Top 5 Websites

http://www.doollee.com
This is an online database of modern plays and playwrights, set up in 2003 by Julian Oddy, who aims ultimately to include every play which has been written or produced in English from John Osborne’s mould-breaking ‘Look Back in Anger’ in 1956 to the present day. I find it terrifically useful when I am looking for details, a précis, the date of the premiere, a writer’s agent and so forth.

http://www.arenapal.com
Arenapal is an extraordinary collection – over two million images, apparently (though I have barely scratched the surface) – of performing arts and production images from around the world. It includes not only theatre, dance and opera, but also music, circus, festivals – the list goes on. A wonderful resource, for glimpses of past productions, and an inspiration for future work.

http://www.wsaa.org.uk
The Wiltshire and Swindon Arts Alliance is an umbrella organisation for arts in this region, linking local authorities and funded organisations. It displays images from the work of these organisations. It’s always good to see what’s going on, even if time constraints mean that I don’t always get to see the work itself. More importantly, it encourages me to think laterally and to develop new ideas, by sharing the imagination and experience of other arts practitioners.

http://www.freerice.com
Although this is not in any way directly related to my work, I am still a regular visitor. Free Rice is a not-for-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Programme, and is, essentially, a series of multiple-choice tests – on vocabulary, art, foreign languages, chemical symbols (I don’t do well at that last one!). For each question answered correctly, 10 grains of rice are donated by the sponsors to help people living in poverty; and the questions get harder, the more you get right. An easy way to sharpen the brain, while donating to charity.

http://www.demos.co.uk
Demos is a London-based think-tank with a predominantly political focus, although it is not affiliated with any particular party. I find its discussions on key areas of policy and possible change very stimulating. Cultural discussions also figure, and its publications are free to download. Recently, I attended a fascinating talk by one of Demos’s key speakers, John Holden, entitled ‘What are the new values that will inform arts provision in the next 20 years?’, which provided much food for thought.