In his recent James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, James Graham expressed concern that British television has not overcome a historical bias against the working classes.
He noted that although almost 50% of the population identifies as working-class, only 8% of TV workers have a working-class background and challengingly suggested that the definition of diversity should extend to class.
This must inevitably make those in our own industry pause for thought and wonder whether we are facing the same issue. The answer is almost certainly “yes”, although possibly to a somewhat lesser degree than in the past.
It took around four decades for the National Theatre to choose a Director who had not been educated at Cambridge, which is a classic example of elitism. Finally, next year, it welcomes its first leading woman and person of colour, although Indhu Rubasingham was privately educated so does not come into the category of working-class.
In some ways, the problems facing working-class youngsters contemplating a career in theatre are even more daunting than those looking to spend their lives making television programmes. Today, the ideal scenario for any budding actor, director or producer is to have a healthy bank balance before you embark on a long journey that may lead nowhere. It is a well-known fact that even those who have established themselves as actors spend most of their time “resting”, polite parlance for “unemployed”.
Even when they do work, most will struggle to get paid more than Equity minimum wage, which is barely enough to live on, let alone support a family, enter the property market and put away a nest egg for a rainy day, which may regrettably not be far off.
The advantage now compared to, let us say, the inter-war years when most plays seemed to be set in Hampstead drawing rooms or country houses is that there are many more roles for those who are authentically working class rather than merely playing the part.
The underlying problems are much deeper. After a decade and a half of austerity, combined with rigidity enforcing a bland curriculum on every schoolchild, exposure to the arts has virtually disappeared from many state schools, although some lucky kids benefit from activities supported by outside organisations. This issue does not rear its ugly head to the same degree at public schools, which often have the kind of facilities that even professional theatre folk envy, along with teachers who are dedicated and supported.
Similarly, the emphasis in recent years has been towards university courses that lead to lucrative employment. This has meant cuts to many arts courses, as well as pressure on youngsters to do something worthwhile rather than pursuing their passion. Once again, those with wealthy parents are likely to have greater opportunities to consider the kind of courses that lead to careers in the arts.
Finances only compound these problems, since the cost of completing a degree course and/or going to drama school is far from negligible. Even someone who is lucky enough to get support for tuition still needs to live while studying and training, hardly helped by the fact that several of the largest drama schools are in London where rental prices continue to be extortionate.
Some dedicated or lucky working-class youngsters will inevitably get through all of this and rise to the top but, as James Graham identified in his lecture and subsequent interviews, the number will always be disproportionately small, and that is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
The advent of a Labour government is likely to change perceptions, but not necessarily funding, since the messages from Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to date hardly suggest outpourings of the kind of money needed to support budding working-class stars of the future to risk all on a career in the theatre. Therefore, it seems unlikely that there will be a significant increase in working-class participation in the theatre community any time soon.
Further ahead, if the economy recovers, this would theoretically enable the government to inject more money into the arts, which can only help, although there is much competition from health, education, defence etc.
Regardless of economic factors, there will always be young people of all classes who catch the theatre bug and achieve great things as a result of their passion and talent. It’s just a shame that so many more will be missing out.