National Theatre Wales Community

A home for Welsh work for Edinburgh 2013?

Tim Price posted this in the Writers Group earlier today:

Is it time National Theatre Wales or The Sherman Cymru supported Welsh theatre but copying Northern Stage's Edinburgh model?

This year Northern Stage, the Newcastle based theatre, took over St Stephen's venue in Edinburgh and curated a series of plays by North East writers, and North East theatre companies. Northern Stage organised box office, promotion and even accomdation.

Every year I ask ACW if Dirty Protest can take a play to Edinburgh and every year the reply is, we'll only fund a show outside of Wales if the dates outside of Wales amount no more to 15% of a total tour.

That means for a 4 week run in Edinburgh, we have to create a tour for a piece of new writing for a probable first time writer, has to tour wales for just under 24 weeks before we can take it to Edinburgh. Or more than likely, after Edinburgh. Now blind as I am to the failings of new writing, even I can sense that that might be a hard sell.

So what can we take from this? ACW just don't want us to take our work out of Wales?

Whereas Northern Stage are taking the bull by the horns and leading the charge. Is there a theatre in Wales that would/could be so dynamic?

Imagine a venue curated by Sherman Cymru hosting plays by Velvet Ensemble, Dirty Protest, 3D, Undeb and NTW.

Or NTW hosting plays by Volcano, Marc Rees, Not Fit State. Imagine, god forbid, that the Welsh Venue might even be the hip venue one year?

Why in Wales do we have to wait British Council year before any RFO Welsh theatres will do anything up there? Or why do our fringe companies have to pay out of their own pockets, or perform enormous tours to go there?

Read this article by Daniel Bye about his experience as one of the artists programmed by Northern Stage in Edinburgh. It is surely a model for Wales to adopt.

http://exeuntmagazine.com/features/northern-pride/

So I thought we should open up this discussion about what people think about this issue, and see where we could go with it.

If we say we'll leave this debate open for a month, and if the interest is there we'll the arrange a meeting with interested parties - or it could be a great discussion for D&D at the Sherman?

Let us know your thoughts.

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Comment by Matt Ball on August 24, 2012 at 1:43: so there's Northern Stage, Old Vic New Voices, Escalator East to Edinburgh, and Made in Scotland if anyone knows of any other schemes it would be good to share them.

Comment by Tim Price on August 24, 2012 at 1:32: Yes Matt, there seemed to be much more of a 'curated' vibe up there this year. Not entirely sure why or how, but it certainly made the Festival a tiny bit easier to navigate. For regional artists I think it's a fantastic model and the idea of sharing promotional costs along with and having familiar, experienced people around is massive.

Comment by Matthew Bulgo on August 24, 2012 at 1:18: I actually met with Dan for a pint (or two) on Wednesday after seeing his show and two other pieces at St. Stephen's and I was left feeling very envious. I found myself fantasising about a Welsh equivalent on my way back to my hotel. Wouldn't it be wonderful if...

I think it's also worth mentioning the season of plays that were taken up to Edinburgh by Old Vic New Voices - essentially 5 small production companies, supported and mentored by OVNV, a mini season of 5 new plays, providing opportunities for emerging producers, directors, writers, actors and other creatives to have their first hands-on experiences of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Comment by Matt Ball on August 24, 2012 at 1:12: Elin - if you're still looking for Welsh productions this year then the ones people have told us about are in a group here

Comment by Elin Williams on August 24, 2012 at 1:06: Really interesting article! I particularly enjoyed the phrase, "Their northern-ness is part of what makes them good." Why can't the Welsh do that?

We even have our own language....I think that Welsh theatre is incredibly distinctive and unique; it has so many traits that will reveal its cultural origins. That's just my opinion of course! It's such a shame that we don't seem to be venturing out much. Last year at Edinburgh, my favorite shows were without a doubt Llwyth (which I saw again last night-amazing!) and NTW's Dark Philosophers. I was so proud that they were Welsh productions. This year I struggled to find any Welsh productions. Why?! What with the sparkling new Sherman and general impending energy and excitement of Welsh theatre, who knows....we could be like the Udderbelly in Pleasance!

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A home for Welsh work for Edinburgh 2013?

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