This issue of Drama & Theatre we introduce a number of projects which aim to broaden the accessibility of opportunities in the performing arts – from theatre productions in Coventry and Leicester which are incorporating stories from the life experiences of interviewed local people, to initiatives from the Lyric Hammersmith and Peer Productions which offer ways in to careers for young people who'd usually struggle to access training.
At the same time, as I write this, social media and even the BBC news headlines are awash with the outrage of the casts and crew (current and incoming) of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella, many of whom have found out via The Stage or Twitter over the bank holiday weekend that the show they are giving their hearts and souls to – or in which they thought they were about to embark on a year-long contract – has been cancelled. While agents were contacted first, several had not had time to relate the news to their clients, having received the notification by email on a bank holiday Sunday.
This is by no means the first such story of shocking insensitivity in the industry, nor will it be the last. And as recent stories from P&O and US mortgage company Better.com indicate, the performing arts is not the only industry in which this happens.
Meanwhile, we recently reported the news of the shockingly sudden closure of ALRA, a long-established drama school with cohorts in London and in Wigan, which informed its students and freelance staff with a Monday-morning email that their school was closing down with immediate effect that day, and instructed them not to come in. Since then, all students have been offered places at Rose Bruford to complete their studies, however stories have begun to emerge of students being chased for advance term payments in the last few days before the sudden closure announcement, and others being accused of trespassing when they turned up at the school to collect their possessions.
Teachers could be forgiven for asking themselves in the light of this why we should encourage and facilitate our young people to enter a profession, or even training, in which they might reasonably expect to be treated so badly.
There is no denying that the risks of a career in the performing arts industry as a whole are immense. However, for many, the rewards are greater – in terms of creative satisfaction if not financial gain. And for those determined young people who wish to pursue it, nothing else will do.
What is important, then, is that we as teachers and mentors instil in students an eyes-open approach to understanding what they are entering into, to help them to do so with business acumen and self-respect. I hope that over time that lesson of respect will filter up to those in charge of the processes of everything from training through auditions and interviews to employment contracts.