I herald from a small town in the West Midlands known as Shrewsbury; the folk of Shrewsbury have just one theatre and the repertoire is generally safe as houses. Which actually isn’t saying much considering the current instability in the housing market. So perhaps it is time for Shrewsbury to rock the waters a bit with its theatre, but I’ve thought that for a while and it probably isn’t going to happen.
Something I am worried is going to happen is that theatre nationwide is going to begin to resemble that in Shrewsbury. Not bad, on the whole, but safe – which is perhaps worse because at least a lot of bad theatre can be said to be trying to do something new. My worry has naturally been sparked by the cuts, the number one bringer of bad news and worry in 2011.
Because theatre is getting less funding, emphasis is shifting from daring and innovative experimentation to playing it safe with what audiences will like. Of course audience is always a consideration when creating a piece of theatre, but previously there has been room to take risks. Simon Casson’s recent theatre blog for ‘The Guardian’ illustrates this shift. Casson, a young experimental theatre maker, queries how smaller companies can “do a Punchdrunk with their experimental theatre?” Replacing the desire to play with theatre as a medium, push its boundaries and make something new and exciting is a desire for a formula for creating an audience fan base; a guaranteed influx of money.
Currently, if you sit in the audience of a West End show you are more often than not a giant pound sign on a seat. If you attend a more diverse, experimental show, you are a sentient being with opinions waiting to be challenged and senses waiting to be stimulated. I understand Casson’s desire for an audience, everyone needs to make a living, but we cannot let the pound sign infiltrate experimental audiences.
Instead we should continue to experiment and let the works on the experimental stage influence those on the mainstream. It is only by changing the audience, showing them that they don’t have to just be pound signs on a seat, that theatre can survive the cuts. Theatre should not resort to safety, we are not living in safe or stable times and theatre is one of the best mediums to comment on and reflect this.