Last February's In Battalions report, published in response to UK Culture Minister Ed Vaizey's assertion that Arts Council cuts were having "no effect" on new theatre writing has given rise to further research—a Delphi study which was launched this week .
In Battalions revealed the extent to which theatres have been pulling back from new writing projects and the follow up study looks at some strategies for reversing this trend.
The Delphi study, a form of expert consultation, has contributions from a range of theatre practitioners and contains 36 proposals. It is the work of In Battalions co-authors Award-winning playwright and Co-Artistic Director of Tamasha, Fin Kennedy and Helen Campbell Pickford, a doctoral student at St Antony’s College, Oxford, both of whom have again given their time unpaid to produce the Delphi study.
The original report had over 24,000 downloads, saw questions tabled in the House of Commons and, as Vaizy acknowledged, had direct influence on the Chancellor's Autumn Statement.
The ideas in the Delphi study are a significant contribution to the movement to protect theatre writing in the face of further Government cuts; like its predecessor report, it is available as a free download.
The In Battalions report and a British Theatre Guide podcast with Fin Kennedy are also available for free download. Further information is also available from Fin Kennedy's web site.