Priorities for drama
The Scottish Arts Council Business Plan identifies priorities for 2009/10 and we will work within these priorities to achieve a vibrant and sustainable theatre sector.
We will increase support for individual theatre artists through:
- fellowships with an international dimension
- support for ‘creative producers’
- new programmes for assistant directors and associate artists, including a focus on disability and cultural diversity
- support for continuing professional development
- promotion of international showcasing through the British Council Showcase and input to the Expo Fund
- hosting the IETM Plenary in Glasgow in 2010 and work with the Dance and International departments to support the IETM Networking project
- supporting a small number of Foundation Organisations to work with a wider range of artists.
As a result of our Strategic Review in 2005/06, we agreed funding in principle on a five year cycle (2007/08 – 2011/12) for nine Foundation Organisations which will have a key role in creating and presenting work of high quality locally and nationally. We will use our Quality Framework to help them develop best practice in all areas.
The drama Foundation Organisations are:
The drama department also leads on one cross-artform organisation which has foundation status:
We wish to create an environment where the new and the innovative can flourish, and have set up a pool of project and programme funding which will allow more flexible investment for up to three years.
Seventeen drama organisations will receive Flexible funding from April 2009. The artists supported by these organisations provide work in a variety of genres and styles, for adults, young people and children, in rural and urban settings. The companies will remain responsible for keeping themselves financially and organisationally healthy and we will support initiatives that help companies to share their experience and resources.
We will continue to provide support for playwrights through the Playwrights’ Studio Scotland which mentors writers and promotes their work. Our New Work Development Fund will help playwrights and other theatre artists who want to develop their practice.
Our relationship with the vibrant youth theatre sector comes through foundation funding for Scottish Youth Theatre, and support for Promote YT, which helps networking, training and information exchange within the sector.
We promote our equalities agenda through many of our funded organisations, but the work of Theatre Workshop, Lung Ha’s, and Birds of Paradise with disabled theatre artists is particularly relevant. The promotion of cultural diversity includes Ankur Arts and Theatre Insaan.
We will make sure that audiences across the country have access to a good choice of styles and genres of quality work in drama across the country, not least through the work of the Foundation Organisations. The Programming Fund encourages co-operation between venues and allow audiences to see and hear diverse artists from beyond Scotland. We will look at how more people can get access to the arts through forms such as Street Arts. The Touring and Production Fund will encourage the nationwide creation and touring of work.
We will continue to liaise with the National Theatre of Scotland and we hope to lead a joint initiative to raise awareness of equalities issues within the sector. The Theatre Forum will continue to involve the key practitioners from the sector so that they can reflect and comment on issues that affect drama in Scotland, as well as sharing knowledge and understanding.
The formal process of merging our roles and responsibilities with those of Scottish Screen began in January 2007, with the formation of a new board, whose members were drawn from the two existing bodies. In January 2009, a new company, Creative Scotland 2009 Ltd, was established and, subject to legislation in 2009 (the Public Service Reform Bill), Creative Scotland will become the new lead body for arts and screen industries in Scotland in 2010, replacing the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen. |