Touring to the UK mainland from North and South of the Irish border is not for the fainthearted. Paula Shields talks to two theatre companies, Northern Ireland?s Big Telly and Dublin-based Rough Magic, about the challenge of taking touring product to the UK mainland.
Undoubtedly, Irish theatre enjoys a high profile and reputation abroad, but beyond London and Edinburgh, Irish companies don?t tour that often to their nearest neighbours in England, Scotland, and Wales. And it?s hardly surprising that the main culprit cited by most companies is lack of funding. ?Even if we were successful in being awarded all the potential funding available, and securing guarantees from venues, we?d still need significant sponsorship to tour,? says Bernie McGill, Funds/Development Manager for Northern Ireland?s Big Telly Theatre Company.
Funding barriers
Touring is an expensive business. The Arts Councils North and South fund touring in their own regions and co-fund the North-South touring scheme to encourage companies to cross the border, but little is available for going further afield. In the Republic, the Cultural Relations Committee, Department of Foreign Affairs ? the only source of funding for foreign tours ? do what they can, according to Deborah Eden, Executive Producer of Rough Magic Theatre Company, Dublin, ?But they don?t have a huge pot of money, and the Arts Council, while they want Irish theatre companies to have an international profile, don?t fund it at present. They are, however, looking into international funding as part of their current review. What?s needed is a specific fund and a system that can respond to short-term requests.? A system that might support Rough Magic?s recent success, for instance. The company?s production of Midden won a Fringe First at Edinburgh this summer, subsequently accepted an offer to play at London?s Hampstead Theatre this autumn, and is now fundraising in Derry, hometown of its author, actress Morna Regan, which provides the backdrop to the inter-generational family drama.
Aydon contrasts Rough Magic?s situation with those of her colleagues across the water: ?British companies are very lucky because they have the British Council which is well-established, has a network all over the world and the funding to assist companies that want to tour. Midden has been invited to the Hampstead Theatre in London this October but its own level of subsidy is such that it has to break even and we?re expensive, given the travel and transport costs.?
Risk guaranteed
While the Northern Irish companies have access to the British Council network, it makes ?India easier to get to than England!? as Una Kealy, former Administrator at Big Telly, recalls: ?I would say the biggest problem I had last year when trying to sell ?Fish? in the UK was that the scale of the production demanded middle-scale venues and the only venues who would consider taking us were small-scale and couldn?t pay a guaranteed fee. Therefore the problems were twofold, venue size was wrong and we just couldn?t afford to take the risks on no guaranteed fee. We were attempting to set up a collaboration with a middle-scale venue over there which seemed to be helping our case but we had a brand new show to sell so it wasn?t easy. Ultimately, we decided to ditch the idea due to time and money pressures.
?However, saying all this we then went to India and performed in a festival there which was absolutely brilliant! Time, money, recognisable company and production, scale, contacts are all important in trying to set up a tour. Also, of course the logistics of touring and company management become slightly more problematic when greater removes from home and company home are involved.? Big Telly last toured the UK ten years ago ?with a small cast, small crew and small set!?, as Bernie McGill points out. ?We haven?t toured in England and Scotland since 1991 when we toured a play which the company wrote called ?Onions?. It went down very well, and Cumbernauld Theatre actually produced the play themselves a couple of years later. Why haven?t we been back again? I suppose the quick answer is funding, followed by timing and choosing the right production. ?Onions? was a two-hander with an Irish theme which the company toured in a car with two stage management and a trailer. Technically it was fairly uncomplicated and very portable. Since then our productions have gotten bigger and therefore more expensive to travel.?
Planning ahead
Current Administrator Louise Rossington has been doing some research into touring funds because of their next show. Bernie McGill explains: ?In actual fact, we?re now planning to take our new production ?McCool XXL? to England and Scotland next year. Since we?re not touring this autumn, we have enough lead-in time to try and raise the funds and we are confident that the production itself (a musical version of the Finn McCool story) will be popular.?
Rossington has found that they can apply for the Arts Council of England?s National Touring Programme if they are prepared to tour to a minimum of three Regional Arts Boards (RABs), but as any UK touring company is eligible, the competition tends to be fairly stiff. Since most of the RABs are similar or bigger in size to Northern Ireland, this constitutes a fairly extensive tour for a Northern company. The Regional Arts Lottery Programme also funds touring within a single region or between two regions. Scottish Arts Council has a specific small fund (single awards unlikely to exceed £3,000) for touring by non-Scottish companies to small- and middle-scale venues throughout Scotland.
Recipe for success
But what happens when there is systematic funding and support? In 1999, PACT @ Temple Bar & Aberystwyth Arts Centre came into being, as an initiative of Aberystwyth and Theatre Shop, part-funded by the EU Commission. This Interreg programme ? Performing Arts Co-operation and Touring 1999-2001 ? promoted partnership between the Eastern seaboard of Ireland and Wales. That funding is not the only consideration in bringing Irish theatre productions to the UK is apparent from a recently completed study of the programme by Belinda Moller (from the School of Business Studies, Trinity College, Dublin). As well as financial implications (such as exchange rate fluctuations and tax), Moller?s report refers to the value of a dedicated company manager in managing a tour, the difference between Wales and Ireland in advance programming, planning and marketing, and concludes with the prerequisites for the successful artistic collaborations and co-productions.
? A shared artistic view ? dependent upon an underlying artistic vision in which language and attitudes towards work practices are common to all participants. This shared view cannot be ?stretched or bent around the criteria of a funding mechanism?.
? A long-term forging of relationships and personal commitment by key individuals.
? To ensure creative concepts can be developed, communication should typically happen over 18 months or more. In one case, email facilitated a large amount of the preliminary discussions, followed by carefully planned exchange visits during which the concepts and work practices can be cemented.
PACT proves that structured collaboration offers a way forward, and the success of Theatre Shop?s annual conference ? first held in 1994 ? speaks for itself. The conference provides a forum for international theatre practitioners and Irish companies to meet and discuss co-production and touring potential, against the backdrop of the liveliest theatre season in the capital city?s calendar ? the Dublin Theatre and Fringe Festivals. Much cultural cross-pollination has resulted in the last seven years and we look forward to more. Whatever the funding challenges, we have plenty to talk about across the Irish Sea.
Paula Shields is Administrator of Theatre Shop
The 8th annual Theatre Shop takes place on October 5 at the Irish Film Centre, Temple Bar, Dublin. International producers, presenters and programmers will mix with Irish drama and dance companies for seminars on co-production and touring, among others, in the morning and scheduled one-on-one meetings in the afternoon. For latest details of programme and confirmed delegates to date: t: 00 353 1 872 3233 w: http://www.theatreshop.ie e: admin@theatreshop.ie