Samuel West issues rallying cry to save theatres from demolition



Samuel West issues rallying cry to save theatres from demolition

Published Wednesday 18 July 2012 at 12:13 by Nicola Merrifield

Actor and director Samuel West has called for arts campaigners to occupy theatres across the UK that are under threat of closure, to save them from demolition.
West’s comments came in response to the publication of the Theatre Buildings at Risk Register this month by the Theatres Trust. The report revealed that nearly 50 UK venues are threatened with closure, including the Theatre Royal Margate, Darlington Arts Centre and Croydon Warehouse Theatre.

Samuel West is rallying campaigners to help save
 theatres threatened with demolition
Photo: Stephanie Methven

He said: “I call for sit-ins - we should occupy those buildings threatened with demolition, and those working theatres threatened with closure.”
West is the former artistic director of Sheffield Theatres, a member of actors’ union Equity’s ruling council and vice-chair of the National Campaign for the Arts. He has spoken out on a number of campaigning issues affecting the performing arts community in the past.
His latest comments came during the annual Shift Happens conference organised by Pilot Theatre at Theatre Royal York on July 5, where he spoke of the challenges facing theatre and performance spaces in light of recent government funding cuts.
West said lobbying for arts funding was failing to make a difference and he feared the situation would not improve anytime soon. Collaboration and better communication with members of the public will be the only way for the industry to survive, he added.
He called for a shift in focus from the industry and the audience, saying there needed to be more emphasis on celebrating the arts and how it changes lives rather than concentrating on problems.
“Every funded organisation should have dozens, or hundreds, of people they can call on to sing their praises,” West said.
He added: “The problem is we haven’t persuaded the electorate. There’s still a lot of that ‘poncey artist living off the state’ mentality. What we need is to get punters in - people who have found the arts made a difference to their lives - and together with professionals who inspired them, say ‘this is how the arts changed my life’.
“And at the same time we mustn’t whine. We mustn’t, though I loathe the phrase, be whingeing luvvies. Let’s fight the pragmatic fight and pick our winnable battles.”

The Stage