Global access

There was once a television advertisement for a long-life battery. Toy rabbits filled with batteries of different brands manically clashed cymbals together until all but one lost the energy to play. The rabbit left clapping was the one invested with the costlier long-life brand. A cheap battery is better than no battery at all, and it would be churlish not to applaud Andy Burnham’s free theatre ticket scheme for under-26-year olds. A free theatre ticket is better than no ticket at all. However, this scheme must not distract the DCMS or the Department for Children, Schools and Families from a longer-term investment that provides consistent access to the arts for people at a much younger age.

The belief in ‘cultural entitlement’ (a vile but necessary phrase) lies behind a recent manifesto, issued by Action for Children’s Arts. It calls on the DCMS to provide “consistent long-term funding and strategic support to ensure that all children have full and equal access to the arts”. Sustained and meaningful access means arts created with, for, or by young people. It means well prepared visits to venues as well as workshops in schools led by teachers and trained arts practitioners. This inevitably requires significant, sustained funding. As Shakespeare’s Globe is not regularly funded by Arts Council England, it has had to seek this ‘‘costlier long-life brand’’ of sponsorship from the private sector.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) began supporting Globe Education’s work in Southwark in 1997. In March 2009, more than 400 students from primary, secondary and Special Educational Needs schools will gather to create their own ‘King Lear’ at the Globe – the thirteenth ‘Our Theatre’ production created with and by young people. Workshops in schools and the final performance provide an active and collaborative introduction to Shakespeare on stage. Consistency of support from PwC has paid dividends. ‘Our Theatre’ has led to a developing relationship with local teachers and with the Southwark Education Improvement Partnership. Projects developing core literacy and communication skills are promoting creativity and performing arts in the borough’s classrooms. A local teacher inspired the creation of the Globe/King’s College ‘Creative Arts and the Classroom’ MA for teachers. Two Southwark Globe Youth Theatres for 8–11 and 11–15 year olds have been established. Not surprisingly, many students who have taken part in ‘Our Theatre’ are quick to join.

Deutsche Bank’s partnership with Globe Education began in 2002 to promote the creation of playful and play-centred approaches to teaching Shakespeare and literacy in schools across London. When the project entered its third year, Deutsche Bank encouraged us to be more ambitious and to take our first steps to produce theatre for young people at the Globe. In 2007 and 2008, over 20,000 students received free tickets for a professional production of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ at the Globe, created specifically for young people studying the play at Key Stage 3. A further 12,000 will be invited to ‘Romeo and Juliet’ next March, and will be able to access web resources and a podcast. The ‘Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank’ initiative has also supported a series of workshops in schools for 2,000 students every year.

The success of the two projects has depended on consistency of support from Corporate Social Responsibility departments with a policy of providing sustained support for arts organisations and their communities. Sadly, by the time the students involved turn 18 the Burnham offer of free theatre tickets may be over. However, sustained initiatives that actively engage younger people in the arts may be the best way of ensuring that young people continue clapping in theatres when the offer of free tickets has run dry.