. An annual subscription also commits to an ongoing programme.

!#$" "
Anonymous 5 Freelance playwright 0 Good, but feels a little forced At first glance, an excellent idea, though my question would be -- what is risk, who curates, who decides what is 'riskier'. Is it what is risky for a particular venue or what is risky in terms of groundbreaking theatre? My caveat would be - is this just a trendy, 'branding' means of saying 'new' work? We, the d'n, would love to be involved in post-show discussions and, indeed, to do a d'n cafe on the dramaturgy of a 'Risk Club'. How would the artists performing / sharing their work be funded? Fabulous idea. And what's great is that audiences who may think that risk isn't 'for them' would hopefully get a chance to see something wonderful that develops out of a Risk Club and graduates to a main stage production. NO

Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6

Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager

10 0

30 Olivia Amory Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 0

0 London-based actor 15

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder Anonymous 9 David Woods

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director,

0 20

BAC in London is an excellent example of this. Good idea. Would preach to the converted maybe? But still a good idea. Like scratch nights at BAC which are brilliant. I don't think it's helpful to categorise theatre/art in this way for most audiences - and I think that most theatre-makers are trying hard to take risks whether they are working on a new piece or not. I also think it's usually a big mistake to market new work as "risky" because that could/can put (some) people off seeing something that if described differently they might enjoy. What I think is needed is for us nationally to create a broader, deeper enthusiasm for culture and arts attendance in general, and for a greater understanding of how rewarding and necessary cultural engagement is. In most areas of the country we need not to be narrowing down categories but encouraging and nurturing wide participation and excitement across all art-forms. This is (I think) the only way to trade out of our current difficulties. Ties in with audience development and direct supply/demand correlation I don't think it's helpful to separate theatre into 'risky' and 'safe' categories, as it will inevitably lead to audiences separating themselves into those who would take a risk and those who opt for the safer option. Surely all theatre should aim to appeal to the broadest audience possible, encouraging people to try something new, without a sense of 'risk'? This looks great on paper and hopefully people would go for it but there is so much on, especially in London, that I wonder if audiences would be put off by not really knowing what they are going to see. sexy so could put people off as easily as draw new ones in

0 1 10

!#%" "
James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company 3 London-based playwright 5 London-based playwright 0 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress Zero Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director 10 10 Not everyone can reach more than one theatre easily. Who wants to watch 'risky' work? Exciting, inventive, yes - but one would hope the entire season is that. Like the idea, so long as it doesn't exclude potential audiences who can't or haven't subscribed. yes, I like the idea of showing to those already engaged with taking a chance. I don't really like the word 'risk' . I get the point but putting together what might be considered 'risky' stuff could soon seem a bit of a contrived conceit. Everyone has a different perception of risky.and it is there to be found. I'm not sure that a club is the right format. 4 Good idea, but a lot of details to be worked out. Companies like Fuel are already doing this, programming Fuelfests with various venues (Tramway/Bristol Old Vic) Think any activity that encourages audiences to take a risk and embrace/discuss work presented in specific context (outside the London hubs for experimental work such as BAC) is crucial in building new audiences for risky work. Not sure we understand how this work or why people would pay a subscription - who would manage this? What's so great about 'risk'?! Ghettoizes audiences - which if the risky work is a one-nighter, is probably already risky, and if its a full run, then the production needs a larger audiences than an be afforded from a niche club. Love this - link with number 3 perhaps Love this idea. I feel it would only work in London were more experimental work can find a critical mass, but it's worth trying elsewhere as well. Word of Warning in Manchester are doing something very similar to this - not sure how it would ever work on a larger scale

40 6 0 0 30 15

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly

0 0

a lot of admin for little return Question practicality and effect.

12 15

Excellent way if building audiences and extending audience demographics No Comment

!#&" "
Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 0 6 17 5 0 5 20 0 10 0 This is okay, but I feel it's already more or less happening under different names - Drywrite, Scratch Night, Dirty Protest, etc Yeah, sort of though, does that mean my work on the main stage is not risky? Am I conventional now? Like the idea of a 'risk night' - but it sounds like asking people to pay for crap Admin of this sounds onerous No Comment The idea of risk club is great but quality control would be key - who curates? Would this potentially cannibalise support for theatres which do this kind of work anyway, eg Bush/503? x In an ideal world, theatres should be taking these risks anyway. But I appreciate they aren't. Try it Didn't quite get this. What are the 'riskier' works, how would they be defined? Who would pay for the publicity for the club etc. A Risk Club seems like simple reliance on an audience for funding, and as a funding model, it feels very insecure. But a Risk Night what if a consortium of theatres / theatre companies just had a policy of including a Risk Night into any run of performances? The company of that show perform something risky; maybe a lot of small risky things. Much easier to organise, more viable, more realistic than pre-show shows. With a Risk Night, equal responsibility is put on the theatre company and the audience to support this kind of work collectively. And any ticket money from the Risk Night could go into the Risk Pot for the next one. Bold new idea (that draws from an old idea...) that could work with the right artistic director. It's counterproductive to brand work as risky Hmmm, interesting, but will it work? Let's give it a go, but it's hard enough to get audiences to the 'safe' stuff. This could be nuts and brilliant... but may fall to the dead hand of arts admin eventually. Bold, fun, potentially national initiative; a club for the risk-takers. I think this risks dividing an audience into those who take risks and those who don't and could a lead to a kind of elitism. I think there are lots of audiences who wouldn't describe themselves as risk-takers but who have an appetite for new and exciting work. Fantastic idea, hopefully it would bust the myths about the conservatism of theatre audiences.

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker

30 30 5 5 10 30 0 45

!#'" "
Would it encourage programmers and theatres to take more risks in their programming? How would we ensure that the work was truly risk taking - not just low on ticket sales? Who decides what makes work 'riskier'? seems very complicated. who is to administrate and from what funds? It's a massive job to ask someone to do voluntarily. YES but please do not call it RISK anything! Regional theatres really struggle to get their audiences to see new writing because they (audiences) think of it as risky - this is a problem in general for new writing but also for theatre in the UK since theatre audiences are mostly middle aged and middle class - I've worked as a producer with lots of companies and have really struggled to book tours of new shows for this reason (unless it's for children or families) - we need to find a way to make people understand that new writing isn't risky and I don't think that most audiences understand that their coronation street/ eastenders writers all come from theatre. If we advertised that a bit more (like the West End does to attract audiences that would not otherwise put a foot in a theatre) we might have a better chance to 'clean' the name of new writing. Of course, and the first and second rule should be DO talk about Risk Club. I think making clear which shows would be free across the year, and which might have to be supplemented, might avoid any upset later in the year. Great way to network with other practitioners and enthusiasts. Love it. Commercial innovation which I believe is the future of our industry - listen to what audiences want. This kind of 'surprise and delight' tactic is a great idea, is open about the risk involved and creates an interesting non-venue-led branded space for new ideas to bubble up within. I think there's massive potential for this to be a hit and media/consumers will love the thrill of it. Massive opportunity to get brand sponsorship of this by expanding to other non-arts specific events (eg Risk Club dinner party with a couple of random celebs, Risk Club nights at restaurants where new dishes are trialled). Taps into the inherent risk within live performance, which is surely why people still love the theatre. It's the consortium and the social offering that would make this work.

Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Writer London-based director/producer

50 Arzhang Pezhman Midlands-based Writer 10

Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer

40 10

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23 Lizzie

60 5 9

Excellent Idea. Roll it out! Something in this idea. Needs to be more specific about whom it's targeting. Is this regular theatregoers who normally go to conventional main-house work, being encouraged to see more unusual work? Doesn't solve the problem of where or how this riskier work is programmed. sounds like a good idea but would it mean artists travelling for miles for an audience of 2 people, not being paid and having the theatre keep the subscription? A nice idea, but if it is limited to a 'club' with annual membership, then it excludes the possibility of new audiences. This is a fantastic idea, immediately inspiring from a creative stand point and something I could

Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in

5 18

!#(" "
Nunnery playwriting imagine theatres wanting to engage with. I often feel there's a need to engage a younger crowd who might feel more comfortable at a gig or 'cross arts' event that in a theatre and this seems to feed in to that way of thinking. I don't think you can ask audiences for a subscription to something and then charge them again, even a small amount, I just don't think they'd want to pay twice in this climate. I also think people are either up for a risk or risk averse and never the twain shall meet - so the people who would sign up would be the people who would see the shows any way. I'm not sure there is a natural correlation between 'risk' and 'new audiences' - audiences I think are more often broadened my mainstream work. I love the idea of risk night - but again I wonder if it will serve the industry rather than the wider public. I'm also hesitant about branding work 'risky' it feels a little self-consciously avant-garde and having this as a mission statement rather than a possible outcome I think can be damaging to the work.

Hannah Khalil

Playwright

Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

Further fetishisation of risk.

768

!#)" " Delphi ranking: 13 (Survey proposal #20)

Arts Council Showcase. Every year, a number of playwrights and other theatre-makers are successful in Grants for the Arts funding for time to write/devise a new play. ACE could make a modest amount of discretionary funding available each year to showcase extracts from these plays at an annual event, to which literary managers and artistic directors are invited, with a view to shopping for new plays, in which risk on the early stages of development has already been taken. Points awarded Comments 10 26 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 0 0 10 100 We need more showcases, but not convinced an ACE one would help Neat idea that could really help both writers and producers make/find new work. Yes, this would be fantastic, and would make the grants for the arts go further and have more impact. To an extent this happens already (with specifically targeted showcases such as decibel and its legacy, and on an individual basis via the playwrights themselves organizing industry readings), but its an interesting idea. Large investment of time and money though it would need industry buy-in (perhaps investment from a large consortium of theatres). A selection/sifting process would be needed the number of new plays written with ACE funding is quite large. They could do that usefully. yes, this is needed Not sure this is the most effective way for 'shopping'. Yes, as sometimes it is easier to see the potential of a piece up on its feet / being heard. Although danger of feeling like it's a short cut to reading submissions. And need protection for creatives who are involved in showcasing not to be dropped if plays picked up by theatres after showcase. A nice idea, but isn't this essentially what Edinburgh is, the only difference being ACE won't fund Edinburgh runs? Good for emerging artists yeah Good idea to have high profile focus to new work. The Lowry have pioneered something similar which has been very effective. Interesting idea but doesn't take into account the relationships that theatres build with artists over a length of time and also the fact that most large-scale organisations now programme relatively far in advance (2-3 years).

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

15 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 20 15 0 10

!#*" "
Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO

Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

0 5 0 0 10 20 30 0 0 13

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company

Great idea and makes the most of existing funds I'm not sure the arts council itself should house this. It should fund it, but not do it. Duplication of the work of existing companies and models. However I'm all for artists setting up something like this, I just don't think it's practical or feasible in this climate to expect ACE to create / run it. Not sure theatres want to do "shopping" of work they haven't initiated Potentially a very good idea, but could lead to an unhealthy and pressure environment and accusations of cherrypicking in the part of theatres, rather than investing in longer term relationships with artists. A brilliant way to get people excited about new writing and build a following. Always good thing to bring people together at early stage The proposal is too vague, and the British Council already do this. Not convinced as a producing organisation this is a the best format to show new work (AD might disagree) and there seem to be opportunities already out there such as Caravan for the type of showcasing suggested good idea - GFTA funding is not necessarily a mark of artistic excellence in finished product / R&D stages. who would judge which ones to showcase? another competition / submission stage? needs further thought happens already where relevant Good idea but again it's happening with the Escalator talent development programmes in the East (and now South East of England). Tacks' work to ACE - who picks it? 'Closed shop' risk again... Brilliant idea. I think this would be a brilliant platform for emergind artists and people could see their tax pounds at work (assuming it's open to the public too).

0 10 5 30

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

not a new idea. Many studio spaces / venues already do this.

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Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress 10 0 10 10 Sensible. Extracts are a bad way of showcasing plays Good idea to have ongoing support for GFA work from ACE. yes. again, of course, we are taking the risk in making 9as writers or devisers or devising companies), but at least there'd be a place to show. It would be good for us all who have attempted Grants for the Arts funding to bear witness to who has got these grants and so I would want to see a transparency of information in this Showcase, hopefully with a public element to this so that it doesn't become some in-house shopping spree. I'd like to know what the trends are and what is being produced and have the chance to witness it. For the artists themselves, I think it would be an excellent opportunity and might help them cut out the expensive trip to Edinburgh in that first year, if they couldn't afford to do that , at that stage.

15 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 0

Most literary managers and ADs go to many readings in a year as it is Question practicality and effect. Have been show cases before.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19

15 5 10 6 15 20 0 10 0

Sensible for ACE to get full return and producers would love it No Comment Okay idea. My most productive work has been in creating work with theatres and companies, where weve all had a shared ownership. An X-Factor/ cattle auction over snippets of work, where writers have to pimp their wares out to the highest bidder, seems a bit hmm.. Dunno. Could be persuaded. Very interesting idea - worth pursuing if it doesn't take funds away from the creation part itself All showcasing a very good idea. Plays in the drawer no good to anyone. No Comment Good idea. x It might simply be just another showcase for literary managers to attend, but might get them to see work that they wouldn't otherwise have necessarily given the time of day to, and as you point out the risk of the early stages of development has already been taken out, which would be a useful incentive.

Susan Hodgetts

Playwright

!$!" "
Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Lovely idea in principle, but in practice LMs and ASDs make their own decisions and choices and dont go shopping. So its misconceived. HOWEVER, if this idea were adapted to international programmers, then it might be worth pursuing (as they DO go shopping) Very good idea, builds on similar work done at National Studio etc. Love this. Fits the NAMT model in New York: The National Alliance of Musical Theatre has member organisations who are theatre venues and companies through the States. Theres an annual showcase of musicals that have reached a certain stage of development. Works very well. Membership fees cover costs. Writers are given massive, amazing, free support. I think this sounds good - so long as the gatekeepers of this scheme are genuinely open to everything. Yes, an excellent idea. Not sure what this would really achieve. Sometimes the ACE logo is a warning that a show will be bad. The people who are great at the applications and great at the art aren't always the same. And what do showcases ACTUALLY achieve for anyone? Yep, nice idea. Easy to sort this out. I just wonder whether many producing theatres wouldn't actually rather be there right from the seed of an idea? How many full productions would these showcases lead to? This is a great idea, I think that sometimes arts council funded plays/productions do not get the exposure they deserve and this would help. I've certainly found it easier to raise funding than to get my work seen by literary managers and artistic directors. Genius. I'm sure audiences would pay too in their droves. I would. Actors' showcases are generally very successful - i can't imagine why this wouldn't be too. yes, this is a nice idea, but I worry this would turn out to become the british council showcase all over again - but a good idea in principle. Very much like point 13, it feels as if there is no/little money to fund writing time for writers. This would be another way to address this problem. This feels inefficient to be run at an ACE level. Should be venue led. Don't see this working or producing exciting work. Good Idea! Implement it.

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

0 25

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama,

15 20 10 0 10 10 0 20 40 0 15 0 0 30

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Scott Anderson

!$#" "
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble Nice to provide support for showcasing this early stage work wider and with more kudos than the local audience found by the individual or company working alone. And allow actors to invite industry as well.

Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

10 10

20 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 12 0 20 10 745

This would be a good idea, for ACE to actually showcase what they are funding. A brilliant way to make the ACE funding more connected and practical. I just don't think theatres would 'buy' plays in this way - if they can't commit to it from what is on the page then I think they are unlikely to be interested from a showcase.... Great idea - we could also see what sort of plays that ACE are funding. .Having them in one showing like this would create a clear picture of the kind of work that ACE is backing. Nice idea but a lot of work

!$$" " Delphi ranking: 14 (Survey proposal #15)

A consortium of professional playwrights who are published lobby exam boards for more new plays to be put on the syllabus for English Literature A level and Drama or Theatre Studies, and offer to draw up a longlist of suitable ones, complete with synopses, reviews and casting requirements. This would aid the commissioning of second or subsequent performances of new work as school parties would book to see new work which they were studying. Plays on a new drama syllabus would be more likely to get productions because there is more of a guaranteed audience. Points awarded Comments 3 who picks the consortium? Could be uber cronyish It would be good to see more contemporary plays on the syllabus so that people can be encouraged to come and see modern plays in production. There should be a set percentage of plays written in the last ten years, which should be updated each year. How does this sit with drama being dropped from the syllabus? This is an interesting idea - would also be good to plan in the long-term so perhaps theatres could programme productions of the work they know is being studied in majority of their schools. YES! Please, please can young people study new work that has some resonance with their own lives... great idea. Encourages new generation of theatre makers to show them the possibilities of writing, acting, directing etc. So few plays could be put on the syllabus that this could only benefit a few plays per year, & I'm not sure it would create bigger audiences for theatre in general. Yes, I think this would work. Its a relatively simple idea to put into practice and has potentially far reaching benefits for individuals and for the sector as a whole. (It would encourage the publication of new plays too). Im not sure how much it would specifically help risk-taking, but it would certainly help new writing. Playwrights should certainly be part of that - but directors and audiences too.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

26 Regional literary manager 10 Regional Chief exec 30 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright 20 0

15 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry 5

15 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes 10 5

same reason as 14 Yes, worthy. It does raise questions about how to find guaranteed audiences. Marketing departments are always helped if they are able to engage with school parties.

!$%" "
Anonymous 6 London literary manager 10 Olivia Amory Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 Anonymous Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 0 Again, great. Get 'em while they're young. NO

0 London-based actor 20 Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright 10 5 20 50 15 15 20 11 10 12 0 10 4 0

I dont know enough about current syllabus to comment This is extremely important. Much more likely to turn students on than the Caucasian Chalk Circle. Great idea. Speak to Headlong. Pretty sure that they tried (when Rupert Goold was there) to contact the people who set the syllabus as they wanted to try to effect the same change. Creating a new audience and demand for the work by making it educationally valuable A strong proposal, a lot of people's perception of theatre is defined by their experiences at school, if the syllabus was expanded to include a wider range of work it would inevitably result in increased audiences for a wider range of work. Brilliant. This makes total sense. A great way to build future audiences and let students have first hand experience of how theatre can change their lives! ditto This would help new plays to be absorbed into a contemporary 'canon' more swiftly, rather than the somewhat lazy equilibrium that settles once an occasional new play or writer is elevated. Would like to see if it's possible to extend this to non script focused work but realise its a challenge. Any attempt to diversify the syllabus seems positive good idea, anything that widens new plays on syllabuses is good terrible idea Great. Who picks the plays and how impartial is the process? As much potential to get stale as any other. Education isn't an area I'm particularly passionate about.

Easy win that doesn't need much investment. If they've been produced and published, is this a subsidy of new writing or old successful writing?

!$&" "
14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright 0 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress 21 0 15 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright How does this encourage risk taking? Generates income and exposure for writers and raises the status of new plays in literature. this is a stop-gap, not a change-maker I think there has been a monopoly for too long on using the same playwrights year in, decade out. A cross-section of work and good modern work is really important as we need to get those students engaged and in to the theatre

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17

0 0

Not sure it would work. Question practicality and effect. Although am intrigued. GIving it zero but maybe I should give it a point or two for further exploration.

25 7 0 7

23 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths 20 0 0 20 20 0

Great building the audience from a young age No Comment Not sure the playwrights are the best people to do this, and I say this as a playwright myself. Not just playwrights though again, I dont think were always the best nudge of Everything. Artistic directors of theatres should be on the board? There is no good reason why there couldn't be a way to combine new writing awards with new writing for theatre in the syllabus. It could lead to, say, 5 amazing new plays per year with guaranteed multiple productions and audiences that would reflect both the vitality of society and the vitality of theatre Again, brilliant. On syllabus means bums on seats and young audiences mean a future for our industry No Comment Why should education privilege new writing over classic drama? New plays should be on syllabus and are already. Excellent - and has been done before (I was part of getting Tunde Ikoli's Scrape Off The Black onto a syllabus). However, make sure that the plays are diverse voices. An excellent idea which I totally support. Studying contemporary work might also engage students' interest more. Gove is so mercurial that anything strategic is a waste of time. As for school parties booking, you would be better off targeting public schools and collaborating with them. Then sort out any ideological trickle down, They have untapped resources.

!$'" "
Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker 15 0 Good and would, again, raise the profile of playwrighting. This is a forced audience. Personally, I dont want to write for a forced audience. (And as a child, being forced to see any theatre just made me associate that piece of theatre with resenting the fact that Id been made to sit through the bloody thing.) This feels worth a pop, although I don't know that it would have any impact on future commissioning. I don't know that future commissioning SHOULD be on the ground that your play has forever reason (perhaps because of it's 'relevance') got on a school syllabus. Wouldn't this lead to more 'school-focused' plays being commissioned - which isn't a good thing. Maybe. Perhaps...but who is going to choose and lobby. This national curriculum is ridiculous. Not trust in teachers, and as a result, teachers aren't interested in expanding horizons. GCSEs and A levels have their own problems at the moment... > Drama teachers we work with would support this; they are hungry for more relevant contemporary work to be on the curriculum for their students. An overhaul of the plays studied is long overdue. A good way to get young people excited about theatre is to show them plays which are relevant to themselves and their worlds. Good idea. its a win win situation and so obvious. Yes, in principle this is a very good idea, but most new plays are only on for 4 weeks in one location and probably would be published and on the syllabus years after that, so by definition they would not be 'new work' anymore - I think it'd be best to lobby schools (and drama schools too) to actually encourage students to attend work at the fringe or new writing venues to be discussed in class (so rather than one specific new play being on the syllabus that there's a term of new writing and that's all that the students go and see/ read. Again, a fabulous idea for both writer, and definitely pupil. When talking to some drama teaches, there seems to be a gap where their knowledge of new work should be. Most plays on the curriculum are over fifty years old, and although outstanding pieces, there is no knowledge of 'new writing' in theatre. And, of course, there is greater exposure for the writer and more opportunities for the future. Nice idea, but timelines would be tricky - don't syllabuses need to be approved years in advance? And the amount of consensus that would surely be needed for a play to be signed off as a set text might mean that the best stuff didn't necessarily get through. Would probably only help already successful contemporary playwrights, which would be great, but not relevant to this particular study I don't feel.

Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer

10 10 1 5 25 20 15 20

Arzhang Pezhman

Midlands-based Writer

19

Micha Colombo

Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker

!$(" "
Anonymous 22 London-based director of devising company 10 Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer I see the value but it would need to be a big changing pool of new plays. A little dubious that it raises theatre-goers on what *should* make good theatre. Obligation and worth being the death of passionate engagement.

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

0 10 15

Interesting Definitely agree more contemporary plays on syllabuses can only be good. Not sure how useful it would be in encouraging more productions of new/risky work - time lag between play written, play on syllabus, play in production, likely to limit the usefulness of this to only a few playwrights. Great way of raising the profile of new work and inspiring students.

0 Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 16 15 15

It is a nice idea, but I can't see this changing much. Brilliant! This could really help engage young people with contemporary work and help writers get those ever elusive revivals of existing plays. This is a good idea, there should be more new plays on the syllabus and they should change regularly. Again, a great idea.

0 730

Don't think this will solve much

!$)" " Delphi ranking : 15 (Survey proposal #28)

Digital Publishing. Theatres could take greater advantage of digital publishing to give the work they commission a broader audience and increase the likelihood of second and third productions. Systems like iBooks are relatively simple to use, ensure that the writer still receives royalties, and do not require the theatre to invest in expensive print runs. The ease of digital publishing would also allow theatres to publish a wider range of their commissioned work. Plays written for young people or community performers could be published alongside work commissioned for professional performance. Points awarded Comments 10 excellent yes Would make playscripts more available quicker. Would also make education/youth theatre work more accessible Could be interesting but honestly don't believe it will lead to more second productions in theatres perhaps accessed by schools

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

26 Regional literary manager 10 Regional Chief exec 0 10 0

Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright

I don't know enough about this to know if it would help or not could be a good source of ongoing income for writers - definitely worth a shot. I love programme playtexts & would be sad to see these replaced by e-books. Yes, why not? Not a bad idea, not much money to lose, and something to gain. This may be a matter for individual theatres rather than the sector as a whole, however. (Though theres nothing to stop an enterprising theatre or publishing company offering its services sector-wide that could help). Straightforward.

0 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry 70

15 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes 10 30

important one this Not only theatres but networks and discussions could take advantage of digital publishing. It can add a new vibrancy and would allow for Accessing new work on line would encourage more reading and therefore more potential productions. Easier access can only be beneficial.

!$*" "
Anonymous 6 London literary manager 5 Olivia Amory Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 Anonymous Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 20 I think it's a good idea, though printed plays are money-makers for theatres, too. YES

0 London-based actor 5 Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright 5 15 10 10 5 4 0 16 10 15 0 0 30 10

Fantastic Can only be a good thing, but I wouldn't want it to replace publishing tangible playtexts. Great idea - should have happened ages ago. Potential in the idea but would need a lot of marketing for wide use An interesting proposal that would hopefully ensure the future life of plays. A great way to share information and ideas. Not a fan of kindles Needs more detail on this proposal, but guiding writers to understand digital publishing can only be a good thing. Would like to see how this this might be applied to work that is not purely text based yes good idea. nothing new here, just do it if you want to There are issues around copyright and royalties here. Site Bush Green about the challenges. Yes - maybe offer as web PDFs for a limited time? Maybe an archive on the theatres/companies website Sounds like a no-brainer. Theatre would need to promote this during runs.

Again - can writers not do this themselves. Seems easy.

!%+" "
14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright 0 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress 26 5 10 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths A good idea, but how does it encourage risk-taking? Digital publishing offers many new opportunities for plays and playwrights which we ought to explore and develop. yes, digital publishing of plays is a good idea. cheap, fast, easy (compared to print). but like digital publishing of books, it also cuts the writer's income enormously. Anything that gets younger people reading plays and engaging then great and the world of theatre has to keep up with the developments of the digital age in the sense of documenting, transmitting work etc.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth

0 20

We are awash with plays Should be more and more doable now. Also see Bush system Accessibility is an ongoing issue for programmers especially with youth and community work so the more available the better No Comment Most professionally produced plays are published, not at the theatre's expense. But it would be good to make more plays for young people / community performers available, as with playsforyoungaudiences in the US. Agree Either set up a company to do this or not. It's not hard. This doesn't require us to come up with a policy to fight for it. Publishing certainly increases chances of subsequent productions and this is the way the world of print is going. Get on board. No Comment Good idea - anything that makes it easier for people to find work to put on is a good thing. x It depends how well the writer is paid for digital publishing, or whether it will become like Kindle, where the writer can end up earning a lot less. Publishing is a very small proportion of overall theatre related costs, and digital printing that is just in time is almost affordable anyway. The hidden questions are who knows about this, who wants it and what are the demands (and how is demand created) This is less clear.

12 20 10 10 5 6 0 10 0 0 0

!%!" "
Judith Johnson Freelance Playwright and teacher. 20 Definitely worth a go in the current climate of increasing popularity for digital publications. Publishing house agreements already include clauses on digital publishing, and I would rather have my work published by a house that already has an established system and reputation for publishing work, than by a theatre as a sideline to their main work of producing. I dont see how this would encourage risk-taking in new work or even broaden the potential audience for new work. Putting video on YouTube might do that, or going transmedia, but not eBook scripts. Yes - e-texts on the website. Yes, this needs to happen. Yes. I reckon it's peanuts whichever method of distribution you use! Would certainly help us get more work out there providing deal is good enough for the writer. Again, anything that gives new work a second life feels positive. Writers can suggest this to theatres themselves, and do most of the work, that way theatres would only need to help when it comes to publicity.It might be worth talking with the people behind Bush Green to find out what worked/didn't work about that model. There's so much online that it's easy for work to get lost, so a central place to access plays digitally would be useful. this is so obvious and so obviously the way forward. it should be happening already to a higher degree - i guess it just needs more of a push from us. I'm pretty sure Oberon is doing this already? Very much like above, having a copy of your work that you don't have to email personally as a PDF, is not only be practical. It certainly helps validate (and therefore inspire and motivate) if there is a tangible script in the public domain. Great idea. Bring our industry into the modern age, and help us connect with global audiences. It won't be universally used but if it helps...

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer

0 20 15 5 5 15 3

Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge

8 15 0 18 25 5

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon

0 32

Sounds feasible. Useful if carefully linked to idea 27.

!%#" "
Helen Millar Anonymous 23 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer 10 Sounds like a great idea. This would be a good idea, I've already begun buying plays on my kindle, and don't see why this can't be embraced more. A great idea as long as it is used alongside print publishing. Good idea but I'm anxious because of the failure of Bush Green - lessons would need to be learnt from that... Same reasoning as above.

20 Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 10 5 8

0 714

Commercial proposition

!%$" " Delphi ranking: 16 (Survey proposal #14)

A consortium of professional playwrights offer their services to the Department for Education, and the relevant exam boards, to get a Playwriting option included in Drama G.C.S.E. and Theatre Studies A Level and ask Ed Vaizey to champion this on our behalf. Points awarded Comments 2 For FREE?

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec Regional literary manager

0 Anonymous 2

Good way of ensuring playwriting maintains an educational profile

10 Anonymous 3 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 30 0 0 0 50

Great idea

Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Yes, need to get new writing recognised within education sector Love the idea but feel it has to great an impact on the syllabus and would have very low take-up. I'm not sure how this would help new writing. I dont think this would help to achieve the stated aim. Great. Good luck with Ed Vaizey.

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

15 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 5 5

excellent idea, will get pupils reading plats as much as they read books Yes, relevant This would encourage young people to thing of drama as more than just acting.

10

I think it's a great idea - get the playwrights and audiences of tomorrow while they're young.

!%%" "
Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO

0 Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 15 20 30 10 15 10 11 20 12 0 10 5 0 6

I think Theatre Studies A level is adequate YES. How can this not already be the case?! Could it not be included in English GCSE and A level too? Great idea. More recognition in this area will create demand and sustainability Another interesting idea, but who would these playwrights be? How would teachers and examiners be trained in order to feel confident in delivering and assessing these modules. Amazing idea. This should exist already. Get new writing in there Could endorse the legitimacy of the form from a young age. Yes feels crucial in terms of nurturing future talent good idea but would encourage grassroots playwriting and increase the number of writers Brilliant. I don't see how this would be successful, but no harm in trying. Education isn't an area I'm particularly passionate about. Already exists in some form on a number of curriculums

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

!%&" "
regional company Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/the atremaker London-based actress 10 0 22 0 Surprised it isn't already. How does this encourage risk-taking? Raises the status and profile of plays and playwrights for very little cost. won't this just create more playwrights for whom there is no follow-through? (just as we now have with all those doing 'creative writing'?) Yes, I think promoting new writing to students and the notion that playwrights are alive and kicking is really important to a students understanding. When alot of the curriculum is taken up studying alot of brilliant but dead writers there isn't the same potential to be able to engage with them on a more practical level

10 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 10

Has Ed heard about this? Intrigued.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

25 5 10 8 17 25 0 15 0 10

Superb idea catch the talent when it's young and eager and promotes great diversity No Comment I'd like A-level students to have the option of writing a play. But I'm not sure they need a consortium of professional playwrights. Needs to be handled sooooo carefully, though. Bad experiences that early on could destroy future potential. Most pupils hate creative writing at the age. But agree students should know that plays arent just there to be read, but to be written Ask Ed. Ask anybody. Brilliant. No Comment Great idea. Quite good until you involved the Minister! Also, these exams are now very low status and less and less young people will take them. Get it on the standard English curricula for better reach. It would have helped me to have realised playwriting was even an option during my formal education, and perhaps would have offered the encouragement and knowledge that I lacked.

!%'" "
Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer we cannot make change by simply tweaking the supply side. No demand evidenced, let alone understanding of how DofE or Exam Boards work Great idea and would raise profile of playwrighting which many students are already doing on an ad hoc basis. Could it be part of the new Creative Writing A level too? YES. Although if I had to choose one thing that would benefit us all, this would not be it. This isn't really something that's dear to my heart. Yes though I'm not sure it helps professional playwrights. Perhaps...but don't playwrights need to learn a bit about life first? > Some exam boards have a writing option already. Does this risk playwrights spending more time teaching playwrighting and less time writing? I would suggest the option is 'writing for performance' - to open up to spoken word, experimental writing for the theatre etc, and performance writing, as well as playwriting. It's important to open up ideas of what a play might be. I would love this but can't envisage it. Why not the 'novel' GCSE or Poetry or Fine Arts (Practical only). Sadly I think there would be too much opposition to the idea in the current climate. I think at GCSE level it would be more useful to have theatre studies than playwriting - and I say that as a writer- you need to love theatre and know it first, and there's already way too many playwriting programmes that are exclusive to young people - sorry, there's a lot of ageism in theatre opportunities at the moment and I feel this is to be blamed for the huge amount of plays produced by 19 yr old playwrights straight from the Royal Court who have nothing to say (and quite frankly I think are partly responsible for creating a 'fear of new writing' amongst audiences. This is one of the most important proposals. Playwriting is about structure, and can be in a structured way. This can be easily tied into existing schemes of work, and it could easily have it's own modular scheme of work. The problem with a lot of devised pieces in GCSE and even A level drama is that they don't have a strong enough structure to hold up the pupils initial exciting ideas. Learning about playwriting would not only help them to analyse existing texts in more detail, but would also give the pupils a greater insight into the strengths and weaknesses of their own, devised performances Don't think this is directly helpful. Better to get kids reading as much as poss and having life experiences. How would you mark one play vs another? Too subjective. Surely the problem is not the lack of great plays out there, but the insufficient funds/means to stage them professionally? It's

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

0 20 10 0 15 1 5 0 3 15 0

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker

30 0

!%(" "
later on that the issues emerge, it's not about a fundamental dearth of creativity. Anonymous 22 London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

10

Ok, but why involve Vaizey?

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

25 10 12

Not a bad idea Is playwriting not included already? Wow. More focus on theatre/the arts in education is definitely needed. I support this in terms of new writing, and indeed there is a new creative writing A-Level due to be launched soon, and it might be important to ensure scriptwriting is included there. Great idea. I teach playwriting at university level and so many students enter their creative writing degrees with minimal knowledge in this area. I don't feel that adding playwriting to the curriculum would help people take it seriously. I also think teaching playwrighting early on might damage the way new writers approach the work - from an academic rather than instinctual one. I think this is a brilliant idea.

5 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 15 0 20

0 654

Will extend worrying trends already evident in Higher Education.

!%)" " Delphi ranking: 17 (Survey proposal #12)

Literary managers team playwrights/devisors up with their fundraising department, to work together on putting in a Grants for the Arts application to fund residencies, workshops, writers groups etc - an application which, on paper at least, would come from the playwrights themselves. Points awarded Comments Think this would rinse fundraising departments. Theatre artists need to get a grip on writing ACE 0 applications it's part of the job. We have completed funding applications on behalf writers in the past (name redacted). Extending 26 this to GftA a good idea although it might add a great deal to the workload of the fundraiser. This already happens if the theatre has a relationship with an artist or organisation, they will endeavour to support them in any way they can, particularly around fundraising, but we only have the capacity to do this with artists we wish to support and do not have the capacity to be an "open 10 service". 0 10 0 Surely this happens anyway? Practical help that may make the difference between work seeing the light of day or not. This already happens at several theatres & it can compromise the playwright to be too involved in fundraising & producing. No. This is effectively cheating the system. If the company wants the writer, they should pay for her/him not use the writer to lever in more funding! (And why would an individual writer apply for money from ACE to run workshops, writers groups etc at a theatre? Isnt that what you can get paid to do anyway? A decent ACE assessor would spot this one a mile off.) The GftA individuals grants are there for writers to propose and carry out their own projects not someone elses. Let's go a stage further and just get the playwrights to write the application. they will be cheaper than fundraisers and then we wouldn't need to waste so much money on people who aren't artists anyway. surprised, this isn't already done In theory this sounds good, but might it not be more relevant to team up to offer workshops about how to come to grips with the thinking for GFA and other applications. Fundraising is key, and a huge difficulty for some. Support is vital. You can be a great artist and be terrible at filling in GFTA forms.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec Regional literary manager Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience

Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

0 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Coordinators, 5 15 5 30

5 Olivia Amory 0

Sure. NO

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Anonymous 7 Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor 0 10 10 10 0 5 10 6 0 8 0 10 6 30 ACE should back more research & development - but a better idea is 1. This is a no brainer. Feels frustrating that this might not be happening already. Surely this still happens as a matter of course? Certainly it was how we got things going at TWP. Not a new idea but essential in terms of empowering writers to make the most of the GFA Scheme and have time to pursue their own work. Already happens but worth promoting Many theatres will already help playwrights, theatremakers and companies with their funding applications, the Arts Council relationship managers and support teams offer excellent advice adn there are many freelance producers and fundraisers who assists theatre artists with applications. Surely a great way for everyone to be working. Using the different talents of writing and fundraising to get the work out there. good kudos to the application We do this already, and although we support it, it would be better if the A4E money was with us in the first place to distribute to projects, writers, artists etc - as opposed to helping them to make applications to a funding body. Don't think this has the sector wide impact of other points Capacity issue for resourcing from staff time? Good in principal, would need to tie in to wider strategy of company / venue and not be sporadic interventions / token individuals. probably happens already where relevant Though we do this already - it's called Escalator Plays. For this years intake we had 150 Applications for 4 places, so clearly demand for such support far outstrips what is currently offered. Maybe also consider 'speed-dating' of fundraising pros and artists? In-house ones will have less time. I like this idea. Playwrights/devisors should get their hands dirty in raising funds. Also, it's probably good training to learn from professionals on how to fill out a funding application.

Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

25 Anonymous 14 15

Great - less passive playwrights! Expert help to make ideas happen. Yes - wish this happened more.

!&+" "
Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress 0 5 15 15 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright Better (and fairer) that ACE improve GfA so playwrights can apply more easily. Support for writers raising ACE funding for work would be helpful. yes, anything that is about teaming rather than struggling on alone, is of value Share the expertise. I think playwrights are the ones who are good with words and also having created the work to start off with-have the strength of voice and understanding to put to the application

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 0

But where will the play go on? Question practicality and effect. Grant application writing is vastly time consuming and a skill in itself A waste if playwrights talent and ability unless they have a personal reason to want to learn grant writing No Comment Good idea. As long as the fundraising departments give full support. How would it work with playwrights working across different venues? Support that helps you get paid is good support As a writer this sounds good but feedback from theatres more appropriate No Comment Good idea - sharing of skills important. This happens already. What we really need is to unlock the resources of the big players fundraising departments to individual artists and small companies. Fair enough. Although it's sad that playwrights have to beg for their own funding.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

5 10 50 7 13 20 0 10 0 10

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave

0 10 15 5

If thisnt already happening then LMs should be replaced. It would be good to have this kind of support. This already happens anyway, and could happen more as part of #1, #2, #7, #10, #11: big companies working with smaller companies. It would be good for playwrights to have a dialogue with fundraising departments because sometimes I'm not sure they're speaking the same language. But these things are so time-

!&!" "
consuming. The fundraisers need to know what the playwrights need - but it's their job to put in the work to make these things happen. Anonymous 20 London-based playwright and lecturer 5 Bureaucratic. Yes, GFAs may mean the artists have access to funds, but you need the knowledge of how to write them to really benefit. I have a PhD and I've only been successful 50% of the time with securing ACE investment. But too much time (for myself and others) is spent on preparing an application when we should be in the rehearsal room. Artists aren't always the best grant writers. It would be nice if ACE acknowledged that. Or if their employees actually had first-hand experience of what it's really like to stage a production. > Closer involvement with artists at all levels of an organisation's work can only be good. I agree that teaching theatre-makers the tools to raise their own incomes is important - this would definitely be valuable to me as a theatre-writer at an early stage of my career. Aren't they doing this already? - Probably not, which is shocking really. This is clearly something that should be happening. Shouldn't this be happening already? And i think the writers most definitely should be involved in this process and not just on paper. it is a direct route to information and skills that many writers would appreciate - as well as a way of isolated writers learning about the arts world beyond their desk. I think this is a lovely idea in and ideal world, where theatre venues have the right amount of employees. To be blunt, anyone can write an ACE application and they do not need the help of a person in a fundraising department. Most venues who can afford a development person do not need to write GFAs anyway. I think ACE should hold regular free events for independent artists to take them through the process. But if you can write a play, you can most certainly write a GFA. ACE offer a lot of advice on the phone and I have to say that they are friendly, patient and very helpful and although the new rule is that you are only allowed one meeting per GFA application, you can call them on the phone and they are super helpful - this is one thing where ACE have really worked very hard to make it easy and accessible to everyone. Putting together a proposal, especially for the first time, can be incredibly daunting. I don't know anyone, including myself, that hasn't had to get advice from more experienced fundraisers. Waste playwrights' time on paperwork when they aren't necessarily the best people for the job. Leave the fundraising to those who do it full time. It's like making doctors do more management paperwork in the NHS - pointless. Great pairing idea but I don't know that it would work as a scheme.

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva

Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker

20 10 10 3 20

Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Writer London-based director/producer

15

0 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22 Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company 8 0 0

!&#" "
Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23 Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 0 5 7 Worthwhile event! Definitely think fundraising departments need more direct connections with the artists. I think the help and support for the GFA is good but I already think there is a problem with writers being funded above other creatives who apply as individuals or small companies. I hesitantly support this idea, but it might be better if the teams work with the playwrights on the applications, rather than writing them for them? Fantastic! I would love theatre companies to put this sort of confidence in writers. The creative results could be wonderful. A good idea in principle but I wonder whether these departments would be able to stretch to this added 'job'. This sounds good. I have done a lot of grants myself - but I have also been helped with grants by dramaturgs in Scotland. Perhaps this just needs to be rolled out to England? G4tA applications are not rocket science

10 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 16 5 18 0 593

!&$" " Delphi ranking: 18 (Survey proposal #10)

Theatre artists supported by Job Seekers create their own small companies with the same advice, support and grants given to those who opt into setting up their own business. The advice and support would need to be tailored to the art and the risk inherent in any creative work would have to be acknowledged. This would mean individual artists, Black and minority ethnic practitioners and new companies would stand a chance of weathering the current conditions. To keep the art fresh, we need to maintain diversity and risk taking and this is one way using a system that already exists. Points awarded Comments 20 a no brainer

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

0 Regional literary manager 10 Regional Chief exec 30 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright 20 0

Not sure that this is best way of supporting creative artists? This proved beneficial in the 1980s to enable artists, especially playwrights, to continue working (and signing on) and could be useful.

Much more should be done with Job Seekers but don't underestimate the task Great to compare with setting up business. Could be a key first step to future practitioners grounding themselves in the profession. Again, this feels expensive to implement. This wont work on a formal basis (I know it happens informally) because it contravenes the JSA rules on availability for work. Unless you mean that a separate enterprise allowance be created to allow artists to set up companies whilst drawing benefits? (Actually, the existing schemes of this nature do accept artists as long as they have a sound business plan). This is not impossible at the moment

0 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry 0

0 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes 0 0

not sure but interesting .Worthwhile, but I think there are opportunities for this mentorship out there already. Support for setting up businesses is good - doesn't it exist whether you're on job seekers or not?

!&%" "
Anonymous 6 London literary manager 10 Olivia Amory Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 0 Absolutely. I worry that being a theatre artist will not be seen as a 'proper business,' even though we all know theatre is a business like any other. NO Excellent idea - many of UK's notable artists would be unheard of had the then version of the dole not existed - Tracey Emin, Jarvis Cocker, Alexander McQueen On the surface this seems like a good idea, but I don't see it as being credible. I don't like the condition of being on job seekers allowance. I don't know one actor or director who is on job seekers allowance. It's such a tiny amount of money to survive on, ironically I think it's rare in our industry. Maybe I'm wrong. That's not to say I would have a problem if more people were. I suppose this needs to include artists who are working 60 hours a week on the minimum wage just to pay rent and bills. I also am not completely comfortable with the idea that you find ethnic minority artists in the dole queue. I would prefer a different kind of positive discrimination here. Also who are going to provide the funding and support? The local authority? Easier to provide it to small business with the allure of it contributing economic growth. Wish it was, but see it as unrealistic in current climate. I agree wholeheartedly with the general sentiment of of this proposal, but I think it's not the best solution. Great idea (good luck!)- it would really help the young in particular get started on a career in the Arts. Needs agreement and capacity in Dept of Work and Pensions The creative industries cannot easily be compared with other businesses. If the cost of a theatre ticket reflected the actual costs involved in staging a performance, prices would be prohibitively high. Arts requires public subsidy to survive and grow, thus attempts to compare it to other business sectors would be viewing it in an inappropriate context. I don't feel I have enough insight into the feasibility of this to say anything useful. Excellent idea New business support is very important, as is the ability to name artists as legitimate business entities able to benefit from Job Seeker initiatives, benefit allowances, and business guidance. Yes using this system seems a good idea Don't really get this or think is that innovative. Need to know more about how job seekers might work / need to understand context work. we need to work from business, not welfare models

0 London-based actor

0 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer 40 0

0 1 10 24 10 6 0

!&&" "
Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company 9 London-based playwright 15 London-based playwright 0 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress 0 15 0 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director Good idea - creative companies deserve same support as other companies Great if Job Centres can be convinced that this is a sensible business plan - that's the stumbling block. Small scale theatre doesn't work like your average business. It either loses money, or is subsidised through practitioner's time. Businesses have to be profitable. Would a small theatre company be able to achieve that on this level? I would rather fight for the subsidised sector than turn art into business. yes! Self-employed artists are about to feel the wrath of Universal Tax Credit -if you can get anyone in government to offer any sort of advice, support to Jobseekers about setting up companies then good luck but it'll be tough. 0 5 20 Similar to my point before that often artists need to be produced rather than to become producers. There is nothing currently to stop artists who want to self produce, and ACE GFTA is set up to support this. How to stop this being abused? Is it realistic to incorporate this into a business-oriented model? Sounds like a good idea to train our theatre practitioners on how to actually run a sustainable business. If the government considers arts organisation to be real business (which it does because they pay tax just like everybody else) then they should also provide support of this king.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry

0 0

Just can't see this working Agree with aim, unsure if this idea actually helps. Own business advice is around, would be better coming from a larger company network "advice" from those not doing it, often not helpful. Having set up a company there are lots of legal company laws and tax implications. But DIY very empowering No Comment I don't feel qualified to say - I would have imagined this already the case if a company is set up as a business. Yes. Although I can imagine the Daily Mail headline now. Really good idea Cant imagine it actually happening but how lovely if it did No Comment

12 20 0 8 23 15 0

!&'" "
Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman London-based producer 10 London-based writer and director 0 Good idea, but who funds? I don't understand this really. Who is asking who for what? I would definitely appreciate the support. There is no support at all available for writers starting up their own creative business (especially if you're no longer classified as a 'young person' and therefore ineligible for most grants in this area), which is what I've just done, especially given the difficulty of profit projection. Any support would be very welcome. Like the old enterprise allowance. This would almost certainly end up being tokenistic and would probably be used for government propaganda purposes (see the Enterprise Allowance scheme and Community Programme scheme set up by the Thatcher government in the 1980s). Also possibly somewhat offensive to link BAME practitioners only to this suggestions which relates to people on Jobseekers Allowance? Love this. Its really insulting that Job Seekers doesnt already do this. And surely the risk in setting up any business is already acknowledged? This would be a great addition to #1, #2 and #7 I don't know if the support given to job seekers is any good - better to focus this through an arts organisation rather than the local authority dole office? Yes, this is good for accessibility. In theory sounds good. But will it make a difference? We have to acknowledge that the theatre industry is currently a playground for the middle and upper classes...we need to change that to for this idea to really work, so there are places for them to go if they get companies off the ground. Again, yes to businesses getting involved, but setting up a business oneself is often the wrong thing to do for an artist.I'd want to be careful not to 'push' this too hard. Arts companies having the same status as small businesses is vital - useful wording for bank loans as well as Job Seekers. I think it would be positive to encourage theatre-makers to focus on the business as well as the art of theatre-making. Definitely worth a try! this sounds like it would create a lot of valuable work for a range of practitioners - those applying as well as those offering the advice. it seems a fair ask if others (outside the arts community) are already able to avail of this resource. I think this is a great idea!! Would also help people understand that artist are workers - very hard workers- rather than the current perception that we are just having some kind of hobby. Anything that concerns individual artists and BME practitioners is of personal interest. However, I am not entirely sure I understand the proposal. Would this just be a service that gives advice? The ACE already do this, but maybe this proposes something more in depth and refined? Points related to lack of clarity.

Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer

20 10

0 15 0 15 5 10 30 6 8 20 40

Midlands-based Writer

!&(" "
Micha Colombo Anonymous 22 Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer 0 0 Unclear on how this works. Great in principle but I think it would be mired in practice.

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 5 12

This sounds risky and would risk wasting money on ill thought out planned and led projects. Don't know enough about Job Seekers to offer much comment on this but on face of it seems possibly useful. Could it be based on TALENT rather than anything else?

20

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil

Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright

10 0

Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

This is an important point, and could work well for new young artists. This sounds very interesting and if government could be brought on board to support this, very positive. I have questions around what kind of funding those new theatre companies could then receive. Would these be new subsidised theatre companies or would they have to be purely commercial? This is really relevant to the type of work the writers and other artists would be free to explore. I think people who want to set up companies can do so, and there are plenty of mechanisms in place to guide and support for people who are interested in doing this. I'm not sure that the proliferation of smaller low-funded companies is necessarily the route to a healthy culture. If everyone is given start up funding we end up with a bulge in the culture where people can get their first show together and then get bottlenecked as they try and break into the next stage of the industry.

10

Has happened before, will happen again.

576

!&)" " Delphi ranking: 19 (Survey proposal #13)

Create a system that attaches a reliable indication of quality and some production funding directly to a non-commissioned script, that playwrights can then use to negotiate a production. This would either replace, or be in addition to, the 'new writing' part of Grants for the Arts funding. This system would be run by ACE (or subcontracted to some partner organisation). Scripts would be submitted and read anonymously to ensure fairness. Readers would be experienced playwrights. Scripts would be assessed only on quality and originality, not on suitability for any particular theatre. Playwrights would be given an opportunity to respond to the assessments of their scripts before the final award process. Funding would then be offered conditional on production - part to be delivered on the first day of rehearsal, part on the first day of performance. This funding (and the indication of quality that the award represents) could either be used to negotiate a co-production between the playwright and an existing funded organisation, or to produce the work independently. Points awarded Comments 10 yes this is good, make the playing field more level so that everyone who's good has a chance.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

0 Regional literary manager 10 Regional Chief exec 0 20 0

Prefer individual relationships with writers Already happens - Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting / Papatango Prize / Adopt a Playwright - also if it is anonymous, is there a stipulation about what level of playwright can apply (less than 3 professional productions?) or, if you have playwrights reading, might it be a conflict of interest? This is a huge infrastructure with extensive costs.

Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience

30 Will Wollen Independent Creative Theatre Professional 0

Not sure I really understand this idea... This is artistically democratic and provides a fair playing field for writers. I like this idea in principle but in practise I don't believe that theatres would be happy to produce plays they had not commissioned or chosen. I think this would work, if the sums involved were substantial and proportionate to the plays in question (perhaps a notional 25-40% of production budget). I dont think it should replace the new writing part of Gfta though some writers do need funding in order to write the play in the first place. How would this scheme be run annually and as a competition? How many writers/plays would be selected? Or would there be a fixed pot of money to be distributed at the panels discretion? Would the playwrights need to have some idea of budget for their piece (many wont), or would the administrators factor this into their award decisions? Every time you "create" a system, you play into the hands of the bureaucrats.

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Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 Freelance playwright 0 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 10 0 good, but muddled I would also add that dramaturgs could be helpful readers. Too subjective. Huge dependence on the selected readers to speak for what is good and what is not. What an interesting idea. Creates an awful lot of admin for ACE, but if put in place think it's an intriguing way of giving non-commissioned writers a leg-up. YES

10 Olivia Amory Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 60

0 London-based actor

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep

0 0 10 20 10 0 0

This is very time-consuming for ACE! I'm not sure about how this would work in practice. Who would be he experts. It's important that arts council employees don't judge the quality if playwrighting isn't it? A quality stamp in art seems dangerous to me. I understand where this comes from, and it must be hard for playwrights if they feel like their scripts are not being read because there are so many bad ones for literary deps to read, but I'm not sure this is the answer. I just think this sounds quite complicated, and I think it needs to be attached to a really strong production company to work. I would say this, but I do think that the best new work is a collaboration and the talents of a director too (and other artists) are vital to the success of a first production. So I don't know what the difference is between this and schemes like the Bruntwood or indeed Paines Plough's / The Royal Court's model of finding and selecting plays which theoretically should enable non-commissioned work to be found and produced? Quite expensive and not realistic An interesting idea, but one that would require the majority of new writing theatres throughout the country to buy into in order to ensure its success. A great way for playwrights to get their work considered and have some backing when approaching the people they want to work with to produce their play. Important We thought this was a very weak idea, and the idea of a judge panel giving the mark of approval to a set of plays very problematic. Can't really comment as experience of working with new writing/scripts is limited

!'+" "
Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 London-based artistic director 9 London-based academic and freelance writer 0 Dodgy, very subjective, kite marking a script - would it be read by more than one person? Difficulties around this. Sort of what happens Bruntwood prize etc. Difficulty of ACE making judgements on scripts / is it empowering artists? Timing of funding wouldn't work - you need money before 1st day of reh! Isn't this what agents do? I think this already exists in a limited way - Escalator East to Edinburgh. The important consideration of this award is that because it is linked specifically to the fringe, the artists have the potential of audiences and press coverage. If such an award existed nationally, thought Wouk have to be given to insure that that productions have a good chance of being seen by audiences, and potentially press and the industry. Can of worms - everything's subjective. This could very quickly appear to be a 'closed shop' I'm not entirely sure how this differs substantially from what we have today.

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16

Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company

10 0 0

2 London-based playwright 5 London-based playwright 120 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress 0 10 15 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer

How do you indicate quality? Very subjective A free market economy for plays. Seems unrealistic - big names, suitability for venues do matter for viability. Allows playwrights to write the play they want to write, rather than the one they can get a theatre to commission, and still have a decent chance of getting it produced. Rather bureaucratic. The Ministry of Plays? Should writers be asked to put a 'quality' mark on one another's work? this sounds, on paper, to be a wise move - peer review - but ACE has traditionally resisted peer review and I suspect they would again. A non-commissioned script needs all the help it can get. I like the idea the scripts would be read anonymously

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James

0 0

This is a beautiful but extremely subjective suggestion... Question practicality and effect. Good theory but producers don't necessarily want a homogenous water mark on an in produced script. Also such a system runs the risk of creating a normative 'well made play' mark where new reworking a if theatre forms are marginalised. No Comment I just don't think the maths would add up. Reading on that scale is enormously time consuming. And the sums involved would have to be large in order to attract producers. ok

4 5 0 10

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Graham Anonymous 17 London-based playwright 20 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 19 0 0 0 25 0 10 Intriguing idea - a well-designed system would see great plays being written on spec with an actual chance of being produced. Only drawback could be that playwrights would be encouraged to do this rather than be commissioned by companies. Companies may actually withdraw demand from the market, if you get my law of demand and supply drift. Reading scripts and assessing merit takes time and discussion but anything that opens doors for writers is a good idea No Comment How is this better than what goes on already? Surely we are trying to reduce not increase ACE's bureaucracy? Potentially better for ACE to ring fence amount of money for new writing/specified number of new productions and make writers/producers aware of its existence? Really bad idea. The ecology is already awash with the same script being read by multiple readers. Can we get money to the writers, not to the readers! Yes - this is an excellent idea. I do feel that this would really help playwrights. Funding would then be offered to whom? The writer to choose the production company? Who sets the budget? Who makes the decisions on script quality and how is all this time and decision making paid for if it isnt being done by the company? Good idea, massively big to administer, and not sure why half of money only given on first day of performance, wouldn't this course problems with paying people? I hate the idea of people judging work as generally either good or bad quality writing, rather than simply as right or wrong for a particular opportunity. Its rare for a writer to write something that has no specific intended audience, and once there is an intention for the work, it might as well be judged as suitable or unsuitable by its target venue. Doesn't this already happen informally - and if made formal wouldn't it be just as subject to the whimsies and caprices of the reader - experienced playwrights are just as subjective as anyone. Yes, this is useful. It exists in universities. Not sure I completely understand this...does ACE have the resources to do this? Shouldn't producing houses with NPF be doing this already? It just seems to add another level of bureaucracy, and take the responsibility off big theatres to produce new work. This feels idealistic to me! Don't believe centralised script-reading will work for such varied national arts organisations I can potentially see this working, but it doesn't excite me as much as some of the other ideas. scripts would be assessed only on quality and originality' - I've yet to find a reader who can do that. Script reading is always subjective.The wonderful thing about G4A at the moment is there are no

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker

0 0 15 5 5 0 3 0

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readers, they look at the proposal and the writer on their individual merits. There is already a system in place that enables playwrights to get funding to produce non-commissioned scripts. Playwrights need to work in the same way as the other theatre makers who put in proposals. When I put in my proposal to produce my script I had to demonstrate support in kind, pencilled in tour bookings etc. This is hard work but it ensures the production really does happen as planned. Playwrights need to learn how to tap into the resources available, not have an alternative stream allocated to them. too complicated. and could perhaps have an adverse affect on existing grants etc... or not provide enough of an improvement to warrant the work involved. again, it is not clear who would be producing - and again, in my experience, this is a nice idea with a very convoluted 'not sure this can work'. ACE have just suffered a lot of cuts on their staffing levels so I doubt they'll be willing to run anything new - but also, just because ACE says they like a script it would still find a home in a venue that can a)afford to co-produce it or produce it with the added financial incentive b) its programming policy fits the script or viceversa. In a way, places like the NT and the Royal Court already do this by passing on scripts that they can't produce but they think would be good for a specific theatre given their size etc (without the financial incentive) but this feels a bit like reinventing the wheel. I have been funded by the ACE as a writer to develop work. What is different about this is (from what I understand) is that there would be a greater opportunity for pieces to be produced. I do think that the 'new writing' part of the Grants for Arts does need to be revised, and this could be a good way to do it. Interesting idea, although could be costly as extensive piloting would probably be required to help hone what makes a play 'quality' and to get buy-in from all venues/companies etc. Not sure that this would work, a lot of effort, a lot of scripts (how are they filtered) and unaccountable reviewing process means a lot of writers will end up frustrated; it's dialogue that's important.

Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Writer London-based director/producer

0 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company

14 5 0

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23 Lizzie Nunnery

Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer

2 15

5 Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting 0

Sounds workable but difficult to administrate. I'm not sure I quite believe in a 'reliable indication of quality' - and I'm not sure many programmers / artistic directors / producers would accept such a rating as more telling than their own judgement. Feel very dubious about the idea of generic 'quality' rather than suitability for a particular space / place / audience. Really pleased with this idea. In the north west, there was a system that pretty much did this, called North West Playwrights, which supported new writing, but got funding cut by ACE - I support the idea, but feel it might be wheel re-inventing. It's very interesting to consider that the Arts Council/another funding body could allocate potential funding before a production is secured. However, I have serious concerns about putting a score on

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Hannah Khalil a script and even with a group of writers doing the script reading I would worry about this amount of creative power given to a funding organisation/ government organisation. I'm nervous about all the onus thats on the writer here, and how they would access theatres/ get guarantees of production. This sounds like it would add to the 'development hell' problem. These scripts would still need to be programmed and with money or no money - ADs would still need to agree to the script being produced in their theatre. This would mean the AD needs to read the script and like it - which is exactly the system that currently exists.

Playwright

Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

10 551

We think this deserves piloting

!'%" " Delphi ranking: 20 (Survey proposal #23)

ACE to make new theatre writing a national development priority, in the same way as Turning Point (visual arts investment) and the Cultural Olympiad were previous national priorities. This would not increase the sum of money available within ACE, but would focus ACE's investment on an area which currently needs it. In effect, this would mean new writing applications (e.g. for touring a new play, or writing time for a playwright) would receive an extra 'weighting' within the assessment process, and would therefore be more likely to be funded than an equally good application from an area of lesser priority. However, theatre's gain would of course be another art form's loss. Points awarded Comments How do you argue the case for this compared to other art forms? Obvs as a writer I think that 10 writing is BEST - guess you could do it for a couple of years to boost literacy, wellbeing, etc. 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary 5 0 0 10 90 0 ACE forced priorities don't always make things a genuine priority for arts sector organisations... Not the right time to refocus funding when most organisations are just trying to survive. Yes, particularly as new theatre writing has suffered disproportionately in the cuts. One of the simplest ideas to put in place, and potentially high impact. Essentially it asks ACE to prioritize new writing - and theatres and other organizations will follow the money... Last sentence. We agree but practically not sure what this means. Not a bad idea, but not as attractive as others here.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

25 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 0 30

should be a priority To pit art forms against each other would reduce cross-media thinking. New plays can be tricky for venues to programme, especially if they don't have a core 'new work' audience, and it is impossible for a small company to underwrite a tour - ACE could help by supporting the 'risk' associated with making and touring new work and fresh important voices. I could get behind this if the period of priority were for a limited time, so as not to detract from other art forms.

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manager Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO

Anonymous 8

0 5

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre

5 0 0 6 20 12 0 2 0 10

great I think this is a good idea. New writing must sit alongside old but there's not enough at the moment. Much as I am passionate about new writing, and sad as I have been to see good work and companies cut, I haven't seen enough evidence that new theatre writing is in any worse condition than other areas. If only this question had been framed slightly differently, and you had said "a commitment to risk-taking" then I would have awarded much higher points but I think what you propose is too limited and specific a category. In general I think the Arts outside of London should be made a national development priority. This amounts to positive discrimination and does not necessarily mean that there will be a quality benchmark to gain the extra weighting There already seems to be a lot of new writing getting funded and produced on its own merits, I don't know if it needs to become any more of a priority for ACE This is the moment to put playwriting back on the public agenda. Excellent idea - too much money spent on admin and accountability As New Writing seems currently disproportionately hit, this is a good idea for a limited period; but we are aware that this competes with other Art forms that may wish to have their turn as priority at a subsequent point. From our perspective new writing receives a considerable chunk of funding and attention. We'd like to see performative work in its widest sense championed and supported by ACE. not sure we agree with extra weighting - priorities need to be reach / engagement / digital - these ideas, not new writing vs. circus vs. dance vs. physical - pitting these against each other isn't right. good theatre is the priority Work that furthers the form of culture should be a priority.

Steven Atkinson

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Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director 3 20 I can see this being a one-off that doesnt even do much good and is never repeated because it's been 'done' This would be a good way to counterbalance the damage done by the current coalition government.

13 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 10 0 25 5 0

Would agree if wording was "new theatre making" rather than "writing" - writing is only one process Would be great for *me* - but yes, not fair. Do we have a good argument for giving new theatre writing priority over other art forms? This would be a very welcome initiative for new writing. again, the theatre-is-playwrighting (solely) emphasis does not help this case at all. I don't think it has enough weight as a NATIONAL development priority.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 0

Couldn't be convinced of this Question practicality and effect.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19

10 6 20 6 23 5 0 0 0

As a temporary to hair the backward slide yes when health returns to the sector in a number if years the priority could shift to a different art form No Comment Yes, but as a playwright I would say that. We dont really have a problem with a dearth of new writing in London, do we? to the rest of the world were a mecca. If anything we lack the space to put them all on. But regionally, I agree, their needs to be a stimulus, and thats really important. Targeted? It is time to re-establish the priority Divide and rule? No Comment Is new writing more of a problem than any other sector within theatre or arts? Widen away from old-fashioned notions of new writing to include larger notions of dramaturgy. Why privilege keyboard tappers over storytellers, puppeteers and

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Susan Hodgetts Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 0 I think all art forms are important. internecine arguments about new writing vs anything else. No our gain, should not be someone else's loss within the Arts community Don't like 'another art form's loss' The Cultural Olympiad has already been theatres loss, one way and another. Id like a period of time in which new writing is promoted. But I don't think this is the one thing that will save us all. (What if local councils focused some funding onto new writing for a while, though? That could go hand in hand with something like #8.) Well, New Writing is a really core strength of the arts in the uk and that strength needs to be sustained. It can't do any harm. I love playwrights. However, if we were going to make a NATIONAL PRIORITY of ACE investment on creating new theatre, it should be collaborative and inclusive, not an initiative to develop a play from a sole playwright. My feeling is - and I may be wrong - that theatre could actually do with catching up to some extent with funding levels for things like dance and static art (when pro-rata levels of involvement / engagement are taken into account) Those of us working in new writing would love this to happen; but ACE has to represent all art forms for all people. I don't think it's fair to weight one art form too strongly against another. I believe that playwrights just need to get better at writing G4A applications - and apply more often. Today's culture is different. Just writing a good script is not enough. Playwrights need to learn how to be producers, how to collaborate and how to apply for funding. We shouldn't ask the ACE to value one way of making theatre above another. (would prefer to concentrate on ideas that increase the pot) I think this is great but through this survey I don't feel we are considering the % of theatres who are actually programming new writing. Although this is difficult I think this is an extremely valid proposal. I feel I need to know more about how this would be implemented (for example, the Olympics was the clear launchpad for the Cultural Olympiad) and I would need to know more to award further points. Think best solutions will come from us being commercially innovative, from creating new ways to collaborate, and from practically removing some basic barriers to production that rising talent faces. It shouldn't be by stealing a bigger portion of the pie from other equally important art forms. Bad form.

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

0 0

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker

0 15 10 0 15 10 0

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich

Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

0 0 0 25

Arzhang Pezhman

Micha Colombo

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Anonymous 22 London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 10 New theatre making, including but not only new writing

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 5 12

No one should loose out. Short-term and not particularly exciting, but possibly useful. I think this would help new companies as well. The only issue with this is that new writing should always be a priority, and it would be difficult to time limit. In addition to getting more new work made this would improve the national profile of new writing and show the government's confidence in it. No, there shouldn't be 'weighting' of any kind, the best projects whatever form should get funded. I mean, yes - great idea...but then I'm a playwright. Question is what proportion of funding should got to new work, and to new writing. It should always be a critical part of the mix, but not a singular momentary prioorty.

35 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 12 0 11 0 546

!'*" " Delphi ranking: 21 (Survey proposal #7)

Theatres develop new work with writer-led organisations, then funds are sourced collaboratively to produce. This will open up new funding streams too. It is important in this climate to inspire playwrights to unite together to form companies etc, which can in turn work with theatres to produce work. A recent example: Bolton Octagon worked with The Alligator Club to produce some new work. The project also explored writers leading the producing and dramaturgical processes. Points awarded Comments 0 could be good - sounds a bit tedious to administrate and a bit committeeish but yeh maybe.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

0 Regional literary manager 10 Regional Chief exec 0 0 0 0 Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright 10

Good idea. Already working with New Writing North, for instance. We already do this - Alligator Club, Box of Tricks etc - but this needs to sit alongside our in-house work and can't be a replacement for that - who chooses the work, who leads on the artistic development of that work - we can support with outside organisations but need to also have areas where we lead on it.

Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience

Theatre should do this anyway if genuine overlap in ambition etc This may only appeal to a particular kind of playwright and so scope for take-up may be limited. Writer-led companies already make new work, which theatres can support if they like the sound of it. This feels a more complicated way of doing what is already there. Nothing wrong with this (and it should be encouraged) but it does happen already for excerpt nights / scratch nights, playwriting slams etc. I dont know what new funding streams it would open up. is this really a new idea??

18 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes 10 0

The reason stated, speak for me Worth some pilot trials, and in particular it raises really relevant issues about creative producing and dramaturgy in the making of new work. Similar to what is already attempted - ie theatres linking with smaller organisations (writer led or not) to develop / support / produce new work.

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Anonymous 6 London literary manager 5 Olivia Amory Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 0 I think this is already happening in some places. But sure, there could be more. NO

0 London-based actor 10 Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional 21 10 0 10 15 10 0 0 15 0

Great idea Brilliant. Great idea in principle - I don't think it's a new thing though (!) It may need incentivising to work. where would funds be sourced collaboratively if one or other couldn't already source them for their work? Too nebulous. A sensible proposal, but again one that is happening organically through groups such as The Alligators. Cross pollination. Of course. solidarity I like We couldn't see that this was any great innovation. Can't really comment as don't have direct experience of writer led organisations. Empowering for writers to become producers and at forefront. Happens already This already happens. BUT the assumption here is that playwrights become producers, and pragmatically this will not be appropriate for many playwrights as to produce successfully is a specific skill, and we shouldn't assume that getting a profile for a piece of art is any less specialist than the creation of the art in the first place. I like the writer involvement, but how does the writers' group decide who gets produced? Not sure if we want theatres to specifically encourage multi-authored work. There's nothing wrong with it, but this idea should be more universal. Like idea of writers taking the lead and becoming more pro-active. Do they really need theatres to support this in the first instance?

0 7 0

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13 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 company London-based playwright 15 London-based playwright 0 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress 0 5 10 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Not sure how well groups of writers will work together! I don't see how this brings in more funding, or promotes risk - in the end, it will still be the theatre that's administering the bulk of the application, and so will have artistic control. I am concerned about any shift towards writers as producers. It is a very different role and my personal view is that writers must be supported to write. so much emphasis on writers! (when there is even less support for new work by non-writer-led orgs, or for companies that don't work in traditional 1 writer/1 director model) More focus could be put to help writers develop their process beyond their scripts to actually imagining their play being realised from themselves. Shared skill use would be good.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth

0 10

Just feel this is writers being forced to write something on a theme Happens to some extent already In my experience I've worked on projects co funded and writer organisation led. They tend to be more involved in development than full production as many if the writer organisations are development and promotion focused in their charters No Comment Maybe. But my experience of The Antelopes was that its strength was its complete independence from theatres. Have often fantasised about this myself. Though to play Devil's advocate i think directors are the best dramaturgs, and writers arent always the best judge of their own work. To be challenged by non writers is important. Great concept Be interesting to hear how the Octagon Alligator model worked No Comment Other ideas more exciting here. x Happy to be involved in the dramaturgical process, but not keen to get into producing and running a company. I've done this before, and really didn't enjoy it. It's not what I feel I do, nor what I want to do. this wont play as ASC E has moved away from this model over the last 5+ years. Not convinced how it will open new funding streams either.

10 8 10 7 17 15 0 0 0 0 0

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Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer 15 25 5 10 1 5 0 3 Playwrights would welcome collaborations of this kind. If something could be added which might encourage the forming of collectives in the first place for example, a D&D open space on the forming of collectives, which could act as an information hub, a dating service, whatever then this proposal melds in nicely with #1 and #2. This feels a bit vague - I think for me it's about THE PLAY and not working to produce evenings of short work I'm not sure about the concept of writers' companies. This should be happening anyway. > Funded orgs should naturally have relationships with writer-led groups; but the strength of the two creatively is in the space between them I can see this working but it doesn't excite me as much as some of the other ideas. It is important for playwrights to work with organisations/form companies. But in my opinion this is something playwrights should be doing anyway. If there's a way to encourage these suggestions that would be a good thing, but I think it's something we all need to be proactive about, not something we should be seeking money for specifically. Anything that unites and empowers writers. I like this - although (I'm sorry if I have a 'but' on every comment), I founded a playwrights company a long time ago and it didn't work because everyone wanted to write and have their work produced by someone else (in this case it was me and it didn't last very long) the part of 'playwrights to unite together to form companies' only works with writers that have a 'can do' attitude and are willing to get their hands dirty and produce, assist, market, ASM etc etc - I'm sorry to say that I haven't found many writers in my life who were willing to do anything other than write and submit their play there are some who do produce their own work, and surprise surprise, they do way better than those who won't. There's a shift that should happen with writers in general - is that now, in the current climate in the UK, actors/directors/ producers have morphed themselves into theatre makers because the new circumstances have meant everyone has to do a bit of everything to get a show on the stage - and I think it's really important for writers to jump on that bandwagon The most important part of this aspect is opening up new funding streams for smaller organisations, who don't know or are not known by funding bodies. Close work with established theatres will be able to inform the writer-led organisations about the dirty, necessary money aspect of creating theatre. I am unclear how this would work. I feel it would lead to inefficiencies and lack of artistic direction. I may be missing something, but not sure why it is beneficial necessarily to have writers leading the producing process vs actual producers?

Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer

5 15

70 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker

12 0

!($" "
Anonymous 22 London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer 10 Writer-led companies as part of a broader support for those making all kinds of work.

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

55 0 13

Good idea! Not sure I'm fully understanding this idea. sounds like a good idea.

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

14 15 15

A good idea, but it already happening. As a member of the Alligator Club I really support this. We found that this approach made it possible to work with big and small arts companies/theatres to make experimental, collaborative writer driven work, without the financial burden falling on those companies. However, the Alligator Club project has only been possible because of Arts Council funding (alongside small amounts from a few other sources) and there would need to be continued support from the Arts Council/ other funding organisations if a large amount of work was to be made using this model. Writer led projects could of course be set up with a more commercial model/ look to commercial support/advertising but I worry this might limit creative ambitions and work against an experimental ethos. Sounds like a good idea, but I'm not entirely sure which writer led organisations would be involved and how writers would become a part of those. This is brilliant. Writers need to be in the room with collaborators from a much earlier stage and enabling this through a formalised scheme would be great and create really interesting work.

0 546

Too complicated and managed

!(%" " Delphi ranking: 22 (Survey proposal #11)

Emerging artists playwrights, devisors, new small companies, actors nominate the established companies or artists which have helped them most. This could be part of a local/regional celebration of shared achievement, added to an existing awards ceremony, or recognised by ACE. The rewards could be positive publicity about collaboration in the Arts rather than cash prizes for already wellfunded companies. Points awarded Comments 0 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre 0 10 0 0 5 10 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 0 10 I don't generally support awards - too elite Providing bigger organisations with incentives to help smaller ones is key to nourishing talent. This is a lovely idea, but doesn't feel top priority at the moment. Quite a nice idea. We all know who they are. I dont know how much of a direct impact it would make on the stated aim though. Fine, but we're working on the myth again that there are so many "well-funded" companies. like this Worthwhile and if can be done, great, but I think there are greater immediate prorioities. Good to know and celebrate which organisations have established / informal support networks for new work. It's a nice idea, but I worry that it's simply back-slapping within the industry, rather than reaching out to those we need to reach. YES Interesting idea - and could encourage more dialogue. again this sounds great in theory but could just be same old same old in practice. Not sure another award system is useful. It would make more sense if established companies and artists nominated emerging artists. That would still generate positive publicity about collaboration in the arts.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

0 Olivia Amory 20

!(&" "
Anonymous 7 Council (ITC) Member of a devising group 0 Anonymous 8 London-based actor I'm not sure if there is any real benefit to this Not sure about this. Could possibly work as part of a big awards ceremony like the Oliviers. But in general, to me this doesn't feel right. Larger organisations shouldn't help emerging artists because they might get an award. They should do it because its part of our artistic and creative culture. It should be a natural instinct and we can cultivate this with initiatives that go deeper than this. Also, as with all awards, there can only be one winner. Something about this grates with me. Not right. Not a fan of award ceremonies and never convinced that self-congratulation helps our industry outside of it. Think it's a red herring. How does this foster and nurture new writing? A really good idea. Emerging artists are so often helped by theatres and organisations opening their doors for meetings and informal mentoring, this should be recognised and celebrated. It's always great to hear about ways in which people are supported by others to do their work. It's really important to share this information so that artists know that they have a network and there are people and opportunities out there for them. Nice to speak good A good way of promoting relationships and creating genuine good news stories that celebrate collaborations. Think it would be good to acknowledge those working to support others in the making/presenting of work or just to operate (!) It would highlight a lot of work that is unseen and foreground the major part big players in the field can play in terms of feeding the rest of the sector. Like TMA, Theatre is awards? doesn't it already exist? difference is emerging artists can nominate. not a priority. would lead to toady-ism, unreliable as a guide to anything of value Cracking idea. Though there will inevitably be debate as to how 'emerging' is qualified, and therefore who should and who shouldn't be able to vote. Not sure wat this will achieve - a similar thing for non-arts orgs might be better? This sounds like a small, but encouraging nudge in the right direction. Nice recognition of collaboration - but awards don't feel like a major priority in times of financial struggle. Spreads glory not cash.

0 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based 0 0 25 5 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 0 11 20 11 0 60 4 15

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Anonymous 14

5 5

!('" "
Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress Zero Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker 0 2 15 Most arts awards are pretty much ignored already. This is already happening with the WG Theatre Encouragement Awards and I'm not sure it addresses the study question. great idea, and would - hopefully - push those who help not at all, or to the least possible extent, to try harder to be more inclusive People often do already in articles etc.I'm also not sure I'm absolutely sold on Award ceremonies, they might give a sense of achievement and some sense of aspiration for those yet to win, but they are also a potentially hierarchical device which frankly good art is above.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 20

a lovely evening but not sure it's more than that Intrigued.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

8 7 0 8 2 10 10 10 20 0

Positive affirmation a good carrot to support engagement from establishment No Comment No. Would lead to a tidal wave of sycophancy in the hope of further work. As long as an award/ target culture doesnt arise buildings should support artists because they believe in them, not because they want the glory. Look back in funding? It works with the Writers Guild Encouragement Awards. Why not? It is important that venues that are already supporting new work and emerging artists are highlighted officially. There are so many venues that say they do this- when in reality.... they dont. Good idea. Like this one - can we add naming and shaming the ones who close their doors? It sounds a bit like a back-slapping fest.

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig

25 0 10

Combine this with 2, as a bottom-up approach Tokenistic I like this, but it feels like its already an inherent part of #1, #2, #7, #10: big companies working

!((" "
with smaller companies. Recognition needs to be more than a nod. In-kind support is great for GFA, and should also do something great for the other party. Yes, something that supports funding. And why not? That's fine, but not something that might have the impact of some other ideas. I don't think this would cut much ice. Perhaps...sounds publicity driven rather than the generosity and supportiveness that SHOULD already be inherent in what we do but sadly isn't. Nice idea. Positive public stories of the support for new work and artists are crucial. I think this is a nice idea and is a good way to celebrate collaboration. As a new playwright/artist, the idea of being 'mentored' can seem out of reach. So a scheme that profiles those established companies/artists might offer the emerging artists a place to start when it comes to looking for help. there are so many awards its hard to believe one more would pack the punch we would like it to. yes and there should be some cash in that ACE recognition too as this would help incentivise new writing with regional companies that risk their box office income by programming new work. I don't think this is as imperative as the proposals that try and help more directly with the process i.e. space, funding etc. Simple idea that might lead toward a key change in the industry regarding how we define success. Is it purely about individual talent and achievements? No it should also be about legacy - how much you give to those earlier on in their journey. Awards ceremony could be sponsored by a brand to help with costs and would get great media coverage for all concerned. This is lovely but I'm not sure it would matter.

Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman

Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and

5 5 1 10 20 3 8 0 10 2

Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

10 0

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 15 13 0

Dont understand how this benefits new work??? Very much like the idea of acknowledging and celebrating larger companies / artists who help smaller. Very good idea. I fear this might become pats on the backs of those with a high profile, whilst young artists need this recognition more.

!()" "
lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble While this seems a small part of the picture it could be positive in putting focus on the need for artists to be supported, could promote debate and also help strengthen existing theatre/artist relationships. I love the idea of naming the good guys, the shining examples, they deserve recognition. The giving of support and advice is, in my opinion, pretty healthy and it is done in a personal and rewarding way. I don't know anyone who has asked for help and it hasn't been given where it can be. I'm not sure that prizes would make this work any better, it feels a little x-factorish. Effective way to big up cross fertilisation/mentoring

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

10 25 5 10 525

!(*" " Delphi ranking: 23 (Survey proposal #4)

Your name Your job title Theatres set up writers' network groups, and as part of this provide free or reduced fee access to workshops with resident and touring companies. Points awarded Comments 3 How do the theatre companies make money from their workshops then?

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

0 Regional literary manager 10 Regional Chief exec 0 0 0 0 Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright 5

This is a good idea that we already do individually and are part of regional consortium We already do this extensively and have a range of events throughout the year including free workshops, events, discussions and discounted tickets

Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience

We do this anyway, other should too Good idea in isolation but would do little to help save new work. Playwrights can set up their own groups, without costing theatres money that could be spent on commissions & productions. And many playwrights would rather have fewer workshops, not more. Nothing wrong with this, but its already a widespread practice. It also emphasizes the amateur writer, and I think that as a sector we need to focus on supporting writers to work professionally if we are to achieve the stated aim (protect risk-taking etc). Free - but who's actually paying? Why free?

10 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 10 0

Within reason I'd say something more along the lines of network groups to include, yes, of course, writers, but also directors, dramaturgs etc. Who can join the groups? I believe some theatres already do this, largely for local schools. It's a nice idea, might be better if it specified that the touring company would get a better deal or split from the house in exchange for providing the workshop at low/no cost. NO

5 Olivia Amory Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) 0

!)+" "
Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Member of a devising group 0 London-based actor 10 These kinds of groups already exists so it would need theatres to recognise this. I think this is a good idea provided the workshops are funded well enough for writers to truly develop their script with actors. If not, this proposition feels woolly. Quite a nice idea, but in my experience theatres running their own "Writers' groups" is only productive when there's a resident playwright, literary manager or someone who cares employed to lead the vision for it. Participation in the group has to be a rewarding experience in and of itself otherwise this kind of thing is just a bit cynical - for "box ticking" purposes. This probably needs fleshing out a bit more eg what define a workshop and what would their purpose be? This is certainly a sensible proposal and one that is already happening in several theatres throughout the country. I would add that if writers' groups were being set up, would it be useful to have groups for theatremakers generally to allow potential collaborators to meet. A great way to get writers engaged with other writers and actors. And a way to get to know the work from the inside. can't get excited sounds old This already exists extensively. Don't consider this to be as impactful as some other points in terms of supporting writers Isn't this happening anyway? more formalised agreement between touring companies and venues and their provision for already existing groups. But touring companies may rely on income from the workshops - onus on theatres to subsidize workshops / still pay touring company? Happens already I dont understand this proposition - specifically why, if the group is affiliated with a theatre bundling, is three access granted to touring companies visiting the building. I presume that this question is based on the assumption that the building doesn't have an in-house artistic programme. But pragmatically, relationships between resident / touring companies and buildings vary so greatly, I think it would be impossible to legislate for this access to happen across the industry. Will hopefully reduce 'competition' atmosphere - also encourage cross-theatre links It would be nice for theatres to provide space for writers to meet. Space is more important than workshops. Should be easy enough to do - does capacity exist in touring companies...etc... to deliver these workshops? Some exist.

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer

5 0 15 5 0 0 0 10 0

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13 Anonymous

Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright

4 30 5

14 5

!)!" "
14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright 0 Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremaker London-based actress 0 5 5 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director It's production that writers need, not network groups. I'm not sure this directly addresses the study question. we all do/run/engage in workshops loads of the time. this isn't the big need right now. ok idea but not sure who the workshops are aimed for- the writers or the companies?

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig

0 0

there are enough groups out there Enough groups currently around.

12 25 10 10 10 15 0 0 0

This is really effective no brainer a win win for both sides No Comment Fair enough idea, but not a game changer. This is probably happening already in some places. ok Not ambitious enough From writer's perspective good. No Comment Does this not happen quite widely already? x I like this idea. Can help the lonely writer feel more connected to a theatre on a more regular basis. But would it be selective, or could anyone join? In practice, would the network groups be overwhelmed, particularly in London? I've got a feeling also that this might end up an extra administrative burden on theatres that they don't want/don't have time for. this should and does happen anyway I think this more or less goes on anyway Shuhari is a Japanese martial art concept, and describes the stages of learning to mastery. Shu is the first stage, of learning fundamentals and techniques. Ha is the second, in which one starts to

Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker

10 5 0 0

!)#" "
detach from tradition and explore ones own path. Ri is the third, in which one transcends technique entirely, all moves becoming natural and instinctive. In my experience, those who are at the first stage take workshops and not risks. Those at the second stage take risks and not workshops. Those at the third stage know that there are no risks. Or workshops. This feels like it's happening already. Also - I wonder if networks that develop organically rather than in the terms of a theatre - might work better. They already do this. Not sure I understand what this is really suggesting. Writers having free access to workshop with companies? Does this mean they get to workshop some of their work with a company? What does the company get from it? Is this a collaboration, or is the writer getting free ideas from actors? (I've known actors who have been exploited in workshops like these, whose ideas ended up in final productions but were not paid for the time, credited, or even offered an audition for the final show). I absolutely believe that working text on its feet with actors is a phenomenal way to develop and refine scrips, but this is a very delicate process which should be handled appropriately by the writer, director and theatre/studio offering the time to develop work. I would need to know more about the ins and outs of what is being proposed to make a fair comment. Nice idea, but tangential to the problem for me. Many theatres do this already. Although I think writer's networks can be a fantastic, I think for many writers (those working in other jobs to pay the mortgage, those with families) they can also be a distraction from actually making new work when writing time is precious. I believe this happens in many theatres already, All theatres should be doing this anyway! But the idea needs to be clearer about the theatres should do this. (First refusal, forging relationships, writers prepared to talk on post-show panels etc... etc...) This is good but - sorry for all the buts- as a writer I'm very doubtful of the use of some writers groups (i.e. I never saw the use of Bushgreen for instance) and a network for writers should be UK based (or regional) rather than venue based. I think a really good example is the YV director's network - they offer lots of workshops, send alerts for jobs, provide free tickets, etc - one like that for writers would be amazingly useful. On top of this, free or reduced access to shows on at the theatres and with the resident and touring companies. This has happened in the past, and I feel it is important for practitioners to do workshops and to see as much work as possible. Different ideas from different angles is essential to the process. Unclear structure, costing plan, benefits. Do this as makers including but not only writers.

Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer

10 10

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer

0 10 5 0 5 15

60 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company

7 0 30

!)$" "
Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer

50 0 6

This is a workable idea and should be implemented across the country. Dull. And all about writers, not about audiences, programming, etc. I would like to see this opened up to actors as well.

5 Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 16 5 8

Many theatres already do this. I know theatres that do this already on some scale (Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, Manchester Royal Exchange) and have really appreciated that kind of support. Many theatres do already do this. I feel like this already exists. Or at least the workshops are available. Should writer's get them for less than average punters? Yes- in principal I love this because I'm a writer but it feels a little incrowdish.

Should be happening anyway

495

!)%" " Delphi ranking: 24 (Survey proposal #32)

ACE (or a devolved agency) to administer small 'soft loans' for organizations. [Note: This is a lowerrisk version of point 19 above]. Some organizations (within theatre and other art forms) have a perfectly sound business plan for a project that should break even commercially, but can't raise the initial funding to make it happen (e.g. 4k could pay for the Research and Development for a new high-quality piece of children's theatre that will tour extensively and eventually repay the initial investment). Loans could be the answer for some, and would help spread the risk for small companies. Depending on the size and complexities of the project, the loan could be granted on a straight repayment basis or a 'first call / second call' basis- i.e. not repaid until earned back Points awarded Comments 15 again, a no brainer 0 Anonymous 2 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional literary manager 10 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) 0 10 0 0 Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 0 0 10 0 5 Olivia Amory 10 See comment above re loans This offers a practical and attainable way for a considered business plan to come to fruition. Theatre is so risky that I worry that loans would create debt for theatre companies. Not likely to make a high impact on risk taking in new writing, but could be very useful for some companies. I think point 19 above (the same process for individuals) would have a higher impact, though higher risk. Leave ACE out of it. Real people can do this. loans equal debt, this worries me Why would somebody opt for a soft loan for R&D rather than applying to ACE for R&D? Could that mean ACE operating a two-tier system? And what would the criteria for righting off the loan be? Still, soft loans can be a way to get work on.. Risk of debt? However confident the organisation is in its project. Yes. Grand. YES Could be interesting in encouraging playwrights to be entrepreneurial. Not necessarily a priority compared to other options

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

!)&" "
Anonymous 7 Member of a devising group 0 Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries London-based actor 10 Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatremak er London-based actress 0 20 5 5 10 0 not enough expertise in this area to comment If it would help and the risk is minimal then yes. Requires sound and responsible artistic directorship, obviously. I don't think ACE should offer loans for the reason stated above. Great idea to start-up projects and alleviate the risk. Good model of partnership working An idea that could work, or could drive companies to create work that they see as being commercially successful, rather than the work they actually want to create. Give these organisations a chance to get their idea off the ground. As before - I benefitted from this in early career and support it We didn't see this as beneficial to our way of working. Tackles a huge challenge we face when devising new work and are beholden to funders timescales (up to 6 months etc) A scheme such as this would potentially keep the momentum on a project and enable risk taking impossible otherwise using fairly small amounts of money that would make an enormous difference to a project happening or not. might work - but how would you legislate if you couldn't pay it back / defaulting on the loan? loans would not be repaid Same issues as those I had with point 19. Admin'-heavy but seems realistic Feels too similar to 19.

Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11 Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

30 10 0 0 8 0

Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16

12 15 0 6 10 5

See 19 Workable. A grant, essentially. I would oppose loans to playwrights but perhaps not to producers, as this point is suggesting. yes. though again, so many of us often work alone, and this needs an organisation to exist in the first place. Something in this but is it for people who haven't managed to get funding but the ACE like the

!)'" "
idea, so its like a second-prize effect or would people be actively applying for a loan instead of applying for funding. Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

30 10

a bit like a student loan - you might not get it all back, but certainly most of it! Loans, idea worth exploring. Very difficult to generate the financial model for this as funding exists in indefinite suspension not tied to any calendar deadlines No Comment What if a project doesn't break even? Does the company pay from elsewhere in its budget? Does it affect its ACE funding in the future? ok Soft loans = purgatory Seems like a question for organisations. No Comment This is an excellent idea and one I have thought should happen for a long time! x This sounds more viable than point 19, and pressure would fall on the organization rather than an individual playwright, which I think is less exposing and pressurised for the playwright. This is more thought through than 19. Debt, again. As before: Im not sure I want to take on a loan, to be honest. If Im taking risks with my work, risks on new collaborations, risks running a company because thats how I can get my work on and then risks with a loan too. I think I might keel over from too much risk. This doesnt feel like freedom to me. It feels like more things to learn about, understand, administrate. Yep, sounds good. I think this is useful Very sceptical of this. I think it will create more admin and trouble than it will solve. Again, slightly wary of a loans system... could easily feel like a 'weight' on the production. Point 19 is stronger.

4 2 0 8 2 5 0 45 0 15 25 0

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus

0 10 10 0 5 0

!)(" "
Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer 3 8 15 This would appeal to me as a playwright in an early stage of my career. This is a better idea than point 19, as the organisations would be able to pay the loan back. seems a lot of benefit to be had from a small amount of money and the artists appear better protected in the pay back clause. I say no to lobbying for loans, we must lobby for well deserve funding and make sure that we argue the case that all funding we receive creates benefits to our communities! Use the Soho theatre model to explain how much more theatres turn around when given funding, show how many BBC writers come from theatre.... It does open the process to being 'business as investment' which in some cases is an excellent idea. It would also teach all parties involved more about the risks they should and shouldn't take. Great idea,simply overcoming a common barrier (cash flow) What happens if it doesn't break even?

0 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22 Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 10 10 0

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 10 9

Loans do not pay your rent! I like the idea of theatres being able to pay back investment and then keep profit if they have done brilliantly with audiences. I'm nervous of the impact on funding for work which is not commercially viable. Something worth considering further? Repayments

5 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 12 0 15

Same point as above. This makes more sense to me than 19 which refers to loans for writers to create scripts. I think the idea of loans applies much better to a production/ a script that is ready to go. (See notes on 19) I don't like the loan approach at all - putting more risk on arts, not fair Loans are a smart idea and encourage theatre companies to have tight business plans. I worry, however, that it will put too much pressure on new companies to be commercially successful rather than creatively confident.

20 494

We would find this useful right now

!))" " Delphi ranking: 25 (Survey proposal #17)

Ask existing philanthropists, companies and individuals, to act as advocates to encourage others e.g. at public events, in press interviews, on post-show panels, and on company websites and to make clear what the benefits have been for them or their organisation. Talk the governments language philanthropy and branding. Points awarded Comments 2 26 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec 0 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) 20 0 0 5 15 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 10 0 We should be doing this anyway Smart idea to encourage supporters to be the promoters rather than the artists banging their own drum. I think we should speak for ourselves. Nothing wrong with this but these processes are already formalized via organizations such as Arts and Business (and happen informally via individual venues/companies). Yes - but don't talk the government's language - it only encourages them and it's ssooo boring. yes, spread the word As this suggestion stands, these philanthropists, companies and individuals speaking at post-show panels would be speaking to the 'arts' converted. Wouldn't the aim be to indicate to others like them about the benefits in order for philanthropists like them would be converted? s Yes. But the government should not be able to excuse their lack of investment by pointing out how successful philanthropy and branding is. Indeed. The worry here is that the more philanthropists speak out, the more government is able to turn around and say, 'There you are, you don't NEED public subsidy, you have all these lovely rich people willing to fund you.' It's important - the interview with the founder of Genesis / interviews with Bruntwood etc cynical about this working but yes let's try It would be easier to do this in London but we do need to highlight the importance of cultural development to businesses and individual philanthropists.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

Olivia Amory

NO

!)*" "
Anonymous 7 Member of a devising group 0 Anonymous 8 London-based actor 5 Great idea This is a good idea in principle, but I think it will fall into the general problem of philanthropy, which is that it is concentrated around the sexy, established companies like the national, the Almeida, the Donmar- London based companies. Also it's not short of what a lot of theatres are already doing with fundraising videos/ trailers etc. This wouldn't be something that's high up my list of priorities. Clearly we need advocates everywhere we can get them, but I think some of the drive towards this "branding and philanthropy" is rather cynical. People aren't stupid and they know what is honest and what is spin. Hence I think the last thing we need to do as a whole sector, is talk the government's language. We need to resist it, and to build a ground swell of support for the Arts, because in lots of places around the country audiences have sometimes been betrayed. What we need to do is stop making all the work in London, get over ourselves, connect with real people again, try to engage them and enable their stories to be heard. What we need to be speaking and listening to and understanding is the language of the people - not the language of the politicians who nobody trusts any more. Find new advocates in the mould of the What Next campaign A good idea - but one that needs to backed up by the organisations receiving philanthropic donations - what are we giving back? We definitely need these people speaking up! Competitive philanthropy An ironic campaign could be run, where we 'out' politicians who have been spotted at an Arts event - making the point that they are themselves consumers and beneficiaries of the Arts. Yes think we all need to get better at that and priortise this yes. good idea. but we need more of this But this already happens. Yes, even working in the arts the backers and companies often feel 'shadowy' and this needs addressing We shouldn't encourage our society to head in the direction of the USA in terms of funding. We should show a united front fighting this trend.

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright

5 10 10 2 10 13 10 13 0 10 7 0

!*+" "
Anonymous 13 Director of small regional company 5 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright 20 0 0 5 15 Happening already. Don't agree with always talking the government's language either - artists should not be subservient and should not be scared to challenge the status quo. No cost, no harm! Sponsors like comfortable work, not risk-taking. Not sure how this protects risk-taking and new talent. yes but ... if they don't get it, they don't get it. we are already spending so much of our time persuading for money rather than making work, this suggests we spend even more time persuading for money Yes and is relatively cheap and easy to introduce.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 10

we need to talk playwriting, words, hearts and mind, not branding. Nice idea, unsure if can convince anyone to do it...

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

10 18 10 8 2 0 0 15 0 15

Surely this happens already? But worth an extra push No Comment People do this already, but yes, let's keep it coming. ok What's at risk for the advocates if they don't advocate? What compells them? NIce idea, but nothing's at stake to encourage others to do what? No Comment Great idea - the trick will be persuading philanthropists to do this! x It might encourage others to support the arts, and any way to spread the word is good. Philanthropists tend to like to do what they do their way. Skilled fundraising folk and other wealthy bods can work out how best to nudge them. That is all. Worth a try but, based on my experience, not many of them would get on board.

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

0 5

!*!" "
and teacher. If others dont already see the potential financial benefits of philanthropy and lets face it, philanthropy is all about raising your company profile so you can make more money then this isnt going to help them see it. More financial benefits would help them see it. Maybe, but again I think there's a danger in implicating playwrights in the PR for corporations I think this undermines public sector funding. Yes, we need philanthropy. There's a giving culture in the States that doesn't seem to exist here. Also, the government should give tax incentives for people to do this. I suspect they do as much of this as they're comfortable with already - if it suits their agenda they'll speak about it, if it doesn't I'm not sure they can be lobbied effectively Think this happens already. This would very much depend on who the philanthropists are and what impression of theatre they are sending out. This is a good idea, but I think we should be talking and developing our own language, not the government's. do you mean these people encourage each other? The wording is not entirely clear. But yes, i think this is a good idea. Very difficult to gauge the impact and monitor if this encouragement actually takes place. This is already being done by all development programmes at theatre venue level. The difficulty is for smaller companies to attract philanthropy because they normally behave like corporates on their giving and want big/ flashy rather than contribute to smaller companies. I think they all know what the benefits are for them as companies and that's why they do it (same with the individuals) the real question here is - how do we get them to give to smaller companies??? Perhaps there could be a central theatre 'money gatherer' who can draw the attention of investors (i.e. the NT) and fundraises additional funds for small companies who cannot attract the attention of funders? Instead of just writing a cheque, it would show that they were actively interested in the work they were supporting. In an age of tight budgets, it is more valuable to invest in projects where it is easier to directly measure effectiveness and impact. This kind of influence-based advocacy is great, and hopefully people will be doing this already to some degree, but I don't feel it's as big a priority or as good a use of public funds as other ideas proposed here. As part of a broader thrust, perhaps. I don't just want the government's language talked though. Ok!

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer

0 5 5 40 5 10 0 6 10

0 Arzhang Pezhman Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, 3

Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

0 10 0

Scott Anderson

!*#" "
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer

Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

3 13

Feel like this is already being done? Great idea but should not be an excuse for the government to not fund the arts.

10 Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

5 15 3 10 479

This can only help. There are of course positive examples of corporate funding for subsidised theatres (clearly the Bruntwood) but politically I can't support a campaign for charitable/ business support to prop up theatre. Our government has a responsibility and I fear an extreme scenario in which those philanthropists who pay for theatre get to decide what theatre is. A good idea, they need to speak out and therefore encourage others in the same position as them to do likewise Again I feel tutoring and mentorship works well in the industry already. Theatre advocates lays itself open to using art to benefit politics which is a very complicated relationship to enter into. Interesting but small part of solution

!*$" " Delphi ranking: 26 (Survey proposal #24)

ACE to administer an award recognizing excellence in regional and local theatres (focusing on innovation and new writing), with a view to stimulating the regional touring part of the ecology, thereby making it easier financially and managerially to tour new plays. Along the same lines as the Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year, such an award could help to stimulate local authority and other public or private investment in local theatres, as well as helping to generate local pride in and ownership of theatres. This could have a positive appeal to local authority-run venues - awards and their attendant publicity help win elections. Points awarded Comments I don't know how successful the Art Fund has been but yes if it is proven to actually stimulate local 5 authorities and local pride then yes good idea 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Coordinators, 0 20 0 0 0 15 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 0 10 See above re awards Signifies a collegiate approach and possibly large community pay-off. Feel this would be hard to communicate to audiences. This is a version of pt 11, above. Although I think it would help, there are higher-impact ideas here. Not ACE's job to do awards. Local pride is fine but actually we need a national commitment to cough up more money for the arts. Because they're nice. great way to raise profile Yes, would be helpful and good for local pride and ownership, but it's not a priority. If a local community know that their theatre has received an award / recognition for new work, they are more likely to take a chance and book a ticket. Well thought through. Good idea. Could also serve to motivate theatres whose programme is less than inspiring! NO Not sure another award system is necessary Excellence in regional and local theatres is different from regional touring and this does not understand the regional model of working and the way in which the regional theatres, particularly the "Big 11", are in constant dialogue and collaborate on a number of levels

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

15 Olivia Amory 0

!*%" "
Anonymous 7 Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based 0 10 20 20 15 25 10 9 0 2 0 10 4 5 This is a lot of work and time Very good. This is could make a difference. I think this idea sounds like it could make a difference. Useful tool to raise awareness and profile of theatres and companies that produce new writing and take risk, incentive A strong proposal, there's a significant amount of exciting, innovative work taking place in regional theatres, and if it had greater recognition it would inspire other organisations to follow suit. Definitely a positive way to encourage the enormously important work of regional theatres. Great stimulus Seems a good idea - a useful calling card for sponsorship later. Not sure an award scheme is the best way to stimulate regional touring and think funding work rather than another awards scheme should be the priority. More work for ACE! Just be a non-cash prize for pride? exists in some forms already. need to understand further. would this go to theatres? no! Great. I'm resistant to awards. Maybe a 'hot list' of 4-5? Might encourage them to work together rather than compete? Great idea.

Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

4 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda 5 0 0

Where would funds come from to do this? . Nobody pays much attention to awards. I would argue in the current climate, resources ought to be put into creating work, rather than

!*&" "
Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 playwright Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 0 0 giving awards. touring in the UK needs a radical re-vamp. this simply reinforces what is already a not-working structure. I'm not sure I think the ACE are the people to judge excellence and anyway what criteria would you be judging excellence on. Theatre is subjective.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 0

Do we have enough awards already Question practicality and effect.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

8 10 0 10 2 10 0 15 0 0

On a managerial level would promote receiving new work No Comment Not another award. Sure Why not appoint a New Theatre Capital each year instead and have cities apply to host a year of new writing for the year? Certainly worth further investigation. No Comment Good idea but can a company not sponsor the award? Something about an ACE led award feels very much like ACE rewarding its own. x I don't think this is the answer Needs more thinking, but the Get out of London and the metropolitan new writing bias is worth investing in Worth a try, apart from the 'win elections' bit. I would imagine that the public have a very different recognition of the Arts Council than we do in the business. Im not sure how much this would generate local pride in that sense. But politically, I can see how it might be useful. It doesnt seem a broad enough proposal to really have an impact on new writing and risk-taking, though that may just be me not knowing enough about touring. Fine. Isn't there already such an award? Yes, that could be helpful.

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

50 10

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer

0 5 10

!*'" "
Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22 Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright 0 10 ACE shouldn't be doing this, an external organisation should. > Regional touring is suffering hugely. Transport costs, ageing audiences, weak programming, local authorities giving up on venues - this is the area where an injection of cash and energy is desperately needed to revive the small and mid-scale touring circuits and encourage them to take new work. Touring work to cold spots is an important part of getting new writing out there - and I think it's also important that the regions are seen as the home of new writing as well as London. This is useful, but I'd suggest it rewards 'innovation' rather than also 'new writing'. Unfortunately the label 'new writing' has become narrow and might not be applied to writing that is new. (I don't know enough to have an opinion here) Regional touring is suffering a lot at the moment and I'm not sure an award will change this. It would certainly force LAs to invest more in their local theatres, but again I suppose it would mean a reduction in funding for other areas. There's definitely potential here, although am slightly unclear how this would be managed. Would have to be careful it didn't become an industry back-slapping gesture rather than concrete support for those needing it. Would this really work in the short-medium-term?

40 3 8 0 0 6 5 0

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 5 12

Sounds too competitive..... theatre isnt a sport. Awards for excellence in regional innovation nice idea & accept the local authority argument; not sure what impact this would have on regional touring? Good idea This might be a nice idea, but it is again focusing on well funded organisations, but it does of course give them a slight incentive to help individual artists and new companies. This could be very positive. If we want to promote playwriting nationally there has to be more awareness of work outside London. I don't believe the current regional awards make it "easier financially and managerially to tour new plays" so I don't think this kind of award would either Yes, not normally one for awards and prizes but if it helps put focus onto and energy into regional work then it sounds great.

10 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson 12 0 11

!*(" "
Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 10 476 Maybe linked to 11

!*)" " Delphi ranking: 27 (Survey proposal #31)

This idea has two phases. Phase One: Theatres lobby local organisations i.e. housing organisations to take the 1% for the arts approach. This approach involves an organisation giving away 1% of their profit to sponsor local arts initiatives. The argument: art creates a healthier community. Phase Two: Theatres work with writers to create plays that explore the challenges facing their town/city. This work will be part funded by organisations who have signed up for 1% for the arts. Points awarded Comments hmmm good luck with that in a recession, I imagine the response would be "we'd love to but we 0 are laying people off right now so how can we invest 1%?" 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Regional Chief exec Theatre Director 30 10 Good idea, but not as attractive as others here. We work closely with various organisations who work, through the CSR work, to support local initiatives. I love this and think we could encourage lots of organisations to support this, eg health sector, local authorities, Town Teams etc Joins the Arts up well with other organisations and promotes writers. I would prefer to try to make links between arts & communities in different ways; so much of this work is going on already & is phenomenal; this feels like potentially reinventing the wheel. It's a huge shame that the Hampstead Theatre's wonderful education & outreach work is no longer funded; it was really successful at reaching out to different audiences & making relevant & excellent work. Percent for arts is a long-established idea, but it can probably be mined further in terms of its application to new writing. Support. Yes, but lobby the government for 1%. Phase Two - yes but let's have them writing plays about what they want to write about. love it, but will they agree? Although organisations may say, look we need that 1% for our clientele, but this is a great way to have to make the argument for what the arts are in terms of a healthier community. Other departments - housing, health etc - are already under pressure, and it would be difficult to convince people that this would be a good spend. An intriguing idea. I think it can work, I would hope to see a more sophisticated way of expressing The Argument, as I'm sure many have already expressed this argument til they were blue in the face.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6

Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager

0 15 5 0 20 0

10

!**" "
Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO

Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

0 35 5 0 10 10 10 0 0 2 0

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer

not enough expertise in this area to comment I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea. Inspiring. I'm sure there's something in the core idea of this but in its current form it sounds a bit like it might get bogged down in the politics of individual business interests. And therefore maybe not produce the best plays? - but I'm probably wrong. With budgets so tight in the public and voluntary sector, is this feasible? An interesting proposal that could result in greater cohesion between artists and their local communities, thereby strengthening engagement with and support for the arts. Companies should be asked how they will benefit the communities they build in before they are given permission to do so. This works well for sculptures and things but plays ephemerality needs more recognition Couldn't see the '1% for the arts' working 1% seems too tokenistic and although it might facilitate work happening not sure this is the best partnership model for producing the best quality work possible will businesses sign up to this? theatres area already struggling to secure corporate sponsorship / engagement which has radically dropped off in recent years. Not sure how this might work. bit indirect, wouldn't achieve much impact It's an additional tax where tale business / organisation might come to hate culture for having it forced upon it as an additional tax. However, businesses that I think should have an extra tax should be all the companies registered with HMRC that trade in English television, film and radio markets. The tax revenues should go directly back to ACE. The logic being that these creative industries make lots of money for themselves and their artists by the commercial exploration or artists identified and developed by the subsidised sector. Again, how easy to sell outside the arts industry? This is basically a specific marketing idea for private sponsorship. I don't think it would be worth the time to pursue this specifically. Given the current climate, people should be doing this anyway.

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company

0 5 0

Do not think it is workable or exciting.

#++" "
Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 10 0 0 15 15 1% of *profit*, yes. Aim for private firms too. Why would financially-stretched organisations agree to this? I'm wary of playwrights being asked to write plays linked with funders areas of interest. yes, engagement, social inclusion. good idea. Phase 1 was a bit confusing. Theatres lobby but who is that benefits- are they part of the sponsored local arts intiative?

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 0

I've not heard of a housing organisation that's seriously in profit Question practicality and effect.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

3 16 0 7 5 5 0 20 0 20

Good theory needs a big producing/ admin infrastructure around it No Comment Heart in the right place but strikes me as a bit optimistic. Art creates healthier communities love this, and love idea of community having a stake in the work. But how do you get those that have had money taken from them (i.e housing) to come see it? We are the One Percent? This is well intentioned, but Waiting for Godot would never have been written under this model. Or Blasted. Like the notion but whenever theatres get involved in the local politics of "would you rather your money was spent on your granny in A&E, a bobby on the beat or a new play?" theatre loses. No Comment Excellent idea - as above in that creating art for and around community feels like a great way of increasing local engagement from councils, companies, artists and audiences. Not bad - but why not for-profit organisations too? I think this is a fair idea.

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

10 0

Try it. Don't think said organisations could afford to do this.

#+!" "
Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer 0 5 5 20 15 5 50 7 0 0 1 5 10 A healthier community would have to be something that the contributing organisations really care about, and something that those specific projects should be tailored towards. For me, that makes it too specific an opportunity to really encourage risk-taking in new work. Sure. Who knows if it will work but this could be an interesting project if it were an interesting project! I think this is too prescriptive. Great, let's do it. Good idea. Local authority led initiative. I believe it is important to take theatre into communities who don't currently access the arts, in order to build new audiences for new work, and working with housing associations is a great way to do this. A good idea that, as a writer, doesn't particularly inspire me. too complicated and too specific in terms of the writers' remit. yes, why not? if they are willing to give 1% ... I'd like to know more about this proposal before possibly awarding more points, as it doesn't seem as focused as the other proposals. Nice idea. Imagine it will be hard to get off the ground though. Would need to be backed up by great empirical evidence to help potential investors. Interesting not sure it would work but if it did.

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 5 10

Sounds Ok! I like that this is thinking about local work with and for local organisations. Don't feel optimistic about its practicality as an idea, though. Like point 1 the most, trepidacious of making worthy/community based work.

Bolton has a good example of this happening.

#+#" "
Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 7 5 0 10 472 While the objectives here are great I worry about whether community organisations would be able to/ prepared to spare that profit. Nice idea, but again would stretched theatre depts be able to give it the time and effort needed? The community residencies are a stronger idea I think. This 1% for the arts feels it is coming from the wrong direction. Artists need to want to work in the community rather than communities searching for artists that may not be there. Like the first bit, second bit is a bit proscriptive.

#+$" " Delphi ranking: 28 (Survey proposal #33)

ACE to change its operating model to include a commercial / income-generating strand, using part of its Treasury allocation (say, 10 million) to invest commercially in broadly arts-based enterprises, generating a return on its investment which can then be ploughed back into Grants for the Arts/National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs). This practice (if successful) could potentially mean the money being used twice (or more) for the arts - first to invest in a commercial production and then (with the return on that investment) to subsidize e.g. regional touring of new plays. This approach would involve an element of risk, but the investment portfolio would be made up of a mix of high risk / high return projects and low risk / low return ones - even a small, low risk project would mean money being used more than once for the arts. And even a 'failed' investment would still be money into the arts, albeit into the more commercial sector. (The sum in question doesn't have to be 10m - ACE could run a small pilot and grow the enterprise from there). Potentially some income-generating projects could be run in partnership with NPOs or other key agencies within the arts ecology. (NB: approval would likely be needed from ACE National Council, Charity Commission and perhaps DCMS). Points awarded Comments 15 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec 0 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional 0 0 Possibly a good option but think this is bigger than just new writing, needs a lot of thought I think the idea of risk taking in that way with public money is fraught with possibility for trouble, politically and image wise for the Arts. Again, theatre is just too risky to this kind of approach. I think this model could work for ACE as a whole, giving ACE greater agency, and would result in more money overall into the arts. Thinking about it more, I am not sure how much impact it would make specifically on risk-taking in new writing (although it might convince a large producing house backed by ACEs commercial wing - to commission an ambitious play that has a potentially high impact). But it would be a more sustainable model. Sounds dodgy to me. CLEARLY a good idea Good idea, but not as attractive as others here. I don't think this fully appreciates the way in which regional theatres form their programmes and collaborate on a number of different levels with other organisations and what is necessarily "high risk".

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

30 Will Wollen 0

#+%" "
Anonymous 5 Freelance playwright 10 Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 5 Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor good one Income-generating and ploughing it back into GFA and NPOs sounds good, but to be able to predict commercial success has its complexities. Yes, a 'failed' investment would still be money in the arts, but I return to the aspect of predicting a commercial success is easier after the fact than before. Worth a pilot, though. Dangerous use of funds. Risk led. A gamble. Wow. Very sophisticated. Is the Arts Council, as a government body, allowed to have an incomegenerating strand? Is it allowed to make commercial investments? If so, great.

Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6

10 0

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO

Anonymous 8

0 0

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah Tyrrell-

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic

10 10 0

not enough expertise in this area to comment I don't think it's right for the arts council to become a commercial organisation like this. There is the core of a great idea here. I would have awarded further points but I just have some concerns about some of the nuances around the words "commercial" and "income-generation", though in principle I think ACE recouping money from its investments is great (as long as it's ALL reinvested in straight into the Arts). I want to be clear that I'm against ACE having its own producing wing, and I think the first model you mention sounds too high risk given how hard it is to second guess what a successful commercial arts enterprise is/will be. I think investment should be into ENTIRELY (not broadly) arts-based enterprises. ACE does/has had a generally very good light-touch as a distributor of funding which allows a very diverse range of art and artists to be supported - so this light-touch and breadth of vision / support needs to be upheld. It's crucial that any commercial imperatives operating within ACE are there to serve the vision of Great Art for Everyone, and it's vital that they don't change the kind of organisation that ACE is, and its great strengths. I think it might be better to have a simpler proposal for this which is that ACE should receive back a percentage of its investment in any project which is then redistributed. This is the same (I think) as Creative England. This should be on a sliding-scale in line with the turnover of organisations. Making the money work for the arts. Obviously it would need more thought but a good idea to start from. An interesting idea, but I think it would probably be of greater benefit to set up a separate

#+&" "
Pinder Anonymous 9 Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic organisation making similar investments in the arts, balancing the commercial and subsidised sectors. 23 10 0 If this means more money generated by the arts goes to the arts we need to adopt it! Recycling is good Seems to run counter to their remit, expertise, and may be against their formal constitution. In theory sounds interesting, in practise I would worry that ACE would then be chasing the new commercial hit in order to keep its budget balanced. We all know that commercial hits can come very unexpectedly and after years of development so feels too risky a proposal and one that would compromise ACE's commitment to funding work of the highest quality regardless of its commercial potential. ACE acting as a commercial producer?? or in partnership - interesting to encourage greater connections with commercial theatre but not sure this is the answer of doubtful legality? Currently the model is such that ACE gives a pot of money that is a proportion of an organisations turnover, and the additional investment that this investment yields goes back in to the theatre. If ACE invested in making its own profits this would surely mean that some capital that would otherwise go to arts organisations would be allocated here, and arguably arts organisations are the better places to generate income rather than ACE because the business models are totally different. Could get killed by the bureaucracy ACE would do better to invest its money in the stock market. It would be the same principle, but less risk. This kind of investment also runs the risk of making great losses as well as gains. Would we be happy for ACE to lose public funds? Risky, difficult policy to sell. Commercial investments in the arts are too risky to be a reliable money-making venture. I feel we should lobby for the subsidised sector, arguing it is an investment and not a handout, as the figures prove. Asking ACE to become commercial investors is another step towards 'arts as business' which personally, I am not in favour of. yes. money goes around. use it.

David Woods James Peries

Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer

10 13 0

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker

0 6 0

5 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy 10 0 0 15

#+'" "
Anonymous 16 London-based actress 10 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Provided that the money that was raised went into smaller scale/ development work, etc - not just investing in another enterprise of a similar nature- if you are going to support alot of the commercial stuff, we must make sure it is partly so that we can support the stff that isn't. Thats what makes our industry so unique in this country.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 0

No no no, not a commercial ACE Question practicality and effect.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19

3 0 0 25 0 6 0 0 0

In theory very entrepreneurial governments usually operate on charity non limited company basis limiting possibilities for risk taking It would be ok if it were new money, but loss of 10 million from the grants budget could put companies out of business I fear this would fuel arguments that theatre doesn't need funding in the first place. Yes. Creative arguments aside, the economic argument is real. Lets demonstrate it, and shut up the naysayers. You can also fund a tumour for growth, but that doesn't mean you should Sounds good idea but would need further explanation to fully understand ramifications. No Comment I don't think ACE should be helping commercial organisations make money. Effectively double taxation - not sure about this. Successful plays (e.g. History Boys etc) pay back a lot to the exchequer in VAT and taxes. This masks the fact that there should be higher investment to begin with. My worry would be that it would end up about trying to make a profit, and therefore minimising risk, like most organisations. But I like the idea in theory, and at least it would be a way of trying to get some money moving. Model it on how the National Theatre have brought a commercial producer in to oversee all their transfers, national and international touring Debt. Im sure this is amazingly smart. I like this notion - it would mean that if it spawns a 'warhorse' everyone will benefit.

Susan Hodgetts

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave

Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright

10

50 0 20 20

#+(" "
Anonymous 20 London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting 5 5 10 0 0 5 0 0 5 30 20 I think ACE should be focusing on valuable work that is less likely to be commercially successful No, but yes. As in, I don't believe that ACE should change its model. However, I do believe there should be a clause that entitles ACE to a small percentage IF a production becomes commercial such as Les Mis or War Horse. A small .01% return from those would stop the need for cuts. Good idea... If tax-payers money is gambled on commercial enterprises, they would be entitled to expect the return. I'd potentially have concerns about definitions and expectations of income generating and non income generating projects. If the risks are not too great, it would be interesting to run this as a pilot scheme and see if it works. But I'd rather get those making money in commercial theatre to sponsor writers! very complicated. i dont feel knowledgeable enough to comment. This sounds awfully complicated - maybe you should have put it at the start of the survey :-) I think this is certainly in tune with the economic strategies of most other business'. Again, I feel I need to know more about the Treasury allocation to give fair points to this. It seems like a really good investment idea, and I do wonder if the ACE do this to any degree at the moment. Good sustainable approach to supporting the industry (provided sensible investments were made and not too many middle men taking a cut). Not sure this would be workable but interesting.

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 15 15

Whatever! Same as above - concerned about the impact on funding for work which has no possible commercial life. What's not to like.

0 Lizzie Nunnery 0

I'm not sure this would work. This links in to a bigger debate about commercial theatre and how to create a 'commercial' show. I believe that often if an artist tries to create work that has very broad appeal the artistry suffers and the work therefore doesn't appeal at all. I therefore have reservations about how a plan like this

#+)" "
would impact creatively. Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 0 15 10 471 Nice idea in principle, but I'm not convinced theatre is a safe enough commercial investment! This seems smart - get government funding involved in the big sell-out shows and let them use some of those profits to support the little guys. Seems to simple to be true.

#+*" " Delphi ranking: 29 (Survey proposal #22)

ACE to change the rule about National Portfolio Organisations not being allowed to apply to Grants for the Arts. The effect of this rule has been to prevent ACE client organisations (those in receipt of annual subsidy) from applying for top-up funds for risky or one-off projects - which often pilot something new or experimental. Those projects are now expected to come out of core funding, which means that all too often, they don't happen at all. However, this would of course mean there is less money to go round for genuinely independent or artist-led projects. Points awarded Comments Nah - NPOs do pretty well imo and some need to spend their money more efficiently, there's a lot 0 of silly spending still going on with NPOs. 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Regional Chief exec 0 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes 0 0 0 5 I think NPOs should support more artists to make GftA NPOs, while having to make do with less are at least receiving funding. They are in the luxurious position of being able to find partners that could apply for GFA funding. Better that they support individual artists in this way in my opinion. I feel NPOs can fund new and risky work from their existing funding. The NPO proposal should make provision for the risky projects (if these are part of the companys core values). Better for ACE and the company to have an honest and mature conversation from the beginning about what level of funding is workable. There should be very few rules. It's the rules that cost the money. Could lead to individual artists finding it harder to get funding Our concern with this would be that this small amount of money should go to independent and artist-led projects

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

9 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry 10 10

ridiculous they are not allowed Much as there is merit in NPOs in being able to apply for GFA, the fact is that they have much more leverage in getting funding elsewhere than artist-led and independent projects. Are NPOs allowed to apply for GFTA in association with smaller independent companies?

#!+" "
Anonymous 6 London literary manager 5 Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor 5 Hmmm. The question is, would the trade-off be worth it? Are we willing to sacrifice a few independent projects and artists for the sake of a NPO one-off? Very tricky. It asks for a value judgement in the area of risk, and of course all risk has value, but should NPO's have the monopoly on risk-taking?

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO

0 Anonymous 8

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and

0 0 5 5 60 37 30 17 0

I think this is changing again? This is such a hard one. Maybe the solution is to have a sort if 'top up' fund for NPOs, separately to grants for the arts, that can be distributed in addition to funding for one off projects that they wouldn't usually be able to afford? I would worry about the independent, artist led projects. No - I resolutely believe that however tough it is for NPO organisations it is by my personal experience and observation that it is much tougher for freelancers and small companies in this climate. The GFA grants should be protected for independent companies and artists. (There are also numerous creative ways in which smart NPO's get around this by working more collaboratively with smaller ones and this is how the balance of power should remain in terms of GFA - with the independent sector. The problem here is the final part of the idea that other projects would lose out. NPOs are publicly funded to take risk and they should have the courage to do it. A risky proposal, as you say, it would increase competition for GfA and possibly squeeze smaller non NPOs out of that pot of funding. I don't know enough about the system but it's sounds like a good idea assuming the selection process was fair. This has been a major issue for us - hence the top scoring points this is an important idea for many organisations, and would really enable Crucial for small organisations like us - we have a big gap in the budget for making work that is difficult to get funded through other avenues and GFTA was our life line in terms of subsiding the riskier parts of the programme. True - R&D pot / additional interesting work doesn't happen / has been decreased even further with cuts as core work has to take priority. we need to encourage connection with audiences, not with providers of subsidy

#!!" "
freelance writer This restriction was put in place, presumably, to protect individual artists having access to ACE funds. Though in reality, ACE has the capacity to chose whether or not an NPO really needs additional GFTA funding and they would have the capacity to monitor the spend going to NPOs and individual artists, therefore should NPOs start to swallow too much GFTA funding, then they have the ability to discourage / reject applications to redress any imbalance. 2nd point is crucial. NPOs *could* notionally take risks whenever they at less potential risk than 'indies' I think that money should be dedicated to independent artist-led projects. No no no! NPOs should take risks within core funding. Or collaborate with others to access GFA funding to do so. Tricky - could end up with more money going to those that have. Why give the NPOs even more artistic influence? How does this promote risk-taking? I can see the need but am concerned this takes funds away from individual artists and puts it into organisations. yes yes yes yes yes yes. This is an absurd rule and totally stultifying to change, risk, the new.

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright

50 4 0

0 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 5 0 11 25 10

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

20 0

This will inevitably lead to howls of favouritism, but might be very effective in bringing together old experienced hand and radical new playwrights, again a two way street and inspiring for both sides. Question practicality and effect. There might be top up funds else where. " Risk" should be taken with any funding.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17

10 0 0 9 20

Definitely 110% Grants for the arts are meant for non RFOs, its hard enough to get grants already without grant assessors taking the safe and easy option and awarding money to reliable companies I prefer the suggestion that writers and others work with fundraising departments. Maybe. Can't work out pros and cons Great - flexibility is a great thing, and an already-funded organisation has a better base to be able to support such risk and flexibility

#!#" "
Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 5 0 0 0 0 Feel unqualified to respond. No Comment No, GFA should remain as one pot of money which is for individuals/independent companies. Would kill off the grass roots in the current climate and means that the usual suspects remain the gatekeepers. Bad idea. It seems that whichever way you look at it with this suggestion, someone is going to lose out.

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

0 0

Its fine that if NPOs want to access GFA funds they must find less well off partners Wouldn't want to jeopardize money for independent and artist led projects. The artists making those risky projects can apply under GFA, and will be supported by the fact that they can include an NPO partnership in their application. Helping an artist do their own GFA application is a great part of the support an NPO can give, in fact. Taking that away would be a shame. Yes, good idea. I agree with the last sentence. Not sure about this at all. As one of the little guys, I fear that could impact on the availability of GFA. It's already only a 40% success rate...stick in the organisations that have employees to write fundraising bids? I don't think so. Simply do not agree. Independent and artist-led projects need their unique Grants for the Arts status. NPOs are already subsidised to take risks. I think that is more important for funds to remain available for artist-led projects. I see the argument, but the problem of having less money for artist-led projects is too big. These NPOs need to stop being so risk adverse and put their money into 'new' and 'experimental' projects. It's about time the development of new work is prioritised. If they can't support new and risky work alongside their more commercial programming, they shouldn't be NPOs. Not sure at this point of the value of rearranging the same amount of money into different outlets. I'M ABSOLUTELY DEAD AGAINST THIS!!! As individual artists we already have plenty of competition for GFA to have to compete with venues with professional Grant writers in their payroll. You are killing new work by doing this, not encouraging it. You are working on the assumption that venues will apply for top up funds for risky projects but if you look carefully, the % of venues who programme new work and new writing is very small and opening GFAS to them will only increase

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer

0 20 5 0 0 0 0

Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

0 0

#!$" "
the competition for us independent artists!! Absolutely not!!! It would also mean that the chances of getting our work on the stage (for venues to see and maybe hopefully programme something in the future) will be diminished as it will be much harder (the success rate it's currently 39%) This seems like a bit of a double edged sword, and I would worry that artists 'picked' by theatres would have less chance than those trying to learn to do it for themselves. Massively against this. If NPOs want to take risks, they need to manage their annual budgets to programme 'cash cow' programmes as a balance against riskier experimental ventures, as any other business does. Less money for the independent, and always possible to partner up with non-NPOs to apply already.

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

1 0 0

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 5 0

Dont understand where the gain is here. I'm not convinced of the argument. Regional theatres I admire seem to be finding partners to work with and ways of making exciting work happen even with this rule in place. They are already getting more than most companies. This is an issue, and should be re-addressed - even if a NPO could jointly apply, this would be useful. ACE should change the rule and also allocate more funding for theatre in general. No, this would mean less money to smaller orgs and individuals. It is the organisations' responsibility to still have courage in the face of cuts.They already have funding they should use it well - giving them more to encourage confident programme seems antithetical Speaking as a non NPO if I could give this a minus score I would. The funding system is already breeding distrust, competition and stress, it needs to be more flexible and responsive. Easier for artists not easier for funders.

45 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 13 0 4 0 470

#!%" " Delphi ranking: 30 (Survey proposal #29)

An agency or consortium to be formed to help artists develop better business models. An external agency to obtain funding - perhaps from the European Regional Development Fund - for a programme supporting individual theatre practitioners and smaller companies to develop business models that will enable them to become more self-sufficient (i.e. by finding and exploiting new markets). The existing regional writing agencies (New Writing North etc) would be likely partners. Points awarded Comments 15 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes 0 5 0 15 0 Regional writing agencies should be doing this anyway Would offer practical help to those not gifted/experienced in creating a business model. Playwrights are already pretty self-sufficient; I would rather work on playwrights & theatres being more linked, so that playwrights can use theatre's resources more, rather than having to drum them up ourselves. This kind of intervention has worked in other sectors (visual arts, film). Many (most?) writers do need or can benefit from advice / mentoring in professional practice and business practice. The support they receive might make their careers more sustainable. Sounds like money for the bureaucrats again. Brilliant I would want to do this Not necessarily a priority compared to other options Could be interesting - as I said, playwrights should not be expected to necessarily know how to write a funding application / business plan etc

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

12 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry 20 40

more help, always appreciated As a small organisation, we could definitely benefit from developing a better business models, something we could pass on to our members and network. Knowing what resources are available and how to tap in to them is key to the survival of a small company or individual artists, and directly impacts on their ability to support and produce new work.

#!&" "
Anonymous 6 London literary manager 5 Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor 5 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based 0 0 15 5 0 13 0 1 60 0 18 0 I'm sure it never hurts to give artists business coaching.

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO

0 Anonymous 8

not enough expertise in this area to comment In worry about this. 'Expoit new markets'..? Maybe in terms of reaping the rewards once the work has been produced, but I wouldn't want to see work made with a market-orientated end in mind. There seems to be lots of free courses for Start Ups at the moment, and loads of easily accessible advice about business models. I don't think it's worth spending a lot time on this when the information is covered by lots of other agencies. I am not sure artists capability to create business models is the problem. Its about external investment and developing audiences A good idea, arts and business don't make natural partners and anything that can be done to encourage the sustainability and self sufficiency of arts companies would be of significant benefit to the industry as a whole. This kind of assistance and advice could be totally invaluable. If only this were viable - what about a tax on commercial theatre to fund this? Business advice is always welcome to artists who may not feel that is their area of expertise or even interest. Think other points are more valuable and encourage partnership working across the industrynwhich feels key not sure fully understand - training artists to form companies? we need writers to become more independent of public funding Again, this comes back to the artists as producer issue and already - for examples through ACE, or IdeasTap, or HighTide for that matter - there are advice and workshops available about how to create a business model to realise your creative ambitions, should you want to do so yourself. I like this, but problematic to set up? Incorporate into current models somehow? This sounds very similar to 10.

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12

#!'" "
Anonymous 13 playwright Director of small regional company 10 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright 5 0 8 Could work - business knowledge is lacking for many aritsts / writers Business skills aren't the problem. Small-scale theatre is never going to be self-sufficient. Support to raise funding is welcome but I am cautious about the 'playwright as business' approach. I think we're actually all pretty good business-people as it is. especially those who have been going longer,. would it not be better to ask the more experienced, long-working practitioners to mentor (for a fee, god haven't we all done a lot of free mentoring??!!) those who need businessbased help? Parts of this can be done relatively cheaply from posting tips etc or small fees paid to an advisor similar to Career Development/Skillset.

Stella Duffy Anonymous 16

10 10

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 0

How many markets are out there for playwrights/writers? Question practicality and effect.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

2 5 0 4 2 5 0 0 0 0

Don't think business models helpful but good to access EU funds No Comment Maybe this is a good idea. But I struggle to think of a time in my career when I would have sought it out. Potentially too many layers? Sounds very new labour a government body providing funds to an external body to disseminate to theatres to help them attract funds from external bodies? Bleugh Not my area of expertise or experience so feel unqualified to see if this is practicable. No Comment I find the idea of a consortium/agency quite depressing... Expensive to administrate and often with limited results. x It would have to be run effectively.

#!(" "
Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

10 0 0 10 5 5 5 5 0 8 10 0 2 25 0

Try it Too much time doing business, not enough time doing writing. I could probably do with this, but it just feels like support so that we can support ourselves in finding support for new writing that takes risks. Id rather cut out a lot of those middlemen if at all possible. It already takes FOREVER to make work. Sure. I believe an organisation called Literature Training used to do this but it lost funding I think and was merged with NAWE who do something similar. There is already quite a lot available on this. Sustainability is important. Not a fan of many publicly funded organisations that purport to work for writers. Wouldn't hurt. I think it is important to help artists develop better business models. This is a good idea, but I am cautious about the emphasis on 'business' rather than on writing. I think it would be useful for some writers. a great idea - life coaching for artists? does the artist pay? Surely ACE or someone should already hold info on all funding sources available? would it not therefore be better to expand an already existing outfit? This is a nice idea. But it looks like it would either require lots of employees or lots of people giving up their time for free so I'm not sure that this would work? Business advice is essential, but I wonder if the ACE or funding/financial departments in theatres should be doing this. Great idea. Think it is crucial that industry gets a bit more commercially-minded and is supported to be so. Does this need an agency? A set of guidelines and provocations published online?

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Scott Anderson

This sounds expensive and may take money away from the companies themselves.

#!)" "
University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Possibly useful - I find it hard to imagine what better business models there might be but perhaps that's an indicator that help is required from outside the sector? Sounds interesting but also may limit the creativity available.

Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

25 10

0 Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

0 0 13 0 433

Who would fund the agency? Why can't theatres do more of this work? While a better understanding of business is undoubtedly useful to artists I feel there are more pressing needs. It might be more relevant for funding to be returned to organisations like North West playwrights and for those existing organisations to incorporate some business support in to what they already do. Initiatives and information and advice already exists for those who need help. This is a great idea - seeing new companies as businesses should help producers and free-up artists from sharing the financial load There is nothing magic about business models.

#!*" " Delphi ranking: 31 (Survey proposal #36)

Invite pop-up eateries to supply pre-show / interval catering at venues without catering facilities (i.e. non-Theatre, possibly site-specific performances). Discounts could work both ways, with a food/drink purchase reducing the performance ticket, and the performance ticket reducing the price of food and drink. Points awarded Comments 8 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications 5 50 0 0 0 0 20 Not many venues don't have catering Worthy idea but would want to see eateries collaborate with venue/company on details. This happens already & while it's lovely, I don't think it has a huge impact on the work produced. Yes, why not? Helps the economy (and ecology) all round. Probably a matter for individual venues though. I think this is sllightly the wrong way round. Instead of making the venue more appealing, present teh work where poeple are already Yes good Already have a variety of catering options for our audiences Could be interesting but, as a theatre with a restaurant and cafe, we don't necessarily see income linked to food with new plays

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 0 0

good idea Yes, helpful for site-specific performances. Again, this is about priorities here. Nice as an event, not sure how much impact it would have on audience attendance. This idea could be exciting if the catering was entrenched in the concept at play within the sitespecificity. YES

Olivia Amory

##+" "
Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based 0 20 0 0 this will have no benefit to artists Love this idea. Would get the community into the theatre and make it cool. Inspired. I think this is already happening (which is great) and I don't think it's where you and ACE should invest your energy in answering your question. I like the idea of creating an attractive facility when new work is being presented but unclear of the financial model. A good idea, most people still view going to the theatre as an evening's treat, but some theatres not only have no catering facilities but may also be in an area where the only alternatives are local takeaways or McDonalds. Pop up catering would remove a logistical concern for the theatregoing audience and create a more positive experience, hopefully encouraging repeat business. I've seen this add something unique to a night out and refreshments can be an important part of the experience. nice, good - the end of the overpriced coffee and cake Didn't seem very useful or impactful. Yes initiatives to improve the all round experience of a creative event must be a good thing yes good idea - would need further investigation / licences / H&Safety? just do it if you want to, nothing new here for writers Again, not a national agenda item that needs to be legislated for - could be up to individual companies to build these relationships. Yes, definitely something here about 'creative entrepreneur networks... Sounds good. Would theatre's need extra permits for this?

Anonymous 7

Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9

10 1 10 0 10 16 0 0 12 10

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Anonymous 14

8 5

Could be easily done. not sure of long term benefit though This could/should be negotiated already.

##!" "
Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker 0 0 5 zero How does this help companies take artistic risks? Not sure this addresses the study's question. yes. Who would oversee it, if there aren't fixed venues.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 20

The pop up eateries need to make a living NIce synergy with the pop up food zeitgeist.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

3 0 5 20 4 5 0 10 0 10

Good for audience experience We do this anyway/ Catering helps with the overall spend per head and is relied on. Tasty. Can we do even more to invite local businesses into local theatres? cornershops selling sweets, bookshops, music People with a stake in the community. How does this help me write more plays? Answer me that, and I might be mooded to give it more points. Makes it a NIGHT OUT bargain. No Comment. Good idea - as for 35. Nice Yes, I think this would add to the experience of the evening and make it more of an event

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig

0 10 0

I wont not go to shaw because there is no catering (triple negative!) Good idea and very of the moment. I like it. I dont think its The Answer.

###" "
Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright 10 5 25 0 5 3 8 0 0 1 0 20 Sure - it would be great to have better food at theatres... Not important either Yes, this is how public funding generates capital and enhances the cultural experience. Tangential. This happens and works. This could be a nice bonus for audiences at unexpected work. It is important to make the whole experience of going to the theatre enjoyable. hard to administrate for very little in return. Yes great but I don't think it will drastically change the % of audiences. The fact that the discount could work both ways is the strength of this idea, but food is not a priority for me at the theatre. Not as likely to have massive impact as other ideas listed here. Yes and more that makes the social space buzz is great.

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 0 3

Nonsense this is meaningless. Something individual companies can very easily do alone, this kind of national campaign not useful for this. don't think pushing ticket prices down and so the amount the artists/company make is a sensible trade off.

5 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil 9 0

Might be a nice idea, but I'm not sure it would change an awful lot. Nice. As above.

##$" "
Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 10 0 396 It's a lovely idea but I feel we should be moving toward permanent solutions rather than ad-hoc temporary schemes. Theatre should do this too.

##%" " Delphi ranking: 32 (Survey proposal #19)

Arts Council England (or a devolved agency) to administer small 'soft loans' for individual artists like The Prince's Trust, but with no upper age limit. The criteria would be based on talent/promise combined with sound business plan / career plan, and thus likelihood of being able to repay the loan within a set period. The borrower would receive business mentoring - perhaps provided by successful businesses or consultancies that want to contribute to the arts by 'donating' staff time (KPMG, Deloitte, etc). Such a scheme might work for any kind of individual artist (not just within theatre), but could be piloted for playwrights, to buy writing time. As the loan money would (in most cases) be repaid, the cost to ACE, or other agency, would largely consist of the cost of administering the scheme. Points awarded Comments 25 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec 0 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes 0 0 15 0 Not convinced loans could be repaid? Not convinced money would be repaid. Already difficult to turn profit as individual artist. At what point would the money be repaid? If the play was put on? Theatre is so risky that loans feel dangerous; artists could end up in huge amounts of debt. This would mitigate the cuts to the GfA pot, and help those without private sources of income to invest in their careers (especially at an early stage). The Princes Trust already does this but has an upper age limit of 30 and is designed only for those at the outset of their careers. The cost of administering the scheme is money to bureaucrats. Kickstarter options much cheaper and more real. Hellz yeah I am so in debt with crazy interest rates on borrowing, would be AMAZING to have this. Good idea, but not as attractive as others here. Interesting but it needs to be about the potential quality of the work as well as the reliability of the business model - playwrights can't necessarily write business plans - they are playwrights and should focus on writing plays.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

0 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry 15 20

should not be a loan, writers do not need more debt The emphasis on individual artists Soft loans linked to business mentoring feels like long term support.

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Anonymous 6 London literary manager 15 Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor 0 Superb.

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO

0 Anonymous 8

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre

0 20 0 1 0 0 0 6 0 0

Great idea and a chance for writers to develop independently of collaboration All this is doing is encouraging an artist to make a profit. I see the idea but I just can't support it. I fear it would led to populist mediocrity. I'm ideologically opposed to the idea of loans, because I think the arts should be invested in by government because of all the clear benefits they bring to a society. As soon as you have loans in place I suspect you will never, ever roll-back the tide. It will be exactly the same as Higher Education and before you know it there will be no more subsidy (cf. Student Loans). I like the idea of the Return on Investment and this is the most fragile time in creating work that often doesn't happen as return is delayed until production I'm unclear how artists would benefit from the time of KPMG employees, and concerned that a disproportionate amount of time and effort would be spent getting the two sides to understand each other rather than supporting the creation of work. I'm sure this would be valuable but I would prefer to apply for a grant to collaborate, as in point 20, than borrow money. I benefitted from these myself while training and pre-funding eligibility and it was great We doubted very much that Writers would often be in a position to repay the loan. Think 32 is a more productive model for organisations so voting for that one but this would be an interesting experiment Can't be a loan - likelihood of artists to be able to pay back loan - they need to support themselves and their work. loans would never be repaid! It's well documented that playwrights can feel great stress when they accept and spend commission monies from theatres and then struggle to write the play. It's impossible to legislate for creativity. So to offer loans on the potential of work puts undue stress on the Artist - not least as it

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might be beyond their control whether or not they become economically successful to pay the loan back. Already there are grants such as GFTAs, commissions, a Peggy Ramsay Foundation grant etc that fund the process of creation, not whether that creation then makes a profit to underwrite the initial work. Ought to be means-tested This is basically asking ACE to become a bank. I like the idea of artists being treated as actual professionals with careers, but feel wary of tying money to repayment based on economic success.

Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company

9 0

12 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright 15 0 0 15 10

Good idea - easy to do. Like the idea - try Coutts as a bank that has funded the arts and has many creative staff & clients who might get involved Realistically, when would these ever be paid back? Grants by another name No loans! I am very concerned by moves towards 'playwright as business'. soft loans, esp with no age limit (the confounding of new and young is so damaging to the suport of older, equally inexperienced artists is a great idea.) A loan is a good buffer between an direct grant and self financing. The ACE would resist this idea and I wouldn't want lots of loans going out instead of direct grants- they should both run.

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 20

How can a writer have a sound business/career plan? Loans are a decent idea. Two issues needs a guaranteed permanent low interest rate like a credit union & Princes Trust grants generally generate a product or service to sell to repay the Lilian so only product producing not interpretative artists could realistically access such loans No as repayable loans removes the artists right to fail Not sure what business mentoring playwrights would receive 'work hard, write well, don't spend all your money on stationery in the first week!' Most of the advice playwrights need is from other playwrights. Eek, bit nervous about the pressure on writers who morally feel responsible to repay a loan, and the effect that makes on your creative choices. Maybe Ive misunderstood Points awarded for getting rid of the age ceiling Personally had hard enough job paying off mortgage without incurring further loans but am clearly not business entrepreneur

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans

5 0 0 6 5 5

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Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director 0 15 0 No Comment Good idea - and for producers too? x Receiving a loan is better than nothing, but ultimately the playwright still wants to be paid something for their work - not have to effectively pay money back in return for receiving the opportunity. How likely is the artist to be certain of paying it back within a set period, when the industry is notoriously unstable and projects fall through all the time? Not sure if the fact they've got to pay it back would add pressure to playwrights. I dont buy this. What is the evidence that in most cases the loan would be repaid, from what? It shouldnt be other earnings and the business model for most playwrights means as they do not have direct access to the means of production, they cannot determine profitability This has got 'debt' written all over it. This somehow goes with #10 but Im not sure how. Also, that would mean two government depts collaborating, and that will never happen. Im not sure I want to take on a loan, to be honest. If Im taking risks with my work, risks on new collaborations, risks running a company because thats how I can get my work on and then risks with a loan too. I think I might keel over from too much risk. This doesnt feel like freedom to me. It feels like more things to learn about, understand, administrate. I don't like the thing about mentoring coming from Deloitte - it feels like it's turning writers into victims ('deprived playwrights') - but I do think it would be useful for playwrights to think of themselves as sole traders who can improve their business... This could work but still favours those with more money to start with. Not sure...shouldn't we just encourage the financial sector to be more supportive of this? Do we want ACE to become a lender? The admin costs would skyrocket. Loans... potentially a world of pain... but could be useful in the right circumstances. Time and space can be bought for writers via a structure like the Prince's Trust. This would appeal to me as a playwright in an early stage of my career. I find it extremely difficult to pay off loans and get out of debt. If the loan buys 'writing time' how will it be repaid? Writing time does not generate further income in the way a business might. Even if the play then gets commissioned, the writer will need that money to pay their bills. i have concerns however about artists being left to repay loans on a project that didn't quite work

Susan Hodgetts

Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher.

0 0

Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer

0 15 10 0 10 20 3 0 0

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan

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Anonymous 21 London-based director/producer 0 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22 Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer 10 25 0 out. how can we protect against that? I really think we should move away from the idea of loans altogether, yes writing time should be paid for, but not by loans but by grants and commissions - otherwise, what's the playwright going to do to pay it? commissions are already low enough that most playwrights have to hold regular jobs. A lot of theatres have a young writer's programme, but as my uncle 'why don't these places have old writers programs'. The strength of this proposal is that it could open up greater opportunities to more mature artists. Fabulous idea that gets to the heart of a key barrier. Start-up loans are acceptable in other sectors, why not in ours? What's the business plan that works for an emerging artist to pay back a loan? They are already subsidising work through their time and effort above and beyond. What happens if someone can't pay it back?

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

0 0 3

Loans do not represent a salary to practitioners. I don't feel very enthusiastic about encouraging yet more debt, on top of student loans etc. Feel that this may effect the nature of the creative process. I'm not always an advocate of loans, I already think poor students have enough on their plate, but if it is administered correctly, this could work. I have a lot of questions. Would the business mentors be people who have experience and understanding of the arts? If the emphasis is on paying back the loan how will the mentors be able to instruct writers on how to do this via their script? Are writers then being tutored on how to write a commercial play? I feel unclear about it as a way to 'buy time to write' as the pressure of a loan could be counter productive to the creative process for many writers. I don't like the idea of loans of any kind, there's enough risk on the artists. Again - a great idea. I think this small scale individual loans are great - liberating the writer from 'project based' funding in which the idea is usually cooked up for the fund rather than to create the best work. Buying writers free time to work on passion projects rather than doing work that pays the rent sounds great. Can't see it working

10

Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil

Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright

0 0

Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL

Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble

20 0 370

##*" " Delphi ranking: 33 (Survey proposal #25)

A database of new/early career writers and playwrights who are willing to work for a limited fee, or even voluntarily, for schools, amateur groups and small theatres, with a view to gaining writing and production experience. Points awarded Comments 0 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) 0 0 10 0 5 9 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 20 0 Difficult to maintain an up to date database A good idea but unlikely to get new work off the ground or offer relative necessary experience. Yes, although there would have to be clear guidelines on what the playwright could expect in return for her or his work. I dont support the (widespread) practice of not paying artists or paying them badly particularly at the early stages of their careers. (A database of playwrights, I have no problem with). ok couldn't hurt I would want to include dramaturgs in this database. But also be sure that there are limits about working for free. I would encourage at least fares and honorariums. It is dangerous to encourage people to work for free - It nurtures a class distinction; ie those who can afford to work for free get the jobs / experience. Absolutely. Would love to see this idea expanded upon. My worry is that a precedent gets established in which writers don't have to be paid to work. Could be interesting and certainly something we encourage at the moment with newer playwrights People don't look at databases Interesting in theory, though could be open to exploiting already underpaid writers

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

10

Olivia Amory

NO

#$+" "
Anonymous 7 Member of a devising group London-based actor Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright 0 5 5 0 5 2 0 4 0 2 0 0 10 10 Interns? Can only be a good idea. I think this is quite a good idea - but I'm conscious that some groups do pay for commissions and it would be a shame to undercut the craft. Not clear on the ethics of this. I don't know if this is strictly necessary as a lot of writers and playwrights make these opportunities happen on their own. Sounds like an interesting resource. Should we get artists used to working for free though? Good idea to build job pops This is achieved already via fringe and amateur drama, but perhaps not with these companies able to connect with writers who specifically want to make a career from writing. Don't this is as much of a priority as other points Writers should not be limiting themselves to no fee work, no quality control of who is on there, would still have to advertise / interview etc. - not sure if saving any money or time. we need to retain proper fees in terms of publicly commissioned work Don't agree that 'new' should be synonymous with 'free'. In fact, the more likely to be able to afford it, and potentially greater benefits would be born from very established playwrights being on such a list. Playwrights should be as candid as possible about what their 'limited fee' is - how to stop 'swamping'? Group by location? Sounds like a great idea. Would need to be marketed and promoted adequately. ACE should provide it in GFA applications. If writers want this they should be pro-active and do it for themselves. Like the writers in education site. Might need to be arranged with WGGB. Might be seen as a list of the less talented and desperate.. I couldn't support any initiative that legitimised playwrights working for reduced or no fees. We must protect and value our professional status and provide early career playwrights with the professional opportunities.

Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

2 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington 15 0 0

#$!" "
Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 Writer.director/theatre maker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. 5 5 perhaps, but again, it just reinforces the difference between 'real' and 'not quite rea;' - and I'd imagine making the break form that database to the one where you are comsidered 'proper' might be an even harder barrier to leap. If thats what a writer wants to do to gain experience then they should do that. I'm not sure who a database would serve. Surely individuals make contact themselves/

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

40 30

Great idea. Potentially difficult to reach the theatres and groups but intrigued.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

0 20 10 10 5 0 0 10 0 10

Be careful that the low pay rot doesn't set in with such measures No Comment If writers' rights could be protected. Yes Database of the willing? This could be dire, in terms of experience gained and quality of engagement Sets a precedent of writers working for little or nothing. I think we need to move away from this limited fee idea and be moving towards paying the right fee for the scale of work. Good idea re schools/amateur groups - playwrights probably work for free/low money for small theatres already! Thus undercutting people doing it for a living. No. Yes, could be helpful Dear God, no more databases; its not how information and knowledge flows now we have twitter and facebook...The world is littered with decaying databases Limited fees' very dangerous! Thin end of the wedge. Later career playwrights would not benefit by this at all and many of us are struggling just as much or more than early career playwrights who do have quite a few schemes aimed at them already. Most of us working for limited fees would probably rather keep quiet about it. I dont like this for two main reasons. The first is that, intentional or not, doing it for free for the experience IS seen as a value judgement on the creative output, and besides, it is absolutely possible for the writer/s in question to apply for a GFA that will cover their own commission fee in line with the WGGB (and MU/BASCA) guidelines. Partnerships with schools or community theatre groups make great in-kind support and, again, its great for writers to have opportunities to get

Jonathan Meth

Judith Johnson

Jenifer Toksvig

Theatre Maker

#$#" "
experience in GFA applications. So there really is no need to work for free. My second, and maybe more important reason for not liking this idea is that writing and production experience are really best gained with mentoring or guidance from someone who has experience of developing new writing. Without that part in place, it is very hard to simultaneously discover and explore the skills of being objective about your own work. Why encourage people to work for free? No harm in it. Perhaps, but where do you draw the line between gaining experience and exploitation? I'd prefer to see emerging writers self-produce. Not just emerging writers who should be expected to give something back. Personally, I am a bit reluctant to embrace a culture of working for free as I think it can lead to only playwrights from certain backgrounds being able to develop their craft. I've been listed on various databases in the past and have got work from none of them. I think it's more effective for writers to approach schools, theatres and amateur groups directly, or work with organisations who pair writers with schools. Brilliant. so long as it has a tick box of the kind of work you are and aren't willing to do. Fantastic Idea!!! Cheap to set up. Voluntary, and could provide new writers with a great opportunity. Simple and effective. Could also have a feedback/review element to it. Do we need the database? Guidelines to encourage artists to contact these organisations on their own would be better.

Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director

0 10 2 5 0 0 0 15 10 10 15 0

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar

0 0 9

NO! Unhappy with putting effort into supporting more unpaid work. MOre money would be better but every opportunity helps I guess get artists in schools.

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Anonymous 23 Regional writer and lecturer 5 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 11 0 3 0 364 Again, might be difficult to administer - and writers could get stuck working on these projects. This could be very useful in gaining work for writers and perhaps they could set their own fees. However, I feel it's important to value the craft of a playwright, rather than offering the work for free. Writers should be paid whatever their level - to ask them to work for free devalues their position. I feel like these schools, amateur groups should do their own work in seeking out the new writers that they like. Equally new writers should do their work in writing to amateur theatres etc. Database matching doesn't allow for who suits who best. We nearly gave this lots of points but it signals that Schools, Amateurs and Small Theatres are second or even third class testing grounds. They are actually where the solution lies.

#$%" " Delphi ranking: 34 (Survey proposal #26)

Theatres and writers to work with BBC Writersroom to create audio and/or visual recordings of all new writing produced to embrace the ACE objectives: digital presence and legacy. This could also open up further funding streams and a collaborative approach to commissioning with the BBC and other television companies. Points awarded Comments 5 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications 0 0 30 10 0 0 0 Could be useful Solid idea that allows mentoring and support. Recordings are often not a great way to capture the live experience. This seems a massive and costly project. (Also, do you know how much bad new writing there is out there?) The digital presence legacy is not worthwhile legacy, it only serves to skew the effect of live art. There are already a range of initiatives with BBC writersroom Yes ok but digital presence and legacy is not a priority ime Good idea, but not as attractive as others here.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

10 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 0 10

great idea Very intensive for audio and/or visual recording for all new writing. That becomes more like a sociology study. Collaboration between different mediums and organisations is always good. I'm not sure about this. What sets us apart as theatre makers is working in a live art form, which requires your presence in the room. I think we can find a digital 'presence' and legacy other ways, but the presence I think we should be interested in is the audience's presence in the room. NO

Olivia Amory

#$&" "
Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor 0 20 recordings should depend on nature of the work and whether it suits, and not a mandatory thing Fantastic idea. Can inspire all sorts of people. Great idea but think more broadly than the Writersroom. I think Channel 4 are pursuing relationships with interactive theatre companies because there is such a huge growth in the digital and games sector. There are huge opportunities for writers and theatre makers in this area currently. Creates an archive and access to new writing that may not be seen widely otherwise An interesting idea, but theatre is a live art and would obviously lose something in translation to a different media. Yes, lets see the work take shape. Very often you don't know what you have/haven't got until you start to create and collaborate with it. Good - open up that glass ceiling Not practical for the BBC to do this. There are other ways of capturing work and making a digital prsence. Yes I think encouraging a more joined up approach to digital presence and legacy is a good idea. Would be good to draw on lessons learned from The Space - we weren't part of that project so can't say how effective a parternship it was Writersroom's job is to develop writers not to produce an archive - huge costs involved? how would it open up funding streams?? will happen anyway, also the focus should be on audience connectivity, not on 'funding streams' Why BBC Writersroom specifically? Not even expensive to create, depending on how 'flash' you want it to be Love this idea. It would be a brilliant asset to have professionals doing this to aid new writing. Do not think this is practical.

Anonymous 7

Anonymous 8

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small

5 10 5 2 0 0 20 1 0 0 30 30 3

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

#$'" "
regional company Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths 5 0 0 0 5 Will be a tangle of rights and higher fees for actors, etc. How does commissioning alongside the BBC increase risk-taking??? This seems to be a tremendous cost when the study asks us to look at avoiding significant extra expense. gah. is it THEATRE (ie LIVE) or is it film/tv?!! defeats the entire purpose of creating live work. difficult one to monitor and see through (all new writing produced to embrace...'

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 5

I am not sure that absolutely everythng needs to be recorded. Live theatre is live. Possible, but very recently (Sep 2013) writersroom has restructured.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts

3 9 0 6 0 3 0 0 0 0

Good intention think there's a better way if showcasing the work like through The Space but maybe a dedicated writers site No Comment Sounds kind of massive, but might work with some projects. Worried that streaming a show should never replace going to see it live. Though NTLive doesnt (yet) seem to be harming audiences. I'd rather work with McDonalds than BBC Writersroom Good for the legacy part but sceptical about how much interest or work it would generate in the TV world No Comment Digital presence/legacy feels like a bit of a red herring in this argument. Good idea to get recordings made - BBC the only avenue? I have no feelings either way on this one.

Jonathan Meth

they all want different things. Beyond, that they do this already?

#$(" "
Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director 0 0 5 10 5 5 10 3 7 0 0 9 30 0 Who would ever watch them? I dont see how this encourages or facilitates risk-taking in new work, although I do absolutely want more opportunity and support for transmedia projects. But thats a different thing entirely. I think the digital legacy is important and interesting but I don't understand why BBC writersroom have anything to do with it. Cumbersome. Sounds useful. Sounds idealistic. An archive or public? I think it's good to be looking to new technology to create opportunities - but this idea still doesn't excite me as much as some of the others. This is a nice idea and there are other organisations, such as the British Library, who might be interested. (being a dinosaur here - digital is just not my thing) again in principle I think this is a great idea but would BBC be up for it and how would this help the playwrights and encourage the production of more new writing? This could help bridge the gap between playwrights that want to write for TV and Film. Good idea. Although don't necessarily need to limit to BBC. Sky Arts or other media brands could be involved. Who would engage with these and why?

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21 Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar

0 0 12

NO! this would end up being London centric. Who would listen or watch? More income for actors is a good thing.

#$)" "
Anonymous 23 Regional writer and lecturer 5 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 9 0 3 0 350 I think some of this work is happening with smaller companies already. This could really help new work to reach more people. Nice idea, but the writersroom wouldn't be able to facilitate for everyone, and most theatres are now investing in filming as part of their marketing strategy (clips etc) so this should suffice. Aren't there already archives like this? What happens to all the recordings? Who watches them? And most essentially - I feel recordings never do theatre any favours. Bolt on.

#$*" " Delphi ranking: 35 (Survey proposal #35)

Parking. A boring point but if we reduce the financial risk for audiences that coming to see a new play presents we could see an increase in ticket sales. Parking at most regional theatres is expensive. 5, 6.50 or more in some cases for city centre parking. Could some of the big car parking companies (NCP etc) be approached to give out a number of free parking spaces that can only be used to attend new work and development events? Every little helps. Points awarded Comments 0 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager 20 0 0 0 0 0 I'm not convinced this is a barrier (no more so than cost in general) A lot of work for little probability of positive result. This feels complicated & potentially very costly to implement. Agree there is financial risk for audience, and every little helps. This would have to be a national project to make a real impact on the sector as a whole though. You were right about it being boring! I've tried this and don't see this happening. Free parking doesn't make someone want to see new work. Have absolutely no faith that NCP would do this Good idea. Our local council has introduced free parking sytem. Most regional theatres (including Royal Exchange Theatre and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse) have a "deal" on a car-park through Box Office.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

0 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6 0 0

can't see this one happening Of course if this can be done, that would be helpful. But in terms of choices here, it's about priorities. Difficult to organise and not sure how much impact it would have. Every little DOES help. And this is a good one because it puts the audience experience in the spotlight. There are practicalities associated with a night at the theatre. Parking costs could be the difference between a night at the theatre and a night at home watching telly for someone who lives somewhere rural.

#%+" "
Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor 15 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright 0 30 10 1 10 0 0 15 0

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO

0 Anonymous 8

not enough expertise in this area to comment Really, really good idea. The sort of thing that could really work. Would get audiences thinking and that sort of thing does affect decision making. The cost of city-centre parking is ridiculous but that's a battle for another day. I don't think it will make a huge difference to attendances at new work. Excellent motivation for the ordinary person to come to the theatre. Possibly this should apply to all the arts, not just new writing Every little does indeed help, particularly for theatres in towns and cities with lower public transport provision. Some theatres already have deals with their local car parks -Liverpool Playhouse, Bolton Octagon, The Lowry - and this undoubtedly improves audience experience. This is a good point and another way in which bigger business can show it's gentler side in the community. very practical but would rather offer free or discounted tickets to cyclists to lower carbon footprint and put bike racks We couldn't see this happening in practical terms. Have voted for eateries as now running out of points yes true - voucher / code from box office? like bush's deal with westfield. any theatre - not just new work / dev events - too difficult to manage. for goodness sake! we do not need to encourage the car lobby Isn't a national agenda issue - feels something that individual theatres could lead on. Government could offer tax incentives for businesses supporting the 3rd sector, but I think it would have to be this broad rather than just theatre, and the issue here is this support will effect the profit of the business and the income the government can make. Can't see this being successful in a national scale. Also (serious point), pop-up spaces in car parks, or other spaces used less in evenings? Sounds like a good idea.

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12

0 6 5

#%!" "
Anonymous 13 Director of small regional company 0 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, 5 0 0 15 5 No no no! how about free public transport instead? hate cars Little! How is this different to asking the NCP for a donation? More bike parking might be good. Not sure this addresses the study's question. hell yes. not a boring point at all. theatre-going is expensive, it is elitist, it is HARD WORK for MOST people. cheaper parking and also free/cheaper bus tickets? see a play, show your ticket after for a free bus ride home? Small things can often be very key in these arguments. Another good issue to be tackled at a local level through councils etc by the theatres themselves

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 5

Can't see how this will be administered, fights over 'what is new work' why not? If it can really help, though question if it does.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth

3 5 0 10 0 0 0 10 0 10 10

Pragmatic No Comment I'm not sure what's in it for the car parking companies. though how you run that, persuade them another thing. They arent charities, and will be sceptical about losing money for no benefits. No. Provide buses. See their point but yes it's boring. No Comment Good idea - anything that helps make individual experience of going to theatre better/easier/more fun/more accessible is a good thing. So massively unrealistic. Do you not know how capitalism works? Yes, I think this would probably help. Try it

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Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director &

Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

10 0 0 5 4 5 0 3 8 0 0

Good idea, worth a try. I dont think this alone will encourage audiences to see new work. Genuinely. Sounds like a bureacratic nightmare for the theatre and isn't really very green. It sort of helps the people who can afford it already. And would you offer free parking for new writing and not, say, for shakespeare? I don't think this is very important Yes, can't the parking be free with proof of ticket? > Dull. I think it's positive to be thinking of the audience in this way. True. hard to administrate for very little in return. I'm not sure this will make a huge difference. This is a very valid point. People can be easily disuaded from coming to the theatre for any number of reasons - getting out is hassle, petrol costs, the price of tickets, price of interval drinks - so the parking costs can often be the last straw. I don't know how easy it would be for car parks to monitor the theatre goers, but I think it is a fantastic idea. Feels to liable to abuse and irrelevant. Nice thought but really hard to administer.

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

10 0 0

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon

0 0

Nonsense! this clouds the issue. Not very ecologically sound! Would rather spend energy lobbying for better public transport to

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Helen Millar Anonymous 23 dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble venues. 9 Good idea if you can get the councils to agree to it and money doesn't come from the theatre.

5 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 9 0 0 0 268

A boring but true point. Good practical idea. Audiences know what a night out at the theatre costs, and they wouldn't not go on the basis of parking costs. The bureaucracy involved in this would outweigh the gain. Also- why then shouldn't this be the case for charity work or community support workers. It seems like a minefield. Theatre should do it

#%%" " Delphi ranking: 36 (Survey proposal #16)

Making musicals takes forever, and you rarely get to see the process through fully from page to stage. To encourage faster making, and support more risk-taking, and facilitate more collaborating, lets develop very small scale work to add to our existing live performance traditions. A collective of theatres and practitioners, supported by ACE, collaborating on a nationwide festival of work that is anywhere from 6 minutes down to 6 seconds long: plays, musicals, operas, ballets, circuses, the lot, happening anywhere, everywhere. Points awarded Comments 3 0 Anonymous 2 Regional literary manager 10 Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4 Regional Chief exec 10 Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes 0 0 0 10 Sounds like fun, good profile raising, inclusive approach I dont think there's a market for work of this length or see how it translates well into showcasing new work. This already happens, for example at the Tete a Tete opera festival, scratch nights and the Miniaturists, but these small-scale collaborations rarely attract funding or interest to turn into bigger projects, and are very labour-intensive for the theatremakers. I dont think this would do much towards the stated aim, and it sounds like a large investment of time and money for not much impact. There are plenty of outlets for extracts, short works and scratch items as it is. It doesn't have to be supported by ACE. yes, ok Not sure this is a priority for us. Already happens in a lot of venues but I don't know whether the "short play" nature of this initiative is truly helpful - theatres need to produce full length work - work with the scope and ambition to reach wide and diverse audiences.

Your name

Your job title

Annie Siddons Anonymous 1

Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec

Will Wollen Anonymous 5

0 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry 20 0

feasible? Am not sure Yes, and I'd add that part of the collective of theatres and practitioners includes dramaturgs. And we'd love to do a cafe about the dramaturgy of '6 seconds to 6 minutes only' We should be encouraging proper development time, writing time, rehearsal time, rather than encouraging the idea that good work can be made quickly.

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Anonymous 6 London literary manager 0 Communications Co-ordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC) Member of a devising group London-based actor This idea sounds lovely, but I'm not sure of what it's exactly suggesting. A bit too vague for me to get behind.

Olivia Amory Anonymous 7

NO The theatre world would benefit from talking to the art world in which performance is having a renaissance, and with many works under 10minutes Good idea but not a big priority. I think there are some good schemes in existence - refer to the current/ recent work of Northampton and Curve. I think bolster what is already effective - there is a scheme that's working that collaborates with different theatres but they don't have enough funding. Expensive and hard to stage This runs the risk of being viewed purely as a gimmick: creating quick fix work that does nothing to encourage a deep and lasting investment in creativity. How would we guarantee that the people who can then support these projects to go further would be present? I'm not a fan of musicals so can't back this one. Prefer to do my own thinking. This might work, but only if it's creative in form - a bit like 'Flip the Script' Not convinced this is the best model to creating quality new work (that's why it takes forever) but think it would be an interesting experiment Agree with difficulties around developing musical works, but is this the answer? Showcase of work - like a pitch? too short, superficial. Small scale musicals is interesting, happens already No point rushing work before its ready to be seen. Doesn't help artists or audiences. Personally I don't enjoy these. Find them superficial. Don't know if it teaches you anything. I like the idea of having a formal festival of new musicals. But the format seems much too short. I think it should be full-scale work, with a minimum of 30min or something like that. With musicals I

Anonymous 8

0 5 15 0 0 1 0 7 10 7 0 0 2 5

Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9

David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Anonymous 11

Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12

Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright

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feel you need much more time to get across music, lyrics, choreography, libretto, etc. Anonymous 13 Director of small regional company 4 Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington Stella Duffy Anonymous 16 London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright Writer.director/theat remaker London-based actress 5 0 8 0 Not convinced of the strategic value of this Can happen already. Not useful for those who want to work on pieces more than 6 minutes long (which I guess is most of us) Sounds great but a nationwide festival could be an expensive undertaking. the problem with flash-anything is that is is rarely taken seriously. flash fiction, flash plays, can't see flash musicals being given any more ACTUAL support or attention in the long run I'm up for theatre being as full as it can be. Leave technology to have the soundbites and snapshots.Its a bit of a Facebook-generation concept this short and snappy and although I'm rarely into the notion of 3.5 hour play, I wouldnt put my energy in to how to do very quick pieces. Unless it was 'Not I'.

0 Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

0 0

There is already The Miniaturists. Question practicality and effect.

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18 Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth

15 6 0 7 2 5 0 0 0 0 5

The 10 minute opera of Scottish opera has been a great success takes the focus off core work. Six minutes to six seconds? thats reallt talking down to audiences. Sounds like fun, but more like a project than a catalyst for real change. Longer than 6 minutes? Danger is youll only get those self-referential, ironic musical skits that struggle to develop into longer form productions. This is not worth giving priority over other ideas. Not my area of expertise No Comment What will this achieve? Most musicals aren't seen during development because they're not ready to be! x I'm not sure what this would achieve in the long run. From Spaghetti on the wall to conchiglie on the wall, but maybe worth a go.

#%(" "
Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher. Theatre Maker Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre Writer Writer/Theatre Maker Writer London-based director/producer Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatremaker London-based director of devising company Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge

Judith Johnson Jenifer Toksvig Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20

0 30 0 5 0 10 0 5 3 0 0

I think this sort of thing is already going on? Perfect Pitch, Mercury, Arcola's Grimeborn? This melds really well with #3 and #5. I think doing shorts is a waste of energy - it rarely leads to much that's excellent. Why not support more mainstream playwrights to try long-form musicals? I don't think this is a strong idea. Not sure about this. Seems to disperse funding for what are often self-indulgent snippets of live art. > Law of diminishing returns; all new work is in danger of shrinking I like the idea of small pieces of pop up theatre in different forms I'm not sure this is something that would significantly change anything, but whoever came up with the idea should certainly approach ACE with it. surely this is Scratch? again, I think this is a nice idea in principle, but I'm not 100% sure that I agree that making a short play is much faster than making a long one (especially in the context of a festival where you have the added pressure to make sure you do a good job?) Bitesize musical performances is a nice idea, allowing more work to be shown, however what would the follow up for the practitioners be from this? Don't think this needs ACE support. There is big money behind musicals, with big audiences and media coverage. This is a good idea that major producers/players in MT should just initiate, without the need for state support. Nice thinking but the models of presenting lots of short works always require a speedy process and huge numbers of people. Are we set up to support this?

Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

1 0 10

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon

0 5

?????? Not very knowledgeable about musicals but possibly useful.

#%)" "
Helen Millar Anonymous 23 Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble 1 this doesn't appeal to me as an audience member.

0 Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL 15 0 3 0 250

I don't fully get this idea - there are already a lot of festivals of new work that happen. This is a great idea. Let's reclaim musicals as a legitimate art form that we haven't finished exploring yet. I think the support of musicals should come from the commercial sector. I feel this money could be better spent facilitating low budget full productions. The 6 second - 6 minute work doesn't support craft or development very effectively. Scratches of scratches.

#%*" " ANY OTHER COMMENTS

Your name Annie Siddons Anonymous 1 Anonymous 2 Your job title Theatre maker/playwright Regional chief exec Regional literary manager Any other comments about any of the above? This is a really rigorous study Fin good luck with the next bit

In many ways, this feels quite a London-centric survey which doesn't fully understand or appreciate the way in which regional theatres work, support artists, engage with new work, collaborate and make work. Many of the comments regarding the regions refer to "touring" or "second productions" which does not take into consideration the fact that we are making our own work, for our own city or region, we have a dialogue with our audiences and artists and unique spaces.

Anonymous 3 Ellie Jones Samantha Ellis Anonymous 4

Regional Chief exec Theatre Director Playwright & writer London-based freelancer with ACE experience none There are almost too many good ideas here. In some cases I have awarded zero not because the action outlined wont help but because it isnt targeted enough to make a direct impact (on risk-taking in new writing). In some other cases the ideas do address the issue but wont have a sector-wide impact (unless a consortium approach is taken). And there were a couple of ideas that I simply didnt understand (in terms of their real-world application). Feel like banging pencils into my nose now. Can only congratulate you on the amount of work you've put in, but I think all of these strategies miss the point and involve kowtowing to the Arts Council. The problem is lack of money and I believe it's largely caused by an industry and ecology that siphons huge amounts of money off to non-artists before it even gets near art and audiences. The systems and barriers involved in getting funding are enough to put off all but the most bureaucratically minded. And they shouldn't be getting the money. no

Will Wollen Anonymous 5 Mary Ann Hushlak Ria Parry Anonymous 6

Independent Creative Theatre Professional Freelance playwright Co-president, the Dramaturgs Network Joint Artistic Director, Iron Shoes London literary manager Communications Coordinators, Independent Theatre Council (ITC)

Olivia Amory

NO

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Anonymous 7 Anonymous 8 Esther Richardson Natalie Wilson Hannah TyrrellPinder Anonymous 9 David Woods James Peries Sophie Eustace Anonymous 10 Member of a devising group London-based actor Freelance Director Artistic Director, Theatre Centre Joint Artistic Director, Box of Tricks Theatre London-based actor, writer and producer Co-Artistic director, Ridiculusmus Literary Associate, Bristol Old Vic Executive Director, Fevered Sleep London-based artistic director London-based academic and freelance writer Artistic Director, HighTide Festival Theatre Playwright London-based playwright Director of small regional company London-based playwright London-based playwright Nottingham-based playwright I don't think we talk enough about audiences in these kinds of studies and that always puzzles me. Finally I just want to say "thank you" for organising this.

All brilliant ideas so very difficult to strongly go for particular ones - well done keep up the good work Fin thanks No Very difficult allocating points as a lot of the ideas are excellent. Sorry not to have more thorough comments and excuse typos as rushing! Thank you for doing this, will really look forward to the results. Quite a few of the ideas rely on ACE's resources / capacity which we know is very stretched at the moment. ACE may not necessarily be best placed to do everything e.g. network of associate playwrights - no reason why this couldn't be led by someone else. Some great ideas and innovative thinking! Made simple choices to keep the maths easy! No

Anonymous 11 Steven Atkinson Duncan Gates Anonymous 12 Anonymous 13

Anonymous 14 Anonymous 15 Amanda Whittington

No.

Stella Duffy

Writer.director/theatremaker

I find it sad that many of the proposals are based on 1 wrietr, 1 director, a group of actors, traditonal model. Not only do devising companies 9and many others) not work in this way, but so many - more traditional - companies don't either. if we don;t stop thinking of ourselves as stuck in a 1950s/60s model, we are NEVER going to move forward, not only into new ways of funding ourselves, but also into new ways of working TOGETHER to do so.

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Anonymous 16 London-based actress Writer, translator, dramaturg Writer PHD Researcher into dramaturgy of site specific theatre York St John University Director Playwright Writer London-based playwright Playwright Theatre Director London-based producer

Penny Black Ben Yeoh

Pamela McQueen Dorian Kelly Phil Porter James Graham Anonymous 17 Lisa Evans Christopher Gorry Anonymous 18

Very comprehensive Apologies for poor spelling done on iPhone

Anonymous 19 Susan Hodgetts Jonathan Meth Judith Johnson

London-based writer and director Playwright Convenor, MA in Writing for Performance, Goldsmiths Freelance Playwright and teacher.

Lots of interesting ideas here but they do seem to be solving a number of different problems! Are they addressing funding, new writing, theatre, audience engagement... Or all of the above? Huge amount of food for thought and few ideas (32 and 34 have been in my mind for a while) which could be real game changers. Too many initiatives here to focus on and those with some too complex to get your head round. Good initiative though.

Happy to expand on anything if required. If my maths is wrong, please tell me and Ill fix it.

Jenifer Toksvig

Theatre Maker

For me, there are three areas that stand out amongst these proposals. The first is ways in which big theatre companies can join up with smaller ones: offering space and other support (#1), taking advantage of existing youth and community connections to give production opportunity (#2) and encouraging writers to form supportive collectives that can then act as production partners (#7). These could go hand-in-hand with things like Job Seekers support for small business (#10), collaboration on GFA applications (#12) and smaller things like awards for companies who have supported others in these ways (#11). If we could blend all of these ideas into one proposal, it would be my first choice for the best possible solution to encouraging risk-taking in new work. The second area is the broadening of opportunities within which to stage smaller, riskier work that takes less time to make from start to finish: the curtain-raiser programme (#3) and Risk Nights (#5) accommodating small shows and plays (#16). Again, these are elements that could be added into the collaboration of large and small companies. The third area is opportunities to get more from existing infrastructure: councils supporting local, site-specific theatre (#8); the division of artistic leadership in existing large theatre spaces (#9);

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ACE showcases of new work (#20), providing lottery money for community residencies (#30) and making money out of money (#33); a Playwriting GCSE and A Level (#14). Ben Musgrave Anonymous 20 Jessica Beck Frank McCabe Elizabeth Freestone Playwright London-based playwright and lecturer Artistic Associate, Bike Shed Theatre, Exeter Writer Artistic Director, Pentabus Theatre For me the focus has to be on the chasm between the page and the stage. Writers will emerge whatever the environmental restrictions (a bit like Japanese knotweed). It's what HAPPENS to their work that's the issue.

Becky Prestwich Hannah Silva

Writer Writer/Theatre Maker

For me, the strongest ideas are those which are outward looking. I think to make new writing sustainable, it is key to make new, exciting theatre available to people who wouldn't neccessarily come into a big theatre building. The more theatre and new writing become part of the fabric of people's lives, the easier it will become for theatre-makers to argue the value of their work. many of the ideas than i gave zero or low points to are still in my mind great improvements on the current situation. However i felt that it would be better to more fully back a lesser number of ideas. in general the ideas that appealed to me the most were those that were the most simple and elegant and seemed to offer most return for less work. yes, I still think that [the] suggestion to Lobby so that a % of the tax from the West End box offices is invested in new writing (as per the french cinema model) which would make up for the current cuts and would make sure that money that is generated in theatre goes back to theatre. It's financially viable and makes sense.

Morna Regan Anonymous 21

Writer London-based director/producer

Arzhang Pezhman Micha Colombo Anonymous 22

Midlands-based Writer Freelance Actor, Writer & Theatre-maker London-based director of devising company

Makers, including but not only writers. The arts council needs to fund strategic centres with the correct facilities that will host projects for an initial laboratory run. And also nurture and support emerging companies in different ways. These centres should be manned by the right staff with exhaustive experience and a will to nurture emerging practioners and companies.

Scott Anderson Sarah Punshon Helen Millar Anonymous 23

Lecturer in Drama, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Freelance director & dramaturge Actor and artistic director Regional writer and lecturer

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Lizzie Nunnery Hannah Khalil Ella Hickson Jonathan Petherbridge and Adam Annand POINTS TOTAL Writer/ Musician/ Tutor in playwriting Playwright Playwright Creative and Associate Director, London Bubble There are really exciting ideas here and I look forward to seeing how the project develops.

No