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The Eyre Report: a Summary - Part IIAccess; education; touring; broadcasting; the Internet; imageUnless excellence is maintained, there is no case for access. Subsidy buys access to the arts, and access is the rationale for subsidy. It is the enduring belief in the civilising benefits that the arts bestow on a nation that has underpinned the development of the fertile cultural landscape we enjoy today, and which has allowed this country to thrive as a cultural force. The arts enrich all our lives, and it should be the birthright of all this country’s citizens to be able to fulfil their creative potential as participants and spectators. Audiences tend to identify the company with its "home", and so movement from venue to venue tends to fragment audiences. Because of this, each company (ROH, ENO and the Royal Ballet) should have a "home" with which it is closely identified. Audiences can be "grown" and it is essential that each company does all it can to expand the audience for large scale opera and dance. Education There is universal agreement that the only way to grow a society that values the arts is through education....... Eyre suggests that the London lyric theatres should establish a city-wide education stratgey, with support from the London Arts Board and ACE. It is essential that education policy makers and providers recognise the importance of the arts in education. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport must work closely with the Department for Education and Employment to ensure that the significance of the arts in schools is fully recognised, both in the National Curriculum and through the availability of a wide range of extra-curricular arts-based activities. Touring Eyre does not believe that the touring of large-scale opera and ballet is the way forward, because of constraints of cash, scale and the impact on touring companies. He does, however, suggest that ENO in particular should consider smaller-scale tours launched from, say, Sadler's Wells. I recommend that directors and designers are encouraged to create, on occasion, productions specifically for playing in a multiplicity of theatres. The current principles governing UK cross-border touring are a bureaucratic nonsense. The four home country Arts Councils’ policies in relation to touring across national borders need urgent, fundamental review, with a view to establishing an all-nation strategy for touring. Broadcasting Must be used to promote access. Long term strategic partnerships should be developed with broadcasters. This should lead to imaginative programming to attract a wider audience. Digital broadcasting, in particular, will provide opportunities for "niche programming" which the companies must seize. Broadcasting is a complex area. The companies need to ensure that they have the expertise to deal with broadcasting issues, and that implications for broadcasting are taken into account at an appropriate point in the planning process, ie much earlier than is currently the case. In addition, they need to make progress in negotiations with unions to facilitate more broadcast access, and to ensure that public service broadcast transmission is allowed for in their negotiations with individual artists. Both companies should appoint an individual with the requisite expertise to take responsibility for broadcasting. The ROH, in particular, must grasp the opportunity offered by broadcasting to improve its image. It will be an inexcusable missed opportunity if the Royal Opera House’s opening night is not broadcast, and if the Royal Opera House does not respond to that chance to present a rejuvenated, rehabilitated face to the public. The Internet The Internet offers opportunities for the companies to communicate directly with potential audiences. There are many pitfalls in developing an on-line presence, and both the Royal Opera House (in reviewing its site) and ENO (in seeking to establish one) must learn from best practice if they are to take full advantage of what is on offer. Image He calls upon the companies to make certain that actual and perceived barriers to their art do not exist. In particular, there must be a full range of ticket prices, both to attract new audiences and to hold on to those they already have. The sale of tickets is an imperative - I recommend the cessation of the practice of giving complimentary tickets as part of marketing strategy, with the sole exception of press for first nights. The ROH has great image and access problems. He offers eight areas to which the House must pay particular attention. Two major areas of concern are:
Each company should be required to submit, as an element of its formal response to this report, a report on the measures already taken to improve access, and a plan for how it intends to enhance this work, against clear measurable targets and how it will evaluate the improvements. The Arts Council should monitor the companies’ progress against these plans on a monthly basis. Index
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