NOTES
Epigraphs
1 Joan Littlewood, Joanâs Book, (London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2016), p.16.
2 âcivicâ, Oxford English Dictionary (Third Edition), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Introduction
1 Peter Brook (1968), The Empty Space (London: Penguin Modern Classics, 2008), p.12.
2 NgĆ©gÄ© wa Thiongâo, âEnactments of Power: The Politics of Performance Space,â The Drama Review (1997), p.13.
A Civic(s) Lesson
1 Tommy Walters, âPlaywright Jeremy O. Harris doesnât miss âtheater in a buildingââ, CANVAS, August 23, 2020, pbs.org/newshour/arts/playwright-jeremy-o-harris-doesnt-miss-theater-in-a-building.
2 Serendipitously, the corona civis was a crown of oak leaves given to someone who saved a fellow citizen in battle during the days of the Roman Republic.
3 âThe Queenâs Theatre In Hornchurch Still Sparkles At 60,â Essex Life, August 28, 2013, essexlifemag.co.uk/out-about/places/the-queen-stheatre-in-hornchurch-still-sparkles-at-60-1-2357091.
4 Rethinking Relationships, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch), 2017, p.11, content.gulbenkian.pt/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2017/10/01175116/Civic-Role-of-Arts-Phase-1-REPORT-lr-.pdf.
5 In a beautiful pamphlet produced by the CGF, entitled âWhat would Joan Littlewood say?â a number of arts leaders reflect on how their institutions might explore their civic responsibilities. In a preface, the documentâs editor Lyn Gardner talks of the need for our museums, galleries and theatres to be ânew town squaresâ. Kwame Kwei-Armah of the Young Vic suggests that âthere is no better way of challenging government than standing on the ground of our civic responsibility and showing that our theatres are there to serve everyone, in every wayâ. Madani Younis describes how a long-term commitment to community meant that the Bush Theatre (where he used to be artistic director) was seen as a trusted organisation in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. He then goes on to argue that âcivic responsibility is about an acknowledgement that we are complicit in shaping and redefining our cities and the decisions we make now as cultural organisations will shape the future of the cityâ. Why donât we hear more about these approaches, though? Why has it taken a pandemic for theatre to begin facing up to its problems? As Kully Thiarai, creative director of Leeds 2023, notes: âthere is a disconnect between the work made and how we communicate to the public about itâ.
6 William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London: John Murray, 1890).
7 David Wiles, Greek Theatre Performance: An Introduction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003).
8 Bharata Muni, The NÄáčyaĆÄstra, trans. Manomohan Ghosh, (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1951).
9 Square brackets inputted by translator.
10 Percy MacKaye. The Civic Theatre in Relation to the Redemption of Leisure, (New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1912), p.15.
11 Ibid, p.198.
12 Ibid, p.196.
13 Ibid, p.197.
14 Stephen Hetherington, The Interdependence of Public and Private Finance in British Theatre, (Manchester: Arts Council England, 2015), p.35.
15 MacKaye, p.91.
16 Ibid, p.40.
17 Ibid, p.23.
18 âCentral Bedfordshire Council News And Press Releases,â Central-bedfordshire.gov.uk, September 26, 2019, centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/news/article/170/leighton_buzzard_library_and_theatre_goes_back_to_the_70s_with_ruby_anniversary_celebrations.
A Short History
1 House of Commons, February 25 1985, vol 74 cc147â54 (Clement Freud MP), api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1985/feb/25/national-theatre.
2 The Arts Council Of Great Britain â 1st Annual Report 1945, p.6.
3 âOur History,â Arts Council England, artscouncil.org.uk/our-organisation/our-history.
4 The Arts Council Of Great Britain â 1st Annual Report 1945, p.23.
5 Noel Dempsey, Arts Funding: Statistics, Briefing Paper Number CBP 7655 (London: House of Commons Library, 2016), pp.18â21.
6 âArts Councilâs Budget Cut By 30%,â BBC News, October 20, 2010, bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11582070.
7 Arts Council England Annual Review 2009 (London: The Stationery Office, 2009), p.6.
8 Arts Council England Grant-in-Aid and National Lottery Distribution Annual Report & Accounts 2018â19 (London: APS Group, 2019), p.14.
9 Adele Redmond, ââDire Circumstancesâ For Arts Funding,â Arts Professional, February 7, 2020, artsprofessi...