The Theatre in Wales website began nearly nine years ago, writes Keith Morris. It was an attempt to fill the massive vacuum that existed at that time for any information at all related to performance in Wales on the Internet. Back in those early days very few of the companies and venues in Wales ? even the very largest ? had websites or even email addresses of their own. Fired by an idealistic enthusiasm for the Internet as a new medium of communication I decided to do something about it and create an embryonic site containing basic contact information on as many of the companies and theatres in Wales that I knew about (and having worked as a freelance photographer for 15 years by then I had actually been employed by a great many of them).
From those small beginnings, and without any funding, the site gradually grew both in depth (more information on individual companies) and in breadth (feature articles, commentary pieces, a section for performers and theatre professionals to register their details, an archive of information on new plays produced in Wales since 1991, and regular news items). A significant addition was the creation of an open forum where anyone could ask a question, comment on a production, or generally bemoan the dire state of theatre funding in Wales.
The website really came of age in 1999 when the Arts Council of Wales announced a radical restructuring of theatre funding in Wales, with many existing companies, especially those involved in Theatre in Education, losing their revenue funded status. The reaction amongst the theatre community was one of understandable outrage, and the site played a pivotal role in co-ordinating opinion and disseminating information. During the long campaign against the proposals scarcely a day went by without some new document being added to the news pages. Theatre companies, writers, directors, professional organisations, local authorities and members of the public ? in fact anyone who felt that the actions of the Arts Council were fundamentally flawed ? all sent in their statements of opposition. All that material is still there on the site and even now is being regularly accessed by students and academics for their researches.
The readership of the site is drawn from a wide cross section of interested parties ? directors of theatre companies, policy makers and civil servants in the Wales Assembly Government, members and officials at the Arts Council, lecturers and students at universities and colleges, individual actors, writers and technicians all regularly visit the pages and have registered to receive the email bulletins. From the feedback I receive it seems that the strength of the site is in its comprehensiveness and impartiality. Many are drawn to the site because it is the only place where all the many strands of information and comment are drawn together, where they can read several reviews of current productions, where they can voice their own opinions and get a response. Theatre directors are using the site when they are searching for cast and crew (welsh speaking stage managers are very much in demand!); performers use the site to see what jobs are on offer; audience members use it to check out the reviews of the latest productions. The site is updated every day, sometimes more than once, with news items and reviews. New companies are frequently added ? and old ones relegated to the archive.
At the moment the only funding that I receive towards the costs of running the website comes from charging for job adverts and banner ads. There are currently discussions underway that could result in a significant amount of money being ploughed into the site ? money that will be used to vastly improve the quality and range of critical writing and commentary on theatre and performance in Wales.
Keith Morris runs the Theatre in Wales website
w: http://www.theatre-wales.co.uk; e: keith@artx.co.ukM