Theatre Clwyd boss calls for breakdown of UK funding borders

The profile of theatre in the devolved nations is suffering because of “territorial” funding borders that need to be “broken down”, according to Liam Evans-Ford, Executive Director of Theatre Clwyd.

Speaking at The Future of Theatre 2024 conference, Evans-Ford said that more collaboration between the UK art funding bodies and less adherence to national boundaries is needed to help artists reach bigger audiences.

“I know some brilliant Welsh artists, and Welsh theatre companies and theatre makers who make their work in England because they will get their money from Arts Council England, and they can't tour it into Wales…or vice versa. And the same applies to all of the nations,” said Evans-Ford.

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“I think between the nations, the funders and the funding borders need to be broken down a little bit.

“I'm a supporter for more devolution for Wales generally; we ought to have our own destiny in our hands, but that kind of collaboration, I think, will help artists to share their work and their stories and their voices across the nation.”

Speaking on the same panel, Fergus Morgan, The Stage’s Scotland Correspondent, called for the establishment of a UK touring fund, saying that provisions for taking shows out of their home nations are currently “minimal”.

“It's not rocket science to put a pot of money together that people can apply to, to take a show around. I'm in favour of more devolution for Scotland as well. But I think there is a world where these two things are perfectly possible at the same time; it's more devolved, but it's also more outward-looking.”

'Double-dipping'

Una NicEoin, Executive Producer for Prime Cut Productions in Northern Ireland, agreed that there was a need for “joined-up pots of money” aimed at cross-border touring and co-productions, noting that currently, the practice would be negatively viewed as “double dipping”.

She said that in Northern Ireland, where per capita spending on culture is £5 – compared with £10 in Scotland, £11 in Wales, and £22 in Ireland – additional funding through the Irish state agency for promoting Irish culture is vital to enabling productions to tour internationally.

“As a result, there's a lot of other young independent artists coming up, they're starting off with Edinburgh Fringe and then seeing their work go to Australia, go to Europe, etc, with that support, and more of that needs to happen.”

“We also get a little bit of help from the Irish Arts Council in terms of touring in the south; that's really important because success…is the opportunities for co-production, both across the island of Ireland, into Scotland, England and Wales as well. That way, we can actually start to showcase the work that's coming from Northern Ireland.”